To Fulfil All Righteousness

A sketchnote on Jesus Baptism

There are some parts of the Bible that seemed strange to me as a child.

• Why did Jesus need to be baptised if he was perfect?

• Why did Mary say “Do what he says” after Jesus said, “My time has not yet come”?

• Why did Jesus rub mud on someone’s eyes to heal them

And many more.

Those “strange parts” of the Bible have always turned out to have very interesting answers. And this week I learned an insight about Jesus’ baptism I had never seen before. So I made a sketchnote to share it.

The Voice from Heaven makes a messianic reference and ties it to the suffering servant — a figure from Isaiah’s prophecies. This figure was much debated at that time.

It seemed like a figure who would save Israel but would suffer too. In some parts it seems to be a person, in others, it seems to be all of Israel — how can that be?

Well, that’s because the suffering servant was Jesus, the Messiah.

John was right that he needed to be baptised, but by being baptised, Jesus is stepping into our place to live the righteous life we couldn’t.

Here’s a sermon from Tim Keller if you’d like to go deeper.