12. New Creation & New Exodus
Luke 3:21-22
Why did Jesus get baptised? It certainly wasn’t a ‘baptism of repentance’ - Jesus didn’t need to repent. It might have been an endorsement of John’s message or it might have been an identification with the people who were being baptised.
What is certain is that Jesus was re-enacting the story of Israel.
Like Israel, whose history is full of old men and barren women, Jesus had a miraculous birth.
Like Israel, He went into Egypt in infancy (Matthew 2:13-15) with a reference to the prophetic words of Hosea: “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11:1). Note that word son. God actually refers to Israel as His son in Exodus 4:22-23.
Like Israel going through the waters of the Red Sea, Jesus goes through the waters of baptism.
Like Israel undergoing testing in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus is about to go into the wilderness for 40 days to be tested.
Like Israel (Jacob) who had twelve sons, Jesus will call twelve men to be his disciples. By the way, it had to be twelve men. Jesus wasn’t overlooking or belittling women but was instead making the history-shaking declaration that he was reconstituting Israel around himself. To be part of Israel is no longer about being Jewish; it’s about following Jesus.
Jesus is the fulfilment of the story of Israel. He is everything that the nation of Israel was meant to be and failed to be. In the early chapters of the gospels he is clearly re-enacting the story of Israel. It will be very hard to understand Jesus without an understanding of the story he was born out of.
Luke likes to emphasise Jesus’ prayer life and he’s the only gospel writer who tells us that the amazing events that associated Jesus’ baptism happened as he prayed.
The Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. Soft and gentle? Maybe not. I am blessed to have collared doves visiting my garden every day and the flapping of their wings makes for a significant beat. The beating of the wings of a dove has been used as an image of battle and conquest. It may be that this dove-like coming of the Holy Spirit is an act of war. Serpents beware - the dove is coming.
God speaks. The audible voice of God is a rare thing in the gospels. His words are few and very, very significant. There’s a lot going on in the background of what God says: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
I mentioned earlier that Israel had been referred to as God’s son and should have shown what the character of God was like, but now Israel (and the entire world) needs to know that the one standing dripping wet in the Jordan river is the true Son.
Psalm 2 is also evoked, where the person referred to as son is the king who will inherit the nations.
The Father’s love for his son reminds us of Genesis 22 where the father is Abraham and the son is Isaac - the two who trudge together up a hill carrying wood to the place of sacrifice.
Finally, the phrase “well pleased” points us to Isaiah 42 where we are introduced to a mysterious figure called the servant of the Lord who will have the Spirit upon him and will go on to be the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.
God can say an awful lot in a few words. And his vocabulary is dripping with the Hebrew Scriptures that we know as the Old Testament.
Picture the scene. There’s water. There’s the Father, Son and Spirit. There are the words of God (John 1 uses the term word to refer to Jesus). Sound familiar?
Genesis 1 describes the Spirit of God over the water as God speaks words and creation happens. Jesus is about to start the work of New Creation.
Exodus 14 describes the wind (Hebrew ruach also translated spirit) over the waters of the Red Sea as God parts them and a people are redeemed from slavery. Jesus is about to start the work of New Exodus.
And that was all packed into two verses. Isn’t he awesome?
Ponder
Having seen how Jesus is redefining what it means to be Israel, do you have a renewed desire to know the story of Israel in order to better understand who Jesus is?
Do you want to hear the voice of God? He speaks in the language of Scripture. His statement in these verses is a mere eight words in Greek and yet it is dripping with Old Testament allusions. If you want to hear God then you need to get tuned in to his wavelength by immersing yourself in the Scriptures.
One more thing - we’ve seen how Jesus’ baptism is an incredible pointer to what he came to do (New Creation and New Exodus). It’s also a picture of death (going under the waters) and resurrection (coming up again). In light of all that powerful imagery, have you been baptised?