The Baptism of Jesus Christ and His Temptations SS3 Christian Religious Studies (CRS) Lesson Note

THE BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST

(MATTHEW 3:13 – 17, MARK 1:9 – 11, LUKE 3:21 – 22)

The synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke, all have the account of baptism of Jesus Christ. The accounts are similar but with a few variations. Matthew alone reported that John did not want to baptize Jesus, rather he preferred Jesus to baptise him. 

In his account, after Christ had been baptised and he was praying, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in a bodily form as a dove. Apart from these few variations, the narrations of the synoptic gospels are virtually the same. For this topic, we will base our discussion on Matthew’s account.

According to Matthew, Jesus Christ came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptised by John. When John saw Jesus, he hesitated to baptise him saying “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is befitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Based on this statement, John consented to baptise Jesus.

After Jesus had been baptised, he went up immediately from the water and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and a lightening on him. Immediately, a voice came from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased”.

The Significance of the Baptism of Jesus

1. The baptism by John the Baptist was for the forgiveness of sin. Christ was without sin, yet he went to John to be baptised to show the believers (that is the church) that baptism is necessary for the new life that we would live in Christ and that it is divinely necessary to fulfil all righteousness.
2. The baptism marked the call to his earthly ministry and it was equally a way of identifying with the sinners whom he came to redeem. It was also intended to show the public that John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin was necessary for everybody who wished to live a new life in Christ. The essence of John’s activities was to prepare the way for Christ hence, John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ.
3. Christ said in John 3:5 “Unless a man is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”. The reason is that it is the Holy Spirit that enables a man to do the will of God which qualifies him to enter the kingdom of God.
4. Christ, on his part, fulfilled this condition by going to John the Baptist to be baptized. Immediately after the baptism, the Holy Spirit that aided him in his earthly ministry descended upon him like a dove.
5. Christ, being in the flesh, was prone to temptation to sin, but the Holy Spirit of God that came upon him after the baptism helped him to overcome temptation and to do the will of God all through.
6. The baptism of Jesus Christ by John marked the first public confirmation of the messiahship of Jesus Christ when a voice was heard from heaven saying, “This is my son with whom I am well pleased”.

John’s Description Of Christ As The Lamb Of God And The Significance of This To Christians

John was baptising at the river Jordan when Jesus came to him. John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God who was to take away the sins of the world. John confessed that Jesus was greater than him for he (Jesus) had existed before him.

At first, John did not know Jesus, but he came baptizing with water that Jesus might be revealed. The spirit of the Lord had told John that he would identify Jesus as the man to whom the spirit would descend. At the baptism of Jesus, the spirit descended as a dove from heaven and rested on him. John bore witness that Jesus is the son of God.

The Significance of Jesus’ Baptism to Christians includes:

As the lamb of God, his crucifixion takes away man’s sins by faith. ii. Having accepted this, we must turn away from our sins. iii. We have to bear testimony, that is, spread this happy news to others who have not known him.

1. Jesus is the final sacrifice.

 THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS (MATTHEW 4:1 – 11, MARK 1:12 – 13, LUKE 4:1 – 13)

Temptation means to persuade or entice a person to do something wrong or unwise. Everyone on earth is constantly under temptation to do one thing or the other, depending on the circumstances one finds oneself. In most cases, people are tempted through their minds. What constitutes temptation to people, in most cases, has to do with their heart’s desire. People are tempted to pursue their heart desires contrary to what they are expected to do.

The temptation of Jesus Christ is evidence that temptation is normal for every human being, but to yield to temptation is abnormal and a sin. Christ was tempted but he never yielded to temptation. Therefore, this topic is treated and considered with the view that the reader would see how Christ was able to overcome his temptation and understand that with proper discipline of mind based on the word of God, one can always overcome temptation.

The account of the temptation of Jesus was recorded by the three synoptic gospel writers: Matthew, Mark and Luke. They all recorded that after baptism, Jesus was led into the wilderness where he fasted for 40 days. There he was tempted by the devil. However, Mark did not give a detailed account of the temptation. 

Matthew and Luke were more detailed in their accounts but the sequence of the temptation, as they presented it, differs. However, Matthew’s account of the temptation is much more detailed than all the other synoptic gospels; therefore, we shall take the account of Matthew as our narrative framework.

Matthew’s Account

Matthew recorded that immediately after the baptism of Jesus Christ, he was led into the wilderness where he fasted forty days and forty nights and afterwards when he was hungry, Satan came to tempt him. First Satan said to him: “If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” To this, Christ replied to Satan that it is written: “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”.

In the second temptation, Satan took Jesus to the Holy City and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will give his angels charge over you and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone”. 

Jesus replied to Satan: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God”. In the third temptation, Satan took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of this world and their glory and said he would give all these to Jesus Christ if he could fall and worship him (Satan). 

Jesus said to Satan, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” Then the devil left Jesus and the angels of the Lord came and ministered to him.

The Reasons For The Temptation Of Jesus

1. The temptation of Jesus Christ in the wilderness was to make him lose focus of his messiahship and follow the wrong ideas of the Jews about the expected messiah. The first temptation was aimed at making Jesus give more attention to physical needs (food) rather than spiritual needs (the word of God).
2. The second temptation was to make Jesus appear like a magician with spiritual skills like jumping from the great height of the temple. This would have amounted to cheap popularity that would only draw attention to him rather than the heavenly home of God which was the main purpose of his earthly ministry. 
3. The third temptation was to detail Jesus from his ministerial and spiritual assignment, change his focus which was the heavenly kingdom of God and make him pursue a political kingdom and acquire political power. Although this was the desire of the Jews at that time, because they wanted a political messiah who would liberate them from Roman domination, Christ did not come for that purpose. He was a spiritual messiah. Therefore, he did not succumb to the temptation.

Significance of Jesus’ Temptation on His Ministry

1. The temptation confirmed the divinity of Christ. 
2. Through the temptation, Jesus accepted suffering as a means of achieving God’s purpose which was the redemption of man. 
3. With His victory over Satan, Jesus assured His followers that with the word of God, they too can overcome the wiles of the devil.
4. The temptation signalled the preparation of Jesus for the ministry.
5. The way Jesus handled the temptation showed that Jesus was not a political or economic messiah.

Lessons To Learn

1. The fact that Jesus was tempted is a piece of evidence that no man is above temptation. Temptation is normal and is not a sin but yielding to temptation is evil and a sin. As Christ overcame his temptation, every man should endeavour to overcome temptation.
2. In the book of Zachariah 4:6, it is written: “It is not by might nor by power but by the spirit says the Lord. Christ was able to overcome his temptations because the Holy Spirit was with him. It is only the Holy Spirit that can help a person overcome temptations but the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in a person living in sin. Therefore, Christians should endeavour to live a holy and righteous life to attract the presence of the Holy Spirit in their life.
3. Christians should try as much as possible not to be self-centred and overambitious. They should emulate Jesus Christ as he did not surrender himself to Satan’s offer which should have shown Jesus as a self-centered and overambitious person.
4. Christ’s temptation was based on material needs, self-glorification and power but he overcame them all. Here on earth, all the temptations of man should have its root in these three things. Therefore like Christ, Christians should endeavour to overcome temptation when they are tempted.