The Life of Christ

Some have questioned the deity of Christ because He submitted to water baptism, implying that He too was a sinner

• Jesus was baptized because He wanted to establish the necessity of submitting to all forms of authority.

• John 13:15 reads, “For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.”

Mt. 3:16 And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he (John) saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him,

A natural dove did not descend upon Jesus; instead, the Spirit transformed Himself into the form of a dove and lit upon Jesus.

• This Dove may have appeared like a hologram.

• At this moment Jesus became the Christ, which means “the Anointed One.”

• “The Christ” (Greek) and “the Messiah” (Hebrew) both mean the same thing —“the Anointed One.”

• He was no longer Jesus of Nazareth, but now Jesus Christ, a title never bestowed upon Him or anyone else before.

• There is no record of anyone seeing the Dove other than John and Jesus (Jn. 1:32).

Mt. 3:17 “…and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well- pleased.’”

The voice of the Father represented the second viable witness.

• The Spirit testified through the appearance of the dove.

• “All things are established at the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses.”

• At this moment we encounter the very peak of heavenly authority: Father, Spirit, Jesus, and the prophet John the Baptist.

• As a final note, Jn. 1:33 states that John the Baptist saw the “ Spirit descending and remaining upon Him.”

If we compare Matthew’s account with Luke and Mark, we find that the Father spoke two different sentences at the same time.

• In Matthew’s account the Father speaks to the people gathered: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17).

• In Luke ’s and Mark’s account the Father speaks directly to Jesus: “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mk. 1:11; Lk. 3:22).

• The Father has the ability to audibly declare one sentence but have Jesus and the people each hear it differently to fulfill two different purposes.

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