The Outsiders | Identifying with Sinners

At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River so that John would baptize him. John tried to stop him and said, "I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?"

Jesus answered, "Allow me to be baptized now. This is necessary to fulfill all righteousness."

So John agreed to baptize Jesus. When Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him. A voice from heaven said, "This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him." 

Matthew 3:13-17 (Common English Bible)

John was baptizing people in the Jordan River, and everyone who came to him knew exactly why they were there. They were sinners. They needed to be made clean. That's what John's baptism was all about: turning away from sin and washing away the dirt that had accumulated in their lives.

So when Jesus showed up, John was confused. He knew who Jesus was. He recognized that Jesus was different from everyone else standing in line. And John's response makes perfect sense: "I need to be baptized by you, yet you come to me?"

John understood the problem. If baptism was for sinners who needed purification, and Jesus was without sin, then Jesus had no reason to be there. Jesus was already clean. There was nothing to wash away.

But Jesus insisted. He told John, "This is necessary."

To understand why it was necessary, we need to understand what ritual purity meant to the people of Israel. Being ritually clean wasn't just about personal hygiene. It was about whether God's holiness could dwell among his people. And there were all kinds of things that could make someone ritually unclean. Things like touching a dead body, having certain kinds of skin conditions, eating forbidden foods, or even touching someone else who was unclean.

When you were unclean, you had to do something about it. You had to go through a purification ritual by immersing yourself in water. This wasn't optional. If you were unclean and you didn't purify yourself, you were separating yourself from God's presence.

So everyone at the Jordan River that day was there because they knew they were unclean. They knew they had messed up. They knew they needed to be made clean, not just on the outside, but on the inside as well.

But Jesus didn't need any of that. So Jesus had every reason to stay on the shore. He had every reason to keep his distance. He had every reason to avoid contamination. But Jesus stepped into the water anyway.

And that's the point. Jesus didn't get baptized because he needed to be purified. Jesus got baptized because he chose to identify with sinners. He chose to stand with people that everyone else said were unclean. He chose to move toward people instead of avoiding them.

This is who God is. While we try to avoid what's unclean, God moves toward it. 

We spend so much energy trying to protect ourselves from contamination. We avoid people whose lives are messy. We keep our distance from people who might make us uncomfortable. We stay in our safe spaces with people who are already clean.

But that's not what Jesus did. Jesus stepped down into the water with sinners. Jesus identified with the people everyone else was avoiding. And Jesus calls us to do the same thing.

So who are we avoiding? Who have we decided might contaminate us if we get too close? Who are we keeping at arm's length because we're afraid of what might happen if we really engage with them?

Because if we're going to follow Jesus, we can't stay on the shore. We have to be willing to step into the water with the people everyone else is avoiding.

Prayer:

God, thank you for sending Jesus to step into the water with sinners. Thank you for moving toward us instead of avoiding us. Thank you for choosing identification over separation. Help us follow Jesus' example. Give us courage to move toward people we'd rather avoid. And help us stop being afraid of contamination when you've called us to step into the water. Amen.