Luke 3:21-22

Below is a sermon manuscript from January 18, 2026. Watch the sermon here.

Introduction

Have you ever known someone who is incredibly entitled? Someone who thinks regular rules simply don’t apply to them? I will admit I enjoy coming across an occasional video or story about someone who thought they were above it all, only to be humbled. Maybe that says something about me, I don’t know. In our passage this morning, we actually do have one who is above it all. We have one that stands in no need of repentance and yet has John baptize him. Unlike the person who thinks it’s ridiculous that they were pulled over for doing 100 in a school zone, this episode feels like turning yourself in for a speeding ticket, even though you’ve never even driven a car. You are thinking, “What are you doing here?” 

Jesus Identifies With Sinners

Luke tells us that Jesus went into the water, too. This is different than other gospel accounts of the baptism. Luke gives many more details than other Gospel writers, but sometimes pulls back. That is true here. The Gospels do not contradict one another; the Bible is inerrant, but God uses human authors and their personalities to give different aspects of Jesus’ life. This is intentional within the flow of each of the gospels and is itself instructive. The main goal is not for us to reconstruct the historical event as much as sit and listen to what God has to teach us through His Word.

Think about all the missing details here. We don’t hear about John’s objection, like in Matthew’s gospel or Jesus’ rationale. We don’t hear that the Spirit came and remained on him, as in John’s gospel. These details matter, but we don’t get them here. 

The One who Is Above All Identities With the Crowd

But maybe that is intentional. The flow is from the crowds to Jesus. He is identified among the crowd as one of them. Why is this important? Think about the flow of Luke’s gospel right now. What came before this section? John just described Jesus as one who is greater than him. The one that John described as someone whose sandals he is unworthy to untie. And yet that very one steps into the waters alongside everyone else.

The one worthy of all honor is counted among sinners.

That is striking. So much of life is spent trying to rise above the ordinary—to be seen as different, elevated, set apart. But here, the Savior of the world does not separate himself from the people. Though he is far greater than the crowd, he identifies with them. His high position is not used to distance himself, but to serve.

The Just Judge Identifies With Sinners

Let’s not miss another detail of Jesus from John’s ministry. Remember from last week, John called people to repentance, but Jesus is the just judge. He is the one who separates the wheat and the chaff. This points to eternal punishment. 

John’s words remind us of our statement of faith, which summarizes both of these truths.

We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

What is remarkable in this episode is that we see the just judge that John describes as one who enters the waters with sinners. Not because he himself has sinned, or needs repentance, but because He has come as the Messiah, identifying with those he came to save. Before the judgment, there will be mercy, and the messiah is providing the way.

The Father Delights In the Son

The verse says that the heavens were opened. This is true in a literal sense; we see that the Holy Spirit descended bodily like a dove. This seems to have been a cosmic event, and the Father’s Words were spoken to the Son in a way that was also intended for others to hear. Matthew and John’s gospels tell us that John and Jesus were aware, and it is likely that others were aware of this, too. And that is a key aspect of this phrase as well. The heavens being opened is also a way to communicate within Scripture of a disclosure from God, a further revelation. And that is exactly what we have in this scene. It is God revealing who Jesus is, giving additional information about the one born of Mary, now baptized by John.

Jesus is the Messianic Son

First, we need to recognize that Jesus is referred to as the Son. Darrel Bock explains the importance,

The title “Son” in Judaism refers to the Son of God. The roots of the title go back to the Davidic covenant, where God agreed to treat David’s descendants as a father does a son (2 Sam. 7:7–16). In Psalm 2, the psalmist explains the importance of the sovereignty of the Son even in the midst of opposition and rejection. So when God uses this title here in Luke, he is marking out Jesus as the sovereign king.^[1]

This validates what John is doing and his calling to prepare the way and shows that it is Jesus who is the messiah to come.

Jesus is loved by the Father

The Father’s words to the Son are a main verb within the passage. This is the climax. It is important. Luke wants us to pay attention here. 

In this description, we also see the Father delights in the Son. This is his beloved son. We have echoes of Abraham’s love for his son Isaac in Genesis 22:2. This is a declaration of who Jesus is in himself and a permanent and fixed identity as one loved. The Father delights in the Son as the Son.

Ryken explains this profound mystery,

This is the paternal affection at the heart of the Godhead. In his eternal sonship, the Son of God is loved by the Father. Here is a great mystery. What can it mean for God to be loved by God? Within the inward relations of the Trinity we see the most perfect of all affections. The one who loves—in this case, the Father—loves with a perfect love. His affection knows no imperfection. And the one who is loved—in this case, the Son—is perfectly worthy to be loved. Thus there can be no more perfect love than the Father’s love for his beloved Son within the Trinity.^[2]

While this is unique, we can reflect this kind of love toward others. A kind of love that delights in them. Dads can reflect God the Father by being dads who delight in their kids and let others know it. How often are parents publicly complaining about their kids instead of publicly delighting in their kids? Are kids hindrances to your enjoyment of life or objects of your delight? 

Jesus pleases the Father

Jesus pleases the father by virtue of who he is. With you – Jesus – Son – I am well pleased. He did not need to do anything to have the approval of the Father. But his actions were met with approval as well. Here in Luke’s gospel, we hear mention of Jesus praying. Communion between Father and Son was present. The Father was communicating with the Son, who was communicating with Him. That itself is a pleasing thing. But it’s also within the context of the baptism. This act was one in which the Son was living in light of his role as messiah. He was taking on the mantle of his calling. The father is pleased with each aspect of the life of Jesus. 

You ever have those moments where you’re like “yeah, that’s my kid!” Sometimes these are positive, and sometimes they are negative. Sometimes we are proud of things we shouldn’t be proud of. 

The Father is pleased for all the right reasons, and the Father’s pleasure is grounded in his forever and abiding love for the Son. And this approval marks Jesus out once again as a fulfillment of prophecy. This time, the suffering servant in Isaiah is said to have the Spirit upon him. Matthew’s gospel explicitly relates the two.

Jesus is anointed by the Spirit

It says that the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove. We don’t know exactly what this means. It could be how the Spirit came down from the sky is like a dove, but the bodily form is different. And we don’t exactly know why dove is used beyond speculation. Though this is speculative, Thomas Goodwin beautifully meditates on why a dove,

“For a dove is the most meek and the most innocent of all birds; without gall, without talons, having no fierceness in it, expressing nothing but love and friendship to its mate in all its carriages, and mourning over its mate in all its distresses. And accordingly, a dove was a most fit emblem of the Spirit that was poured out upon our Saviour when He was just about to enter on the work of our salvation. For as sweetly as doves do converse with doves, so may every sinner and Christ converse together.”^[3]

In any case, what is clear is that in this moment, we don’t have only the Father and the Son, we also have the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity is present at the baptism of Jesus. The Triune God is one in essence and three in persons, each perfectly fulfilling his role. Here we see the Father speaking over the Son, and the Holy Spirit anointing the Son for ministry.

This is not to suggest that the Spirit was absent from Jesus up to this point. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Rather, this moment marks him out publicly and decisively. It is a kind of divine commissioning, similar to how God set apart prophets, priests, and kings in the Old Testament,  but now brought to its fulfillment in the true and final Son.

What begins here is the public ministry of Jesus. The Spirit who descends upon him is the same Spirit who will empower his teaching, sustain him through temptation, and accompany him all the way to the cross and resurrection. This baptism is not merely a private affirmation; it is God’s declaration that Jesus is the one sent, authorized, and equipped to carry out the saving work he came to accomplish.

Those United to Christ Share In That Delight

The same Spirit that anointed Jesus to ministry unites all who repent and belive to Jesus and His saving work for sinners. Think about the wonder of this passage as those who have been united to Christ.

Jesus was obedient for sinners

The Baptism of Jesus visibly demonstrates a key theme in Scripture: Jesus fulfills the law as the true son of Abraham. And, as we will see in the next section, it goes deeper than that. Jesus is obedient as the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the Son of Adam, the Son of God. He is doing what all of humanity has failed to do. And that Jesus fulfills the law in our place to do what we have failed to do. We can be overwhelmed when we hear the call to repent and believe. We might think, “What if I don’t do this perfectly? What are the aspects of my life I have yet to turn from? Will God accept me?” Jesus’ baptism gives hope for those who ask such questions. Turning from sin to Jesus doesn’t mean we get everything right first and then God is happy with us. It means we recognize that we fall short and we trust in Jesus who came for us. Jesus did what we have failed to do. Jesus not only identified with sinners but also walked the path that sinners were supposed to walk. 

Jesus represented sinners as he entered the waters

Why are you here, Jesus? He was there to fulfill all righteousness for sinners, for you. Maybe this puts it more concretely: Jesus had you in mind when he entered the waters. So that you might be saved. As you struggle to fall asleep, remembering your past wrongs, wondering how God could ever forgive you, Jesus took those sins into the water with him in a baptism of repentance, one that points forward to his saving work on the cross and resurrection. This is why John’s baptism wasn’t sufficient, as we see in Acts 19, it pointed ahead to something greater.

In Christ, You are God’s Beloved Child, and He Is Pleased With You

The wonderful reality that we have been seeing in this passage is that because of Jesus’ work, the wonderful words of God spoken to Jesus can be said of us as well. Because the Spirit unites Christians to Jesus, the words to Jesus are the words to us. We are God’s children, adopted and loved by God. 1 John 3:1a tells us, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” And though we sin, those who turn from their sins and trust in Jesus are united to him in his perfect righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). Christian, the words to Jesus can be properly said to be the words to us. God delights in you. God is pleased with you. This is true because of the work of Christ for you. And the remaining effects of sin will be washed away. Until that day, we can trust in Christ’s work on our behalf and pursue a life of obedience empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

This is what we celebrate this morning. Jesus’ perfect obedience even to death means that the disobedient might experience life. The blood of the Lord makes possible the future banquet of the Lord. This is available to all who come to Christ. If you are a Christian here this morning and doubting God’s love for you, reflect upon this scene. If you belong to Jesus, the proclamation from the Father to the Son is His proclamation to you. You do not need to clean yourself up for God to love you; Jesus was clean in your place. You are loved. If you do not belong to Christ, come to him in repentance and faith. He made a way through his life and death for all who repent and believe.

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^[1] Darrell L. Bock, Luke, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), 113.

^[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Luke, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, vol. 1, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009), 137.

^[3] Philip Graham Ryken, Luke, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, vol. 1, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009), 135.