To Fulfill All Righteousness
February 2, 2025 Preacher: Kevin Godin Series: Matthew - The King in His Beauty
Sermon Transcript:
My wife Beth likes to go to the Goodwill store and look around. I am not a big fan of shopping, especially when I don’t have a specific item I need, so if I go with her, I usually wait in the car. As a result, I have spent a lot of time over the years looking at the Goodwill logo, which is one-half of a smiling face with the word Goodwill written underneath it. I just realized several days ago that the “G” at the beginning of the word Goodwill is the same as the smiling face. That blew my mind. How did I never see that before? Often, we do not truly see things, even though we have looked at them many times.
Our passage today is a bit like that. I have read it many times, but it was never a passage that really encouraged me or challenged me but that changed as I prepared to preach this message. I had looked at it many times, but I was not truly seeing it. I think the baptism of Jesus is often overlooked, but I see now this is one of the most precious and beautiful passages in the Bible. I pray this morning that the Holy Spirit will help us to truly see it and that we leave today with hearts filled with praise because of the truth God reveals in this text.
We know that the great work of salvation is completed on the cross and in the resurrection, but the work begins here in the passage will look at today. Matthew has already introduced Jesus as “God with us”, and now we will see Him begin His work among us, standing in our place, as our representative. The main point of the message this morning is that…
Jesus, who is righteous, was pleased to be counted among sinners, so that we, who are sinners, can be counted among the righteous.
Last week, we read that John the Baptist came before Jesus and preached a bold message of repentance. He vigorously and urgently commanded sinners to turn from their sin and follow God. Many were coming to hear him, and he was baptizing them as a testimony of their being washed clean of their sins by faith in God’s promise to forgive those who trusted in Him to save. Remember, John is doing this in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. That’s where we pick up in verse 13 which says,
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
As John surveys the crowd, to his astonishment, he sees Jesus approaching to be baptized. This is the one so pure and holy that makes the repentance of the people necessary. This is the one whom John says is so far above him that he isn't even worthy to carry His sandals! John baptizes with water but here is the one who can baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Messiah has appeared, but not at the top of the temple mount, He has appeared among the sinners, to be baptized with them.
Baptism is a symbol of repentance, of sin being washed away, but Jesus has no sin. He is perfectly holy and there is nothing for which He could repent. Standing before John is the only man in the history of the world who has no need of baptism. No need of repentance or forgiveness. We must repent and be baptized because we are all sinners. Romans 3:23 says,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Most people, when asked, will tell you they are a good person. It is easy to convince ourselves we are good when we compare ourselves to other sinners because it’s not hard to find people we think are worse than we are. But you don’t have to be a carpenter to realize that you cannot measure how straight something is with a crooked yardstick. Comparing ourselves to other sinners is like trying to measure something with a bent ruler. To get an accurate measurement, you need to measure against a standard that you know is straight and true.
God gives us that kind of standard in His holy law. This is the standard against which we will be measured when our life is over and we stand before God to be judged. What do we see when we compare ourselves to that benchmark? Have you ever told a lie or intentionally deceived someone? Have you ever taken anything that didn’t belong to you, even something small? Have you ever looked upon another person or fantasized lustfully? Disrespected your parents? Felt you deserved something that belongs to someone else, or failed to be thankful for what you have?
When I evaluate my life before the perfect law of God, I see what my heart really looks like. Before the law I stand condemned as a lying, thieving, adulterous, covetous, and ungrateful man and that is just a start. Some sinners may be better than others, just as some cancers are better to have than others, but none of them are good, and neither are any of us. We all fall into the category of those who have rebelled against God. 1 John 1:8 says,
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The truth is that we do not deserve the forgiveness of God any more than a guilty criminal deserves to be set free. Once we have sinned, we cannot erase the sin by doing other good works. Judges don’t let murderers go free because they follow the other laws. If you are making an omelet and drop a rotten egg into the bowl as you are mixing, you can’t fix it by simply adding another good egg on top of it. Once corruption enters, it is ruined.
But Jesus never sinned. 1 Peter 2:22 says,
22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
The same law that condemns us proves His righteousness. He never told a lie or deceived anyone. He never took anything that didn’t belong to Him. He never looked upon another with lust. He never disrespected His parents, and He was never covetous or ungrateful. There was nothing for Him to repent of.
John is understandably confused and disturbed to see Him coming for baptism. John says, “no” I am the one that needs to be baptized by you! What are you doing? It is scandalous for The Holy One, the Son of God, to be counted among the sinners. It is inappropriate for one who has no guilt to be included among the guilty and for a righteous one to be treated as a law-breaker.
15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.
John is troubled, but Jesus assures him it is ok. Our Lord often does things that are hard for us to understand, but He knows what He is doing, and we can trust His word. When He speaks, we can trust Him. He tells John to proceed. Jesus says it is fitting for Him to be humbled so that all righteousness will be fulfilled.
Of course, it is not His righteousness that was lacking, but ours. Jesus is willing to be brought low so that we can be lifted up. He submits to be counted as a sinner because He is living as we are called to live. He is accomplishing everything necessary as our representative so that we will receive the fullness of the promises of God. Although Jesus was sinless, He chose to be baptized to identify with sinners and thus serve as our High Priest who represents us before the Father.
We rightly emphasize the work Jesus did upon the cross in making atonement for our sins, but every moment of His life was lived with the purpose of obtaining salvation for all who put their faith in Him. He stands in that water in our place, and everything is moving Him closer to the Cross where He will declare, “it is finished”. You cannot finish work unless you begin it. The puritan Richard Sibbes wrote,
“He was baptized in water, that He might be baptized in blood. The river Jordan was but a shadow of that deep flood of wrath He would endure for us.”
Isaiah 53:11 & 12 speak of Him bearing the iniquities of His people and of Him being numbered with the transgressors. That happens at the Cross, but it begins here. This is, in a sense, the consecration of Jesus as our High Priest as He begins His ministry. Priests were ceremoniously washed so they could represent the people before God in bringing sacrifices on their behalf. In love, Jesus is volunteering Himself as our representative, as the one who will bring sacrifices for our sins. By identifying with us in this way he is not just proclaiming salvation but actively working to bring it about.
What a merciful Savior we have! When I consider the glory and goodness of Christ and then I think about Him standing in that muddy water for me. The Prince of Heaven, Creator of the Universe, standing in my place, it is overwhelming. I can hardly bear to think about the indignities and humiliation He endured because of His love for me. What suffering and pain He went through because He chose to save me. As He stands in that river, He already knows where this is going. He already knows what it will mean for Him.
This is a love I do not deserve and could never hope for or ask for. I am not worth it, it is too much, but then I hear my Savior say, “Let it be so for now.” He is not reluctant to save. Nobody forces Him to go to the Cross. It was not the nails, but love that held Him there. He is the Good Shepherd who goes after the lost sheep of His fold. He did not come to be served, but to serve, not to wear a crown of gold, but a crown of thorns. Brothers and sisters, do you realize how much He loves us!
He doesn’t love us because we can do anything for Him. He does not love us with a passing affection, but with a love stronger than death, a love willing to bear the full weight of divine wrath so that we will be spared. It is impossible to love more and He knows everything about us. Our every thought and deed. Things we would be ashamed for even our closest friends to know, and yet He still steps forward in our place. He loves me. He loves me as one unworthy, wretched, lost, and helpless. He loves me to the point of shame, to the point of humiliation. Even to the point of suffering and death.
We often struggle because it is hard for us to believe that Jesus really loves us like this. What about you? Maybe you’ve heard about God’s love, but deep down, you feel unworthy, distant, or too broken to be forgiven. If so, I want you to understand Jesus didn’t step into the water for perfect people. He didn’t go to the cross for those who had it all together. He went for the guilty, the weary, the sinners, the ones who have tried and failed. You are a sinner, and I am a sinner, but the good news is that Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
The question is not whether He is willing. He went into the water. He went to the Cross. He has proven He is willing to give His life for us. The question is are we willing to give up our pride and give our lives for Him? He stands ready to save, but we must come in faith. He is not ashamed to be identified with those who are not ashamed to be identified with Him. May our lives reflect the joy of a people who know we have been forgiven, redeemed, and clothed in His righteousness. May we live boldly, love deeply, and proclaim faithfully that Jesus Christ is Lord without apology.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you that doctrine is dry or impractical. This is life-transforming truth! When we understand how much grace and mercy we have been shown, how can we not be merciful and forgiving to others? How can we look down on others when we have been lifted from the very grave by God’s mercy?
Many of us seem eager, like John, to stand before a wicked world demanding their repentance but let us remember that we are to follow Jesus who not only demanded the repentance of sinners but loved them and had compassion on them and went to them to bring salvation. Our witness must be marked not only by the truth of God, but also His love.
Jesus does not just demand holiness, He provides it. He obtains it with His own life and death and offers it as a gift to all who will receive it by faith. He not only requires all righteousness, he fulfills it. He steps into the water, into the grave, to raise us to walk in newness of life in His strength. Jesus is like a firefighter who does not stand outside shouting instructions but enters the building at the risk of His own life. He goes to where the people who need to be saved are, and He brings them out.
What good does it do to call people to repent if we don’t tell them about the love of Jesus? We cannot save sinners, but we can go to them and tell them about the one who can. We have compassion and mercy and tell them about the Savior who lived, died, and rose again to bring salvation.
We think a lot about Jesus dying for us. It is celebrated in our songs and captured in the images of the Crosses that adorn our worship space. Yes, Jesus died for us, but He also lived for us. The Cross accomplishes what God intended for it because the life of Jesus was an acceptable offering. He was a spotless lamb, a perfect sacrifice. We are saved by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
In all that He does, Jesus is our substitute before the Law of God. He satisfies all the requirements of the Law in our place, and He also satisfies all the penalties of the Law in our place. Theologians speak of this as the active and passive obedience of Christ. His active obedience refers to His fulfilling all the requirements of the law for righteousness. His passive obedience refers to His satisfying the penalties of the law against sin.
Jesus accomplishes more than merely dying for our sins, by our union with Him through faith, we are also made righteous before God by His works. Understand, we are saved by works, just not our own works. Every requirement of God’s law had to be met, and Jesus met them all in our place. This should bring us great comfort and peace. The work of salvation has already been completed.
Sadly, some believers live with constant guilt, feeling they can never do enough. Others are always trying to make up for their sin by trying to be a better Christian. But the good news is this: If you are in Christ, God is already fully pleased with you because He is fully pleased with Jesus. You don’t have to earn His love and acceptance, it’s already yours in Christ.
In other words, for us to be reconciled to God, we need more than just forgiveness of our sin. We also need the righteousness that comes with perfect obedience to God’s holy law. Jesus, our Savior, provides us with both—the cleansing of our sins and perfect righteousness. It is through both His life and His death that we are made whole, reconciled, and restored to our Creator in every way.
If Jesus only died for our sins, we would have no sin to condemn us, but also no righteousness to commend us. Jesus offers us more than just forgiveness. He not only satisfies the justice of God against our sin but also offers us His own righteous life as our testimony before God.
When we come to Christ there is a great exchange. He receives our sin and condemnation, and we receive His righteousness. The sin is removed forever because He has paid the price. God is satisfied. Colossians 2:13–14 says,
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
It is like we were arrested because we have racked up millions of dollars in fines that we owe to the government because we violated the law. We are guilty, but then someone else comes in and pays the fines. The Judge can let us go free because the debt has been satisfied. The legal demands have been met. That is what Jesus does with our sin.
Some believers continue living as if they owe something. Others think they can sin freely because they are forgiven. Both views miss the point. When we understand what Jesus has done, we will live neither in guilt or rebellion, but in gratitude. We don’t need to carry a debt that's already been paid.
But if someone pays our debt, we still don’t have any money in our account. We are free from judgment under the law, but we are still broke. We walk out of the courtroom with nothing, no condemnation, but also no resources, no ability to live the life we were meant to live. We are not in prison, but we are destitute. But Jesus doesn’t pay our debts and leave us empty handed. He credits us with His own righteousness. He transfers His wealth into our account! He doesn’t just wipe the slate clean; He fills it with His perfect obedience. Romans 5:19 says,
19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
So now, when the Judge looks at us, He doesn’t just see someone who is no longer guilty, He sees someone who is righteous. Not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ has done for us. This is grace! This is justification! Not just the removal of guilt, but the gift of righteousness. Not just the removal of wrath, but the pouring out of favor. Not just the cancellation of debt, but the inheritance of infinite riches in Christ!
This is why Jesus is better. Better than your career. Better than your bank account. Better than your entertainment. Better than your comfort. Because everything in this world is dying, but Jesus is eternal. Everything in this world will fade but the glory of Jesus never will. What else could we want? Money? You can’t buy what is most valuable. Status? It will be forgotten. Comfort or pleasure. It won’t last. Everything the world has to offer will betray you in the end, but in Jesus, we have promises that will never fade, never spoil, and never fail. That is why the apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:8–9,
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith
In an act of incredible love, Jesus came and lived the life we were created to live and He did it with perfect love and obedience. He was tempted just as we were, but He succeeded where we failed. Then, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for sin. He was tortured and killed, nailed to a cross, as our substitute to satisfy the justice of God against sin. You could say He endured hell on the cross in our place so that we didn’t have to.
Three days later He rose from the dead. The penalty was satisfied, there was no more debt to pay for those who trusted in what He did as their payment. Now, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, calling all sinners to repent and put their faith in Him. What was impossible, is now possible. Sinners can be accepted by God and have the hope of eternal life because of what Jesus has done.
All those who believe in Jesus can stand before God without fear or shame. The 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon said it this way,
“You stand before God as if you were Christ, because Christ stood before God as if He were you.”
Jesus did not need to be baptized. He was baptized for our sake. He took our place in that line. It is a line that ends with Him, still standing in our place, bearing the wrath of a Holy God against our sin. Because He was willing to do this, we will stand someday with thousands upon thousands of other redeemed sinners shouting with a loud voice, “Worthy is the lamb who was slain… to receive all honor and glory and blessing.” Verse 16 says,
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
What must the angels have thought watching this? Here is the great King of heaven, the one before whom they cry, “Holy, holy, holy”, before whom even they must cover their faces, standing where rebels should stand, where I should stand. I cannot image what they thought about Jesus doing this for someone like me. It must not have made any sense to them, but what a wonderful thing to hear that when the Father looked upon this scene, He says,
This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
The Father delights in the Son. This was their divine plan, formed in eternity past. This is why He came. In this glorious act, the Father is pleased because in Christ's perfect obedience, He is fulfilling all righteousness, securing the redemption of His people, and glorifying the Father’s name.
Brothers and sisters, this is where the hope of our salvation lies; that we are accepted in the Beloved, that we are clothed in His righteousness, and that we are made partakers of His divine nature. We should therefore hear with gladness the heavenly proclamation, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," knowing that in Him, we too are pleasing to God, for we are in Christ, and Christ in us, all to the glory of God!
Praise God Jesus was not ashamed to be identified with us, I pray we are never ashamed to be identified with Him. I pray we leave here today overwhelmed with the love of Jesus for us. I pray that love so fills us that we are willing to be humbled so others can be blessed. I pray our joy is so deep we delight in nothing more than pleasing Him. May our confidence in His perfect work be so strong that there is nothing the devil can do to discourage us.
Whatever difficulties we face, physically or spiritually, if we have Christ, we are never without a reason to rejoice. The Gospel of Jesus is truly good news. May God grant us the grace to walk in light of its truths every day.
I would like to end with the words of the apostle Paul from Romans 5:6–11,
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
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