Tips for Teaching This Week’s Session of The Gospel Project for Adults

Listen to this week’s leader training podcast with Y Bonesteele, team leader for The Gospel Project for Adults, for a summary and guidance in leading your group.

This week’s additional resources for study and preparation:

• Sermon Manuscript: “The Baptism of Jesus and Our Baptism” by Joseph Vest
• Article: “To Fulfill All Righteousness” by Knox Chamblin
• Sermon: “Behold the Beloved Son” by Chris Hutchison
• Podcast: “The Heavens Declare: The Baptism of Christ” by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth with Dannah Gresh

Transcript of Leader Training Podcast:

Hi, this is Y Bonesteele, team leader of The Gospel Project for Adults. Welcome to another Leader Training podcast. Today we are in Unit 20, Session 2: Jesus Was Baptized. With the core passage of Matthew 3:13-17 and with the key concept of: Jesus, the Second Person of the divine Trinity, set an example for us in humility.

After John the Baptist called people to repentance in the wilderness, preparing the way for the Lord, Matthew went straight into the story of Jesus coming from Galilee to see John. Jesus’s purpose? “To be baptized by him,” by John the Baptist, as seen in verse 13. But John, knowing who Jesus was, “tried to stop him, saying ‘I need to be baptized by you and yet you come to me?’”

What reasons might John have had to stop Jesus from being baptized by him? John knew that Jesus was greater than he. Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior. John knew he was nothing compared to Jesus. He humbly knew that Jesus as one without sin should be baptizing him, a mere human. Also, John’s baptism came with repentance and Jesus did not need to repent of anything because He was blameless, so John initially did not want to baptize Jesus.

Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Fulfilling all righteousness points to the fulfillment of the salvific plans God had in store. Jesus wanted John to baptize Him to identify with us, humanity, sinners, pointing to the fact that He would die in our place and take the punishment for our sins, even though He Himself was without sin. And like the passing of the baton, John baptizing Jesus showed how Jesus affirmed John’s ministry as the preparer for the One to come, as prophesied, and the confirmation that Jesus was that One to come. Thus, “John allowed [Jesus] to be baptized” in verse 15.

What should we learn and emulate from Jesus’s example in being baptized by John? Jesus’s humble attitude is what we learn. That being God and blameless, He still wanted John to baptize Him. He lowered Himself, in a sense, to identify with us and to affirm John. True leadership humbles themselves and lifts others up.

When Jesus was baptized then, he went up immediately from the water and “the heavens suddenly opened for him,” some call this a divine passive where we know in active voice it was God who opened up the heavens. “And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.” We are not sure in what way the Spirit was descending like a dove, probably less in the sense of a visible animal, but more in terms of descending gently, smoothly, or gracefully.

The Spirit descending like a dove also has other symbolic significance. The Gospel Project Commentary on page 79-80 mentions other biblical passages that are linked to this one: namely in Genesis where the Spirit was hovering over the waters in creation, how a dove signaled the end of God’s judgment after the Flood, how doves were sacrificial options in Leviticus, and how doves were symbolic of purity and peace in Song of Solomon. Though the Spirit is not a dove, nor did it appear as a dove here, Matthew connected the two with figurative language.

The descent of the Spirit on Jesus was a divine anointing for Jesus as He began His ministry. It also again, fulfilled prophecy from Isaiah about the Servant of the Lord. Isaiah 42:1 states: “This is my servant; I strengthen him, this is my chosen one; I delight in him. I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring justice to the nations.” Matthew later points this out in chapter 12, verse 18. Isaiah 11:2 also alludes to Davidic kingship and the role of the Spirit when it states: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him —a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” So the descent of the Spirit anointed Jesus for the ministry He was about to begin.

And then “a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

Why is it significant that all three Persons of the Trinity were active at Jesus’s baptism? Jesus’s baptism initiated His ministry, and all three Persons of the Trinity were there to confirm and substantiate it. We forget sometimes how momentous this occasion was. The beginning of the journey toward redemption and salvation for humanity.

What does it mean to be well-pleasing to God? Referring to Jesus, He is blameless and without sin. He is set on His mission to fulfill God’s plans of redemption and He is obedient to death. And He does so with joy because of His love for us. All those things show how He is well-pleasing to God.

So clearly, this voice was the voice of God, the Father. A voice that the Jews hadn’t heard in a long time. The intertestamental period had no prophetic word from God for 400 years; it was the silent years. And here God’s voice was clear, pronouncing Jesus as His Son, in whom He is well pleased. The connection to Psalm 2:7: “I will declare the Lord’s decree. He said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’” would have been evident. Also, the connection back to Isaiah 42:1 points clearly to Jesus as God’s Servant and Son, one who the Spirit is on, and one who the Father is delighted in, again, the verse is: “This is my servant; I strengthen him, this is my chosen one; I delight in him. I have put my Spirit on him; he will bring justice to the nations.” We thus see Isaiah’s prophetic voice being fulfilled in Jesus as God’s Servant.

All the Gospel writers write about this momentous occasion, and you can scan the QR code on page 78 of the Leader Guide to see the harmony of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s baptism.

Jesus, thus, needed to be fully God and fully human to be able to save humanity.  Last session, we saw Him growing as fully human. This session, we see Him as the Second Person of the one triune God. He humbled Himself to dwell among us and to identify Himself with sinful humanity, yet He was without sin as The Gospel Connection states.

On to the Group Experience, start with the icebreaker about someone above you serving you. Move on to the Context, recalling the last session where John the Baptist was calling people to repentance and preparing the way for the Lord. Recap, going through the study, highlighting any key ideas that stood out to the group. Pass out Pack Item 7: Jesus is God, pointing out what John the Baptist knew about Jesus, namely that he knew Jesus was preexistent and he knew Jesus was the Son of God. John humbly saw how Jesus was greater than he was, yet Jesus still wanted to be baptized by John. And he humbly submitted to do so.

Transition then into the Group Activity and the roles of those who were there at the baptism. Recreate the chart “Roles in Jesus’s Baptism” on the board. Have someone read Matthew 3:13-17. Form 4 smaller group and assign each row to each group.

For God the Father, answers may include that His role was to announce His Son, Jesus, and confirm Him into ministry and the divine plan He was set on. His voice inaugurated a new phase of relationship with His people, a voice spoken after 400 years of silence. It also confirmed the role of God the Father in relation to God, the Son, Jesus, and how He was well-pleased with Jesus.

For God the Son, Jesus: Jesus’s role was to be baptized by John to “fulfill all righteousness” in verse 15, to fulfill all that God had planned for humanity’s salvation. He submitted to be baptized, and He presented Himself ready to start His ministry as God set it out to be and to identify with humanity as He would be their substitute and sacrifice.

For God the Holy Spirit, His role was to descend upon Jesus, in some visible way that He was witnessed by those there, coming down onto Jesus, anointing and confirming Jesus for ministry and for His role in God’s salvific plans.

Moving to John’s role, answers can include that he humbly baptized Jesus, although initially he didn’t want to, knowing Jesus was greater than he was. John thought because Jesus was greater, He should be the one baptizing John, not the other way around. But John eventually submitted to Jesus’s instructions.

If the group’s answers need more engagement, cover the questions under the Engage directives on page 81 of the Leader Guide.

Then display Pack Item 8: The Trinity and pass out copies of Pack Item 9: The Trinity to review the triune nature of God: God is one and God is one in three Persons. Point to the diagram and read the paragraphs for additional help.

Back to the passage, ask: “How was the Spirit’s role one of identification (John 1:32-34) as well as anointing and empowering (Luke 4:16-21)?” Especially noting that God had been silent for 400 years, the appearance of the Spirit descending showed the uniqueness of Jesus and, according to John, identified Jesus as One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and is the Son of God from John 1:32-34. And we see the Spirit’s anointing in verses like Luke 4:18 which quotes Isaiah 61:1 about how “the Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” The Spirit continued to guide and empower Jesus as seen in the following verse of the core passage, in chapter 4, verse 1, showing how the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted.

Then ask, “Who needed to hear that God the Father was well-pleased with the Son of God: Jesus, John the Baptist, the disciples, or us?” I would say all of the above. Confirmation of the Father’s relationship with the Son and how He was well-pleased confirms Jesus as the Son of God, holy and blameless.

Debrief with: “How did Jesus humble Himself in this scene?” By submitting to the Father’s will and submitting to be baptized by John. “What are some ways we can humble ourselves and walk in obedience to God?” Serve others, learn about others, learn to give grace and forgiveness when needed, see people of all types, especially those marginalized, through the eyes of Jesus.

Summarize and answer the Hands question if time is limited. “What are some ways you will set aside your privileges to obey the Lord and humbly serve others? Varying answers can include areas like marriage, with kids, with parents, neighbors, and the like.

Go through Next Steps bullet points and end with prayer requests and praises. If time permits, close by praying through Psalm 146:1-2 as you recognize the Triune God: “Hallelujah! My soul, praise the Lord. 2 I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I live.”

Thanks again for joining me on another Leader Training podcast. Reach out at [email protected] and hope you have a great group time!