Throughout the Bible, there have been many heaven meets earth moments. Where what is true or seen in the heavenlies is being revealed to God's people. Often we call these apocalypses or revelations. And this morning I'm not using that word to speak of the genre or even the book of revelation. I'm using this term to speak of a point of revealing that God's people are being made known of truth through super ordinary means. This text is one that many of us are familiar with. And at times when we come to read it, we can gloss over it thinking that Jesus's baptism was simply ordinary. As if Jesus was going through the motions of his life. But here we see quite literally the heavens are opened and heaven meets earth. In this passage, the person and work of Jesus is being revealed to us with more clarity. In it we see Jesus's mission, his anointing and his sonship. This is what is being revealed to us. And what we're to see here is that Jesus baptism reveals Jesus's mission anointing and his sonship. And this will serve as our outline this morning. Please look at verses 13 to 15 as we look as we consider our first point, Jesus mission. Jesus now is an adult around 30 years old and he comes to the Jordan to the place of preparation. As we heard last week, he's in the wilderness. And as he prepares for his ministry, he comes to his cousin John, the Baptist, and he says to him, I'm here to be baptized by you. Well, Matthew tells us that John would have sought to prevent Jesus from receiving his baptism. Last week's text, John prevented the Pharisees and the Sadducees from being baptized. But the reason that he prevented them is because they were hypocrites according to John. But here he's seeking to prevent Jesus because of his holiness. If you remember, we learned last week that John's baptism was one of repentance. It was a ritual washing that prefigured Christian baptism. John majored on telling the people of God to turn from their sins and turn to God. Jesus, however, is sinless. He has nothing to repent of, no sin to confess. And John knows this and further points out this fact by saying, I need to be baptized by you, knowing that Jesus was the one that was to come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John seems to have some knowledge of Jesus being the Messiah and he seeks to prevent him from participating in his baptism of repentance. But Jesus says it was necessary. He says that it is a means of both of them fulfilling righteousness or accomplishing righteousness. It's hard to narrow exactly what Jesus means by this. Some say that Jesus is authenticating the ministry of John. Others say that Jesus is washing and consecrating himself as a priest according to Levitical law. Some say that Jesus himself is obeying his own commandment to be baptized, all of which are compelling reasons, but the text doesn't exactly say what this means. Theologically, however, we see that Jesus, the righteous one, is taking the place of an unrighteous sinner. The sinless one identifying as a sinner, taking the place that we deserve. And in doing so, he saves us from the wrath to come. Jesus standing in the water of the Jordan is pointing to the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 11, which says the righteous servant justifying many as he bears their iniquities. Verse 12 goes on to say of Isaiah 53, because he poured out his soul to death being numbered among the transgressors. By getting into the waters of baptism here, Jesus is identifying with those he came to save. Second Corinthians 5 21 says God made him to know God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. The righteous one of God sought to fulfill righteousness now and throughout his life so that we would be brought to God. In Jesus baptism, we see his mission, seeing that his preparation for the mission would be a means of presentation of his mission, revealing himself to us that we would see him as the one to come to save his people from their sins. In the genre of epics, it is common for the protagonist to have a concealed identity. We see this in the stories like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or even classic myths like Romulus and Remus. The stage is set, the supporting actors are pointed out and they tell us the significance of the hero to come. But they are yet to be revealed. In this action of entering the waters of baptism here, Jesus is pointing to the work that we will come to do to save his people from their sins. That which is concealed is being revealed. Our righteous King came to save sinners like you and I, to stand in the waters to identify with us to ultimately redeem us. We want to see that the first thing that is recorded of Jesus' ministry is him revealing his mission to save sinners. We are to see that our King did not sin. He had nothing to confess, but he puts himself in the water to fulfill all righteousness for us. Identifying with us as sinners that we would one day identify him as righteous. Jesus' baptism points to the cross. The mission is being revealed to us so that we would believe. Just like Matthew's first audience, we are to see who Jesus is and that he says who he says he was. Even from the first day of his ministry until his last, he was on a mission to save sinners. And so we've seen the baptism of Jesus reveals Jesus' mission. But as we say this, how do we know that this was his mission? How is this authenticated by God? And this leads us to his anointing. Look at me at verse 16. Jesus comes up from the water and the heavens are open and the Spirit descends on him like a dove. The significance of this moment can be easily lost or even confusing. Throughout church history, there have been many false beliefs based on these verses, such as the heresies of adoptionism, ebbianism, and some forms of gnosysim. All teaching that in some way that Jesus needed the Spirit to minister. That he was not fully God and at this moment his life changed and somehow making him God-like or being adopted by God to do God's purposes. In church this is simply not true. We know that from the confessions and creeds that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, begotten of the Father, not created eternally begotten. Meaning that before time began the Son existed. We also believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Trinity, proceeds from the Father and the Son. We believe in a triune God, one God and three persons, equal in glory and power and co-eternal. We also know that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, that he is full of the Spirit. So given all this, what is taking place here? Jesus is being anointed by the Spirit. The term Christ or Messiah means anointed one. We often use it synonymously as King, Lord, or Ruler, but it means anointed one. Typically, Kings or priests of Israel were messiahked or oiled or anointed as they entered their office. For Jesus to truly be the Christ, he must be anointed. Unlike the other Kings and priests of old, Jesus is not anointed by simply oil. He is anointed by the Spirit. He is set apart to his office, not by oil that imaged God's Spirit, but by the real thing, by the real person, the third person in the Trinity, descends on him, anointing him for his ministry. Revealing to us that he truly is the Christ, the anointed one of God. In Canada, we are subjects of the crown. As such, we have a keen awareness to how coronations take place. On June 2nd, 1953, long before I was born, the world was shown the inside of a coronation, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, as it was the first televised coronation ever. This event was seen by 27 million in the UK and more as this footage was flown to Canada and to the US so that we at home could watch this momentous moment. Even if you are not a monarchist in this room, you know that coronation is a big deal. It is the ceremony that takes place when a new king or queen ascends the throne. And this ceremony in the UK borrows many of its traditions from the Bible. There's anointing oil, there's prayers, there's pronouncements, and even crowns. In this text, we are presented with the inauguration of Jesus' ministry, which is a coronation of sorts. In it, we are reminded of the king's mission. We see his anointing and announcement. Though Jesus does not receive his crown until he is holding his cross, at this point his identity is being revealed as he is anointed. Matthew wants us to see that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one of God whom his people waited for. In this prophecy is yet again fulfilled most poignantly in Isaiah 61.1, which reads, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to the blind, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to claim liberty to captives, and to open the opening of the prisons of those who are bound. In this passage, we see Jesus fulfilling being the anointed one of the Lord. The Spirit was upon him, and as such he is the one who brought the good news, that we who are poor, brokenhearted, and in captivity, would be set free, healed, and made rich in him. Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, greater than any other king or priest that came before him, revealing to us and the world that he is the promised Messiah, who came to bring good news. Jesus' baptism reveals to us his mission, his anointing, lastly his sonship. Look at me at verse 17. As he stands in the waters, the Spirit rests on him, the voice, a voice from heaven, says, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. The Father from heaven speaks and announces and approves of his Son to his people, revealing that Jesus truly is the incarnate Son of God. Not that he was adopted by God, or that he looked like God, that he truly was God's very Son. And this yet again is to fulfill Isaiah 42 and Psalm 2, which read, Behold my servant, whom I uphold my chosen, in whom my soul delights. I put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. Or Psalm 2, as it reads, I will tell of the decree, the Lord said to me, you are my Son, today I have forgotten you. In this text we see that Jesus' sonship is revealed, that he truly is God's Son, not just theoretically, but literally. The Father announces that his King has come, that his Son will rule the nations, bringing justice for them as the one that he delights in, the one who pleases the Father. Church we are to see that Jesus is the one who is on a mission to save the world, the anointed one of God, who is truly God's Son. This text sets up as we read the rest of the Gospel of Matthew, seeing that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, sinless, that he came to save God's people. And because Jesus completes his mission, standing in the stead of sinners, not just in his baptism, but on the cross, we who are once despised by God, for our sin can now be delighted in. Some of you, this sermon this morning, sounded more like a lecture since it lacked much or exhortation, meaning I didn't tell you go and do X. The reason that I didn't is because this text is a revelation. We are meant to see Jesus more clearly. There is no particular command other than look at God's Son, see his baptism, see the anointing, see the Father's delight. My hope this morning is that for those who have already believed in Jesus, that you rejoice with greater clarity of who the Christ is, Jesus, the beloved Son. And for the unbeliever this morning, my hope is that as a result of this clarity, you'd come to believe in him. Seeing that this is not a book that is written by man, I read multiple cross-references that are written thousands of years before this Gospel is written. Because our God is a God who sought to save, a God of intention. So I hope this morning that we would see Jesus' baptism reveals his mission, his anointing and his sonship. May this heart in us, knowing that our God did come, did accomplish his mission and he will one day come again.