In his baptism, Jesus didn’t prove his sinlessness, his purity, his righteous, or wokeness (even though he was).
Jesus was willing to be NUMBERED among the SINNERS.
Will we do the same?
In a time of self-esteem fortification and polarized vilification, we rarely admit we when we are wrong, that we are broken, that we—indeed—are sinners.
Sure, we might say, “I know I sin, that I’m fallen, that I make mistakes. But who isn’t? Who doesn’t?”
We universalize everyone’s sin to rationalize our particular sins. We minimize our own sin and maximize the sin of our rivals, opponents, and enemies. We make “their” sin fundamental to who “they” are, but trivialize our own sin as a mistake or temporary lapse.
Jesus didn’t bother with all that.
He who was pure would be numbered among the unclean.
He who was holy would be numbered among unworthy.
He who was blessed would be numbered among the cursed.
He who was blameless would be numbered among the guilty.
Jesus—the Son of God—was willing to be called a sinner so that we sinners could be called sons and daughters of God. This is the great exchange—the beginning of what is often called “substitutionary atonement” (see this illustration for more).
Only when we confess we are sinners will we received the benefits of the Savior who counted himself among the sinners—and only then will we be so much more than sinner—we become the beloved children of God.
It is only through Jesus’ baptism that we receive again our blessing.
When we count ourselves a sinner with Jesus, then we will also hear from the Father, “This is my Child, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).
Jesus is the Gospel—for “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).