from the pulpit at Donnels Creek

Date: March 22, 2026

Lord’s Day: 12

Series: Matthew in Seven Movements: MVT 2         

Title: Meekness Is Not Weakness

Text: Matthew 5:5, 38-48

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,[h] let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[i] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Donnels Creek Church

Springfield Ohio

Lord's Day 11

March 15, 2026

pastor Matthew Pittman

Matthew 5:3-11, 17-20

Series: Matthew in Seven Movements

Sermon: When Being Poor is Good

Lord's Day 10

Text: Matthew 5:3

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 4:1-11

12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 11:1-6

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers[a] are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

That was a very important lesson learned.  A mistake that was not repeated, ever again.  To keep a fire going you had to have real wood.  You can get it started with twigs, but twigs are not going to keep a lasting fire.

By the time we depart from this place I want this image to be engraved on your mind.  How do you keep the fire of your faith strong and burning for the Lord?  It is not with twigs.  

We find that in our passage today in which Jesus finds himself driven to face a temptation. What does He use to sustain himself? 

As we have read in our text Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus is going to face a temptation directly from the devil himself. 

Before we dive into this text let us ask the Lord to bless our time together in His word.

Prayer:

We come to you in this moment, Lord, asking that you guide us through this text.  We are so grateful for the word that you have left for us.  It is the very word that Jesus, our Savior, relied on fully to sustain him in temptation. 

Bless us in this moment.  Guide my thoughts as I present this text.  By Your Spirit, open our hearts to hear it and receive it. 

It is in Jesus name we pray, Amen.

This text directly proceeds the baptism of Jesus.  It was at this scene that Jesus submits to the washing of John the Baptizer.  As he comes out of the water the heavens open and we see The Father, saying, this is my son in whom I am well pleased.  At the same time, the Spirit is descending upon Jesus.

It is this same Spirit that we see in (4:1) led Jesus to the wilderness.  The language of Mark (1:12) says that the Spirit DROVE (ESV, LSB), IMPELLED, SENT (NIV), FORCED (AMP) him to the wilderness.  This is not to say that Jesus was resistant for Jesus was obedient in every way.  We should not get that implication. 

There was an urgency here on the part of the Spirit.  There was no resistance on the part of Jesus.  Where God wanted the Son to be, the Son was happy to dwell.  “Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps. 37:4)

The purpose for this trip to the wilderness is to be tempted by the devil.  Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights.  This meant that he went without food for 40 straight days and nights.  A couple of things to observe here:

It is important to understand what Scripture teaches regarding one of the roles of Christ.  He came as the second Adam.

Turn with me if you will to Romans 5:12. We will be only touching on this briefly because someday, we will journey through the book of Romans.  But I have said this a few times and I have not specifically shown where this idea of Jesus as the second Adam is found.

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men[e] because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass[f] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness[g] leads to justification and life for all men. 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. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Scripture gives us insight on the mission of Jesus as the second Adam (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). The disobedience of the first Adam was superseded by the obedience of the second Adam, Christ.

As we go into these few passages it is important that we are reminded of something we have already considered before.  What Jesus is entering here is a period of testing.  The same type of testing Adam and Eve faced.

Briefly, let me remind you the definition of sin is found in 1 John 2:16.  Sin is loving the world.  Loving the world more than loving our Lord.

“For all that is in the world the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life – is NOT from the Father by is from the world.” 1 John 2:16

This is ultimately the description of the fall of Adam and Eve.  This is exactly what happens in the Garden.

Eve saw that the “Fruit would be good to eat”

Lust of the Flesh

“Gain wisdom so as to be like God.”

Pride of Life

Looked at the fruit and saw that it was pleasant to the eyes.”

Lust of the Eyes

We have noted before how in the temptations Jesus faced the exact same temptations which resulted in the fall of first Adam. 

“Turn these stones to bread”

Lust of the Flesh

“Prove that you are the Son of God”

Pride of Life

“Bow down and obtain all these things.”

Lust of the Eyes

This much is true that Jesus is able “to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

Please take note of the significant differences between the temptation of the first Adam and the temptation of the second Adam.

First Adam

Second Adam

Plush garden with much food – excess food and luxury

Judean wilderness that is one of the most desolate places on earth. Scorpions, spiders (Mark says he was there with wild beasts 1:13)

Full and satisfied

Empty stomach having fasted 40 days

Enjoying companionship and not alone – could encourage each other

Jesus fully alone and secluded with no encouragement

There is a stark difference here. 

4:3 “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Is this not an interesting statement?  Think for a moment, what was the last thing, according to our text, that Jesus hears before going to the wilderness?  “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The first thing that the enemy did here, the deceiver, was to twist and cause doubt.  He will twist scripture here in a moment and he is causing doubt here.

He did the same thing to Eve.  Did God really say you shall not eat of any tree? 

His efforts here are to raise doubt.  Why would this raise a doubt?

This is God and he is hungry. 

Would it have been such a horrible thing for Jesus to turns stones into bread?  Have you asked yourself that question?  Why is this such a big deal?  Does not the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6) teach, “give us this day our daily bread?”

Who was it that brought Jesus to this place?  To whom was Jesus being obedient?

There is nothing wrong with eating.  I would be in a LOT of trouble if there was something wrong with eating.  But in this moment, for Jesus, this is not the time for eating. 

The Spirit had driven him here and the Spirit would sustain him.

I can sum this entire sermon up here in Matthew 4:3 and 4.  This is profound.  As I was preparing for this, it moved me.  Chapter 4 verse 3 and 4 is the Cliff Notes to this whole section.

RIGHT HERE - Jesus was fully

Jesus hears the request of the devil, “IF YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD. . . “and in return QUOTES GOD.  “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

How do you live Christian?  HOW DO YOU LIVE?

Is it the bread?  Is it the casseroles? If that were the case, let’s have potluck EVERY week.  Let’s overload Ms. Jane and Ms. Linda and Ms. Iris and whoever else is involved. 

That is not the answer though is it? 

 “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28).

How do you live?  How is Jesus living here?

Do you think Jesus is doing this on His own?  Do you think Moses and Elijah were sustained because they had will power?  How did they make it 40 days without food?  It was God, period.  That is it.

Jesus was brought there by God.  The Spirit drove Jesus there – this is not a throw away statement.  He was brought there to this moment and in this activity. 

Was it comfortable?  NO.  Was it pleasurable? No.  Did God sustain Jesus? YES.

Satan’s desire here was for Jesus to take over and sustain himself and reject being obedient.  REJECT OBEDIENCE.  He was trying to get Jesus to resist the Father’s will. 

Our flesh can justify so many things.  Our flesh can really justify stuff.  I will tell you what my flesh would be saying here, well yeah, this is no big deal.  I will turn these stones to bread.

I know this because the first reaction to reading this the first, second, 8th, 25th time is: why is this a temptation?  What is the big deal?

I would have been questioning: Why am I going through this?  Why are you doing this to me Lord?  I do not understand?

You prayed that?  Have you uttered those words? 

If Jesus were to utter those words before long it sounds like the Children crying in the desert, Lord Give us food!  Have you brought us out here to kill us?  We were better off in Egypt!  You brought us out here to starve us to death. 

Oh, how many times I have said that, just in different ways.  And I hate it.  I hate it that I don’t depend on God’s word! How often am “I NOT TRUSTING IN THE LORD, DWELLING IN THE LAND AND BEFRIENDING FAITHFULNESS” as our Psalm says today.

Not Jesus.  There is nothing wrong with eating.  There is nothing wrong with a lot of things but often, it is just the wrong time to do them. 

Jesus resists the devil by standing firm on the truth of God’s word.  He withstands spiritual warfare by knowing Scripture.  We need to know Scripture.  We do not know Scripture. (general terms).

The issue of facing trials and strife in life.  The issue in facing the arrogance of our flesh and how it is distracted from righteousness can be traced to twigs. 

We keep our fires going with twigs.  We are not using real wood. 

We have 900 current and historical ENGLISH bible translations.  Bible Gateway (online) has more than 50 of the most prominent English renderings of Scripture.  You can read it, have it read to you, you can have celebrities read it to you dramatically, you can have it read to you with soft-playing classical music.  (THINK PS 1 HERE)

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Day and Night, meditating on this word.  Why?  Because it is wood.  This word is wood to keep the fires of your faith burning. 

Too many smoke out and die. 

It is not that one meditates on this day and night it is his delight!  Delight! 

I can think of a WHOLE lot of things that I delight in!  Can you?  Is one of them His word?

The first thing Satan did was try to stir doubt in God’s word.  One of the last things Jesus heard was, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.” Then the first thing from the enemy’s mouth? “If you are the Son of God. . . turn these stones to bread.”

Jesus knew the word of God.  He had to learn that!  He was human.  He had to learn to read.  He had to learn an alphabet.  He had to memorize. 

“Some of you are going to get to heaven and a guy name Obediah is going to come up and ask you how you liked the book he wrote . . .you will be clueless.  “

Memorize God’s word: “write it on the tablet of your heart.” Proverbs 3:3

Oh, pastor you are asking too much.  I can’t memorize.

I will prove you wrong.  Right here.  I will prove you can memorize.

John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”

Without the aid of your Bible, let us all say together what we just memorized: What is John 11:35 say? Jesus Wept.  You did it!

Don’t be silly right?  No.  I am not being silly.

How did you start to read?  There was a time when you could not read, how did you learn? 

Did you start on day one reading Dostoevsky?  Did you start by reading Shakespeare?

You started with Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee . . . See Stan run.  See Stan Jump.  Silly Stan!

You want to keep the fire burning?  When you are in real need it is God’s word that will sustain you. 

Jesus gives us the example right here.  He does not seek counsel with friends, he does not journal about it, he does not see what other rabi’s have done (theologians): Jesus is obedient to the word. 

Nothing wrong with friendly counsel, we need it often.  Journaling is GREAT!  Seeing what other theologians have to say about certain Scripture is great.

But first, foundational we need to know God’s word.  My experience is we do not spend enough time in it.  Me included. 

Oh, what a beautiful example Jesus gives here!

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters below from the waters above.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above. And it was so. 8 And God called the above sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 

12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. And let them be for seasons,[f] and for days and years, 15 and let them in the sky give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 

16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 

And it was so. 

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

You would recognize this reading as the Creation Account from Genesis 1. This is a very well-known passage if you have just been in the faith for a short while. 

As the first words of our Scripture open we see the Spirit of God hovering over waters and beginning to create.  As He created, it is as if He steps back and looks and says, “Good.” 

Waters, land, sky = good; Plants, stars, seasons = Good; Creatures, birds, fish, animals = good.

He gets to the end of day six, looks at man, the very created thing made in His image and likeness and considers all that He has created and says, “It was very good.”

Then God places man in this Garden named Delightful.  I can also mean pleasure. That is the Hebrew word Eden: delightful, pleasure.

It is not until we get to Chapter 2 and verse 18 that we see the first occurrence of the phrase, “It is not good.”   This, of course, is before the fall of Adam so we see in this statement, it had nothing to do with sin.  Sin was not a part of the world yet.

So, we can have something that is not good and it not be related to sin.  And God made Adam fall asleep and when he woke up, Eve.  He said, “Woah man!”  That was Adam’s way of saying, “It is good!” (true story)

Chapter 3 we all know it is the introduction of the serpent. Tempting Eve and causing her and Adam to sin was the plan of the enemy and he was successful.

Eve saw that the three was good . . .for food and that it was a delight . . . to the eyes and she ate. Enter God.  This was not good.  So much was this not good that it brought the curse of death and separation from God.

Then we get a STRING OF NOT GOODS.  There are decades, centuries of not good.

After the sin of Adam and Eve and their removal from Eden, Adam had children, not in the likeness of God, but in the likeness of himself (Genesis 5:3). Through time God chose to work through and closely with those made in the image of Adam.

These begin a very long string of failures of which today I will only hit the highlights.  These failures that were friends of God.

Noah: It says (Gen 6:5) the deterioration of sin had gotten so bad that every inclination of the heart was always evil. God is pronouncing JUDGEMENT.

The creation that was “very good” had become “very bad.” He chose Noah and had grace upon him and saved Noah and his family (Genesis 6:8).  Noah and family were only saved because God was gracious to them. 

We see that in Noah, old habits die hard.  The earth was flooded, the water receded, and it is time for a second creation. Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth.

 This Noah who had received God’s grace and was saved from the destructive flood acted like a drunken sailor, passed out and then was disrespected by his son Ham. Cursed!

Abraham: An idol worshiper (Josh 24:2) was chosen by God to begin a new people.  T

THE MAN OF FAITH THAT MOST OF THE TIME WAS FAITHLESS

To save his own life he (potentially) sacrificed his marriage and life by lying who his wife was.  He also, in attempt to help God along with the promise He made, participated in a plot to impregnate his wife’s servant and this turned out really well.

David: A shepherd boy who grew into a mighty warrior and great king.  We are aware of his sin and rebellion.  He stole a wife, impregnated her and to cover it, killed her husband. All to keep his sin hidden.

These are the highlights.  There is a long history of failure, Judges, kings with shallow courage and faith, false prophets and grumbling citizens.

These were NOT pleasing in God’s sight.  These were NOT GOOD.  A string of not good and more not good. 

Then there is one who was chosen.  This one is different. 

Isaiah lets us know of what this future chosen one is like.  God speaking through Isaiah we hear the word “delight” again.  Hope for the first time since the Garden, which was the last time anything GOOD was mentioned.

Is 42:1, “Behold my servant, who I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit on him,”

The water of the Jordan was the scene of John the baptizer. Person after person coming to repent of their sin and be symbolically cleansed.  (WE NEED THIS. We NEED WASHED.  WE NEED CLEANSED.  WE ARE REBELLIOUS.  We CAN’T GET OUT OF OUR WAY TO REBEL”

Then arrives Jesus.  Can you imagine?  It’s like it is mid-sermon/mid-baptism.

Jesus Baptism was covered in all four Gospel accounts.  John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus, the feeding of the 5,000 and the Passion week of Christ are the only events that are found in each of the four gospel accounts. 

JESUS was the one for whom John was looking. There is the uncertainty when we combine the texts from John and Matthew. 

Matthew says that as a part of John’s preaching he was telling people - I AM NOT THE MESSIAH.  I am not the Christ.  He who comes after me, one I am not worthy to carry the sandals.  He is the Christ.

There were people designated to carry sandals. They were lowly servants.  They were the lowest of servants.  Kings and people of status had these servants.

John is essentially saying, “I am a servant of Christ, but I am not even worthy to be the lowest of servants.”

So here in Matthew, John the Baptist is LOOKING for Jesus.  (John the Baptist and John the apostle and writer of John are two different people.  John (Johannes) is a popular name, kind of like Bubba in the south.

There seems to be a partial recognizing here of Jesus (the Matthew account).  I say only partial because John seems to know who he is but it not fully certain.  We will find this later in Matthew 11, the last time we hear of John the Baptist.  He is in prison and he sends messengers to Jesus, “Are you the one?”

John says, “I did not know him but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on who you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” (John 1:33)

John sees Jesus, “Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1:29) This is NOT just the sin of the Jewish people.  Not just the family of Abraham.  This is the sin of the Gentiles too.  The Passover lamb.  The lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8). The lamb that was to take away our sin. (Before Genesis 1:1)

This lamb comes to be baptized.   “Uh, no!” John says. “What are you talking about baptism?  Me baptize you?  No, You need to be baptize me!”

Jesus says, “John, I’ve got to do this.  It is fitting.  I have to fulfill all righteousness.”

These people lined up to be baptized.  Convicted and recognized their sin.  Feeling the need to be purified.  We are sinners.

Not Jesus!  He is not a sinner.

Jesus, pure, the second Adam (more on this next week), having never committed any offense and perfect in every way, righteous in every way. 

I have to do this.

He was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12).

Let’s put in this circle all the guilty.  Just lump them all here.  Transgressors ALL of them.  You know who is in that circle?  Jesus.  Numbered with the transgressors.

Even though perfect, he looked just like you and me.  He is God in the flesh: he has hands, legs, and feet.

He is NOT in the image of Adam.  He went into the waters as if He was.

This moment the sky opened and the Spirit . . . remember that Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation?  This is that Spirit that was creating back in Genesis 1?  He is hovering, once again, over water.  It descended upon Jesus at the waters of the Jordan.

There is debate on interpreting this concerning the dove.  Was it a real dove?  Many say, not really.  As he baptized Jesus, John saw something and the people saw something. 

This something was the Spirit of God and it descended.  They could literally see the Spirit entering Jesus and it appeared like a dove. 

Like the dove that returned to Noah?  A sign of new beginnings.  The dove that brings back the olive leaf?  There is life!  Here is proof.  And this Spirit descends up our peace, Jesus.

From heaven, the Lord said, “Very good!”  There is a theme here in Matthew where Jesus matches with Genesis.  “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Filling full the prophet Isaiah, “Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him” (42:1)

This is the first time since the fall that God has spoken and said this is good.  With Jesus, “I am well pleased!”

This is significant.  This is pivotal.

Jesus in the baptism, is humbling himself – though in the FORM of God did not consider equality with God a thing to hold on to but made himself nothing taking on the form of a servant and was born in the “LIKENESS” of sinful flesh.  But he is not a sinner.  Yet he takes on the image of a sinner.

He became like you and me in every way, but the sin. 

Noah = failure

Abraham= failure

David = failure

Every king = failure

Every priest = failure

Jesus, “I am well pleased.”

I was praying earlier this week concerning our nation.  Much pondering to the rebellion that is happening.  Tina and I chat about, I just miss the old days. 

But as I was praying I said to the Lord, Going back to the old days is not going to fix anything.  There was rebellion then, it just wasn’t as contentious.  It is more visible and in your face.

It is so easy to idolize a time period and think that just a return to that and things will be fine.  Absolutely not. 

There was sin in 1985. There was sin in 1971.  There was sin in 1950.  There was sin in 1800, 1700, 1492 and you just name the date, Jesus was always needed. 

In Genesis there were four people and one of those committed murder.  25% of the Earth’s population was guilty of murder. 

The people in John’s day felt the need to repent, to be washed and they were.  There were a lot then and there still remain a lot. 

We have right here what many people need.  Not a lot of finger wagging and I told you so’s but Jesus, the Savior.  Jesus the righteous.  Jesus, the one in whom God is well pleased.

He is the ONLY one in whom God is well pleased. 

You think God is pleased because you come to assembly? 

You think God is well pleased because you read Scripture occasionally? 

You think God is pleased because you come from a family that has gone to church since Thomas Jefferson?

He is well pleased because of Jesus.  And those who are IN JESUS, God is well pleased.

If we go back to the first part of this study on the Advent, we had Joseph.  He finds out that his wife to be in pregnant and he knows he is not the source of that pregnancy. 

Joseph had every right to put Mary away!

You know what he had the right to do?  He was fully and legally right to put her away.  But he did not.

The angel came and instructed him about what was taking place.  He did not put Mary away, though he had the legal right to do.

This made for an interesting public appearance. 

In every way our Savior appears as fallen, yet He is the only one in Whom the Father delighted.

THE HEBREW WRITER SAYS: He became like us much in every way, He was made like his brothers that he might be a service to God.

For those of us in Christ, for those of us who are by faith in Jesus, this is how we stand before God.  We don’t stand before Him putting on our fig leaves to hide our shame.

We appear before God in Christ.  This is the one in whom God delights. 

I am with Him!

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.   

Spirit hovering over us and sprinkling us with water

Those in Christ are a new creation – old things have passed, the new HAS come!