Why Jesus Was Baptized: Priesthood, Purpose, And Preparedness

Ever felt the gap between reverence and readiness—the moment you know God is moving but you hesitate because you don’t feel worthy? We go straight at that tension by unpacking why Jesus, sinless and sovereign, chose baptism and what it means to “fulfill all righteousness.” By zooming in on context—who’s speaking, to whom, why, and crucially where—we reframe familiar verses and uncover a pattern that runs from Exodus to the Jordan: washing isn’t about guilt, it’s about appointment to service.

We walk through priestly washings in the Torah, connect the dots to Jesus as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and explore how geography and travel reshape meaning. When you see Nazareth to the Jordan as days on dusty roads, intention and timing come into focus. John’s hesitation becomes our mirror; Jesus’ insistence becomes our map. Readiness isn’t hype. It’s a practiced yes: taking thoughts captive, refusing superstition, and letting the power of God in us actually move through us in prayer, encouragement, and action.

This conversation is practical, pastoral, and challenging. We talk about leaving “pew-only” faith behind, recognizing the provision already hidden in God’s Word, and stepping into everyday assignments with courage. Baptism becomes more than a ritual; it’s a public start to a priestly life of service, compassion, and purpose. If you’ve ever wondered how to bridge belief and boldness, this journey through Matthew 3 offers clarity, context, and a nudge to act.

If this resonates, subscribe, share it with someone who needs courage today, and leave a review to help more people find the show. Then tell us: where will you step up first—home, work, or church?

Transcript

Opening And Scripture Setup

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Matthew the third chapter. Amen. Amen. Amen. You know you got me, you got me, you got me this morning. I don't think I'm alive. And I love it. Now, if you're there in Matthew the third chapter, say I'm there. Alrighty. Um, we want to start at verse 13. Verse 13.

SPEAKER_04 1:09

Hmm.

SPEAKER_03 1:10

Interesting.

SPEAKER_04 1:13

Yes, we do. Alrighty.

SPEAKER_03 1:20

Um, if I can get somebody to read from 13 to uh 15. Let's go from 13 to 15. Matthew 3, verse 13 to 15. Any volunteer?

SPEAKER_04 1:32

Go ahead. Please.

SPEAKER_05 1:38

That's a good gospel that I must be a person.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

All right. So let's um, many of you are probably very familiar with this passage of scripture.

How To Read The Bible: Add Location

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Um, and one of the key things I think we want to discuss, um, uh I love to do this, and I don't want to do this. Uh y'all remember uh Bishop told us in order to properly interpret some scripture, uh, and if I could just take you on a trip with how I read things, probably interpret scripture, you need to know uh at least three things. Right? You need to know what who's talking, who talking to, and what brought about the conversation. I want to introduce to you a fourth thing. Location. Who's talking, who are they talking to, what brought about the conversation, and location. And that location can be both geographic and in time. Geographic and in time. And the reason being geographically, and I'll give you a quick illustration. Um, many of you probably heard the term uh Jesus uh didn't have any money. He may have been poor. And they'll use the scriptures that uh maybe because the son of man uh has no place to lay his head. Birds have nests, foxes have holes. But I have no place to what? Lay my head. Can I tell you there's a problem with that scripture? Or to use it in that context? Because you can know who he's talking to, you can know what brought about the conversation. Right? You can even get down to the nitty-gritty uh uh sitly, I got the word same in my mouth, uh, get to that point. But if you don't know his location, you can take that out of context. You say, what if you know his location? Well, anybody remember where Jesus, uh, what was Jesus' hometown?

Travel Context: Jesus And Resources

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Anybody know what Jesus' hometown was? Say that again? Nazareth. So most specifically in Capernaum. Nazareth, right? So if you know geographically that Nazareth is north. And when I say north, I'm talking well north. How much well north? Well north of Jerusalem. How much well north is important? From Petersburg to Ashland. That's a little ways, isn't it? Okay, so now, if you drive from Petersburg to Ashland, it may take you a little while, am I right? Imagine walking. Come on in with me. Imagine, so here's the thing. The reason Jesus brings it into focus that he doesn't have a place to lay his head is not because he couldn't afford a home. It's because he's traveling. He's traveling. So, you know, you have a traveling preacher or whatever the case may be. I mean, I need a holiday in or something. I mean, depending on where you are, maybe, you know, you roost you you rich cars and proofs, but anyway, you know. But I think Hilton bought them, right? Didn't Hilton buy them? But anyway, you understand then that Jesus is traveling. And the reason he makes that statement, there's some more text, there's more context to that, but he makes that statement not because he doesn't have anything or any place and he can't afford a place, it's because of his location. He's traveling. He's traveling. So we keep that in mind because here's the thing, and I really want to give it to you. Is that when Jesus was born, sometime within the first two years, anybody remember the Magi came to see him? Come on, let's put this, let's do some deduction here. Let's do some real good deduction. If the Magi came to see him, which were probably men who were renowned and able to travel over, you know, the terrain, do you think they're gonna come see the Messiah with an ounce of gold? Probably not. That'd be a little shameful to show up and I just give you an ounce of gold. They probably gave he, uh Joseph and Mary a little more than an ounce of gold. They gave a little something, a little piece of change. Yeah, yeah, start your own business. Go do something. Right? So here's my point. Then would you not think that Jesus would have been entrusted to somebody who had good stewardship? Right, right, right, right. So I'm not just, he's not bursting himself or providing a body into a place that is so desolate, right, that they can't make ends meet. I'm just telling you because he's a provider. God is a provider. Is he a provider? He's a provider. So if he's a provider, he's providing him for travel. How do I know they made it to Egypt and back? I mean, because the whole reason why they make it to Egypt and back. So we gotta understand that even that, I went through some more texts and I found out that even the people who serve Herod, one of the people that served Herod, that's the chief uh custodian of Herod's house, his wife, if you read the text, he they give Jesus a holy handshake every once in a while. So there are things in the text that show you what's my point. Know

Journey To Jordan And John’s Role

SPEAKER_03 6:46

the context. Know the context of what you're dealing with. So why am I saying that? Because in this verse we find that then cometh Jesus from where? Galilee unto Jordan. He's made a trip. He's made a trip from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized of who? Him. Who's him? John. John. He's been baptized of John. Now, this is not John, the disciple. This is John, Jesus' what? Cousin. This is Jesus' cousin. So it's important for us to understand that. Traveling from a main town like Galilee, down to Nazareth, is about 60 to 80 miles. Now, most of the time they would do it by foot. And even if y'all remember in my study, previous study, there was a time where if you had to get on a on a mule, how much could a mule travel in a in a day? Anybody remember? It's okay if you don't, because I only did one lesson. A mule will normally do maybe 14 to 20 miles in a day. In a day. So that's at least a three to four-day trip for a mule. Right? So you know that there's going to be some trial. Now let's go back to Nazareth. Let's go back to Jesus going on his way to Jerusalem. That's at least a five-day trip. Right just giving you an So here he is. So there's intentionality in Jesus' coming, and he's coming before John. Now here's the thing. What's John's perception? Look at verse 15. But John forbade him saying, I have what? Be baptized of you. Um would say it's pretentious. Some would say, Well, you know, John sees Jesus. He knows who Jesus is. Like, hold on. If anything, I need you to put me in the war. Right? Is that a right response? Anybody? That's a proper response, right? Now, is it possible though that we could be so heavily minded that we forget our earthly purpose? Alright? So heavily minded.

Worthiness, Calling, And Readiness

SPEAKER_03 8:56

I let me give you an example. Have you ever been around someone who you revere as being a pastor or um maybe even a prophet? And they've asked you to pray for them, and in your heart you thought you weren't worthy. Okay, that's where we're going. Can I tell you something? Can I tell you something? This is the same thing that John is going through at this moment. I'm not worthy. You don't understand. You have a purpose. Step out of what you have come to think of yourself and elevate. I think we need to come to times in our lives where we need that when it's identified that this is your point. This is your time. This is what you're supposed to do in this season. But you just say, I need to elevate. I need to go ahead and readily accept that the shift just happened. Are y'all with me? Maybe. I mean, okay. And does it happen all the time? Maybe not. Should we be prepared to receive it? Yes, we should. How can I say this? You should always be ready. We shouldn't be getting ready. I know old famous bishop says, get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready. Right? But the Bible says, stay ready, stay ready, stay ready, stay ready, stay ready. We need to be ready. And while it may be a paradigm shift for some of us, we have to allow ourselves to remove ourselves from what we think of ourselves. And sometimes we put ourselves in a lower state than we ought to be. Because can I can you look at your neighbor? Say, neighbor, there's power in you. And who gave it to you? Okay, so if we realize that there's power in us, then we should be ready to allow the power in us to move. Are y'all with me? Does that make sense? All right. Um, I had a statement here. I'm gonna say this it says, anyone who's concerned about

Power Of God Over Fear And Superstition

SPEAKER_03 11:03

the power that Satan has has not become sufficiently aware of the power of God. If we don't understand the power that we have, you say, What do you mean? Well, brother, I don't want to say that. You don't want to say what? Well, I I'm afraid to speak great things over my life. Well, there's power in you. You're supposed to speak things over your life. You're supposed to speak good into your life. Because death and life are well and the power of the song. Are y'all with me? How about it? I'm gonna break some. Because this is a paradigm ship. It's the same thing. I they're akin. What I'm talking about. When you look at someone and they that they're in a position as a pastor or whatever, and they're asking you to pray for them, in your mind, you've actually created an environment that you live in. In the same sense as you grew up, you created an environment that you live in. Some of those things, y'all remember those things say you you hope this is gonna happen, you knock. What's the word? You knocked on wood. You knocked on wood, right? So you come up with these superstitions. Some of us still have some superstitions that we live by because we grew up there. Am I right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's okay to acknowledge that. But what we need to also acknowledge is that it has no power except the power we give it. Right? And we have to learn, if we become, how many of you know you've become more acquainted with the power of God? You've been more intimately involved with seeing God do greater things. Can we then take that experience that we've had with God to actually then allow it to push down those things that we've been, you know, those concepts that we've had in our head that maybe I need to wear them pair of lucky socks? Don't do that. I'm gonna do that because it's Super Bowl Sunday. And some of y'all, depending on your team, no, I got to wear that sweater. That sweater don't mount to a human being. Right? It don't mount to human beings, but we have things that we have come up with in our own mind that is a scripture that says, I'm casting down all imaginations and everything that exalted itself against the knowledge of God. Right? I gotta call, I gotta captive all these thoughts. Is that a challenge? Do you believe it's a challenge to captive, take, play captive all your thoughts? Yeah. Right? Because sometimes they come at you real quick something. They come religious like a wave sometimes. So it's a challenge, I think, to for us to actually realize it. But it is, it is the call. Can I share that with you? Can I share it with you as believers? Because I know, and if I could just for a moment, ask us to be uh to let go of the milk and get a hold of some of this meat we're about to talk about right now, because at the end of the day, the call is a call. And we get we frame Christianity about the simple fact that you get baptized, filled with the Holy Ghost, right, and you saved, and I'm running on. We all discover that it goes beyond that in this in this

From Milk To Meat: Purpose Beyond Pew

SPEAKER_03 14:10

teaching, because if that's all you think you got, you're wrong. Can I also admit to you and submit to you? Then if you sit on the pew after you get baptized, then you're not fulfilling your call. If that's all you do is sit on the pew, that's like being on a chairmanship team, and I I've never been on, I've never been on the court. Now it works in the natural because you still get the ring. The problem is, don't nobody know your name, and you've never really fulfilled your purpose on the team. Right? In this, you've never fulfilled your purpose on the team. I believe, I believe if we did what we're called to do, everybody in here, you'd be surprised what this church would look like. Honestly. Honestly, seriously. We'd be surprised. Y'all, y'all with me? Am I making sense? Am I just talking? Am I making sense? Okay, cool. So here's what here's what we want to do. Let's go to verse

Fulfilling All Righteousness Explained

SPEAKER_03 15:09

15. Here's what we here verse 15, uh, Matthew 3rd chapter, it says, And Jesus answered, said unto him, suffer it to be now, but thus it becometh us to what? Fulfill what does it say? All righteousness. So you know, I don't know what happened to my camera, but I'm trying to get it going. But in that, what what you what is Jesus talking about to fulfill all righteousness? Does Jesus have sin? Does Jesus have sin?

SPEAKER_05 15:36

I don't know why Jesus being baptized.

SPEAKER_03 15:39

I'm glad you asked. That's why I'm here. I'm glad you asked. That's why I'm here. I asked somebody to get uh 2 Corinthians 5.21. 2 Corinthians 5.21, and if somebody else get um Exodus 30, Exodus 30, verse 18. Need somebody to get 2 Corinthians 5.21, and then I need someone to switch over, if I could get another volunteer to go to Exodus 30 and 18. When you got it, say I got it.

SPEAKER_04 16:13

Oh, you got Exodus? I got an Exodus? Good, hallelujah. Anybody else? Who's got who's got uh who's got second Corinthians five twenty-one? Anybody? Okay,

Priestly Washings And Melchizedek

SPEAKER_04 16:46

be able to hear you. I mean on the phone. Exodus thirty What what verse does that we need?

SPEAKER_03 16:59

I think Bruce, you already got Exodus? Okay, um if you got and then I need you to get Leviticus, uh, Sister Gail 16. 1624. And then if you could go back to Exodus. I got plenty. Exodus 29 and 4. Alright, y'all with me? I'm I'm I look, I'm just gonna let you in of what how I study. If y'all don't mind, but I like scriptures on top of scriptures. I like witnesses. I want multiple witnesses, and many of my bring them to the courtroom to help me understand. Does that make sense to y'all?

SPEAKER_05 17:32

All right, go ahead, uh, just tell me pretty close, baby.

SPEAKER_04 17:46

There you go, Mike. Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_05 17:52

Well, he said he saw him.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

Righteousness of God. All right. All right, so he had no sin, right? The scriptures just told us he had no sin. Right that even so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So let's go. So here who has the next scripture from here, Exodus 30 hours. Yes, sir, Exodus 30, 18 through 21, sir. Up the of the fish here in the auto in darkness. Go go three twenty-one for me.

SPEAKER_04 19:22

Oh the altar to me, the altar, they got fire to the law.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

All right. Yes, sir. So they shall wash their hand and they'll speak their hands and not. And they shall be uh statue or whatever him and to use the generation. All right. So here's where we have a picture of those who are Levitical priesthood uh uh actually having to go through a baptism, a washing. So the understanding here is that if you're going to enter into priesthood and you're going to be an official priest, that you need to go through this washing. Are you with me? Alright? There's another scripture that specifically tells us that Jesus is after the order of Melchizedek. Anyone remember who Melchizedek is? Alright, let me give you a quick history lesson. When Abraham was trying to uh rescue Lot, one of the people that he met specifically along the way was Melchizedek. Now, just so you know, this was one of the first times you see tithing. You see tithing even before the law came. So people who tell you that tithing is from the law, you're wrong because we have what's called first precedent, first precedent, first precedent, y'all say this with me. First precedent, first precedent where we see tithing happening before the law. So Abraham gives a tenth of what he has to Melchazet, who is now the king of Salem. Y'all say that with me. He's a king of Salaem. I'm gonna give you a hint. Melchizedek, Jesus is after the order of Melchizedek, who's a high priest. Does it sound familiar so far? He's a high priest. Aaron was also a what? High priest. Jesus was to be our what? High priest. Are you with me? Melchizedek was a king of what? Salem. Salem meant. Anybody remember?

SPEAKER_05 21:29

Peace. I'm okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Say that again? He's a king of peace. You ever wonder why they call Jesus the what? Prince of peace. Because he's after the order of Mount Kennedy.

SPEAKER_05 21:49

Otherwise, it doesn't make sense if he's the king of everything else.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

Yeah, I like that one. All right, so here we go. He's a prince of peace. That's a reason they call him the Prince of Peace. God has established an order for the priesthood. Even before the law was written. Hold on, maybe that's just good to me. Um, what does that mean? He's a planner, he's already planning your salvation before the law is written that I can talk about the need for atonement of sin. Okay, I'm gonna back up a little bit more. He's already established away. Somebody you ever been in trouble? Anybody ever been in trouble? Ever been in trouble, everybody in trouble?

SPEAKER_05 22:38

Ever been in trouble, everybody in trouble.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

Alright, you ever been in trouble? And and I'll tell you this quick story because it probably uh speaks value.

Provision Before Trouble And Patterns

SPEAKER_03 22:45

This is a young man, he said he was in trouble, and he kept calling his mom. He was out, he was away. This is a true story. He was away uh uh in college, and he called his mom because he ran out of money. And she said, Well, son, did you read your Bible? That's a real story. Did you read your Bible? He said, Yes, I read my Bible. She said, Okay, well, you call me back. He said, Mama, uh, he called her back next week. He said, Mama, I'm I'm in trouble. I need some more money. And uh, she said, Well, son, did you read your Bible? He said, I read my Bible. Okay, son. You call me back. Oh, three weeks, four weeks go on, and finally, he said, son, did you read your Bible? He said, Mama, I read my Bible. She said, Okay, son, you call me back. Finally, guess what he decided to do? Open up his Bible, read his Bible. Guess what happened? Boom! Provision was already made before the trouble came into play. Sometimes we just need to realize that God has already made provisions for us before trouble even shows its head. It's whether or not we turn to the word of God to get the help we need. I'm just saying, there is something that's a that's a very true story. And at the end of the day, what we come to know is that God has already made provision. Before he went home, before that young man went on his trip to college, she'd already seated the Bible with the need to supply the media. There are times in our life when we really look at what we're talking about, the order that God is setting, the things that we're setting, that God is kind of like, you ever seen those people who uh who uh sister does, but you know she I think she still does, uh knit. She does the knitting and everything and follow those patterns. To me, it's very intricate how you can get wool with fabric in there and do these great tapestries. That you follow that type of pattern. God does that. And I think he doesn't just do it on that on that uh one-dimensional leg. He does it in like three to four dimensions so that when you look at it, it seems like he paints a picture. If you twist it this way, you see something happening in a different life. You everything in your life where you just realize you wonder why you went through a specific set of trouble, and then you start looking back at it and what you've developed out of that, and how you developed because of it? Is it just me? No, no, no, okay. Did you start looking at all the other things that happened because you went through

Baptism As Cleansing And Mission

SPEAKER_03 25:12

that trouble? How you developed, not just one thing, but a multitude of things that made you more mature, made you more mindful, made you more grateful because of God's good love towards you. Anybody besides me? Okay, so that's what we're talking about. The things that God is providing here in this, and I kind of got locked in this because this is him talking about the point of baptism. And I know sometimes some people skip over baptism, but baptism is powerful. Because as a washi, he realizes anybody, you know, you ever realize you were dirty, you ever smelt yourself and realize you needed a bath. You ever smell you like, you know, you you know what? You should you should not be smelling like this. Right? Say it, sir. Hey, you know, you should you need to go do something. All right. The bad part about it is when you get nose blind. Right, and you can't smell yourself. Right? Nos blind, yeah. You you can't smell yourself. So now what you what you end up doing is you walk around smelling, everybody else can smell you but you. Let me tell you something, the whole world needs a baptism. Every soul you come across needs a baptist. I wanna I wanna hear that and refer to you that when you walk around uh by people, they can't smell themselves. You can smell them. Because one time that was you. That's why some of you critical. You knew where you were. Some of you probably forgot where you are, but I ain't gonna call no names. Anyway, here's what we understand. If you were going through the priesthood, so now we understand Melchizedek, y'all said it wasn't a kid Melchizedek, was a prince of Salem, or King of Salem was a king of Salem. Because he was a king of Salem, Jesus is now called the Prince of Peace because Salem meant peace. So we understand that here in his priestly office, we also understand that he needed to be washed to start his journey. To start your priestly journey, he needed to be washed. It was not because of sin. This is the reason why it said, so that he might fulfill what? All righteousness. What did it say? All righteousness. People tell you they don't need baptism. No, all righteousness. You with me? It is not even so much so that other than the simple fact that it might be all righteousness. Because that's what God ordained. That you might be baptized. Anybody y'all with me so far? Okay, if I'm being too technical, y'all, yeah, uh, we're gonna be all right. Somebody hit me with numbers uh who was you have a scripture. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 27:54

Um thou shalt bring unto the door of the top of the congregation, thou shalt wash them with the water.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

Yes, sir. That's it. Uh and I I just wanted to give another witness. We need to make sure, either way, you only have one scripture, no? I got a couple scriptures. Uh I want to make sure you understand. We're gonna wash you with some water. Because water is cleansing. Now, ever anybody ever taken a bath with just water? Huh? Nobody? You ever just ran the water and you pretend like you took a bath? Okay. Hey, I I I think there's some other folks that won't admit it, but that's okay. It's okay. That's okay. There you go. Uh, amen, amen. I know some folk in the service. They ran that water, pretending like they ain't taking no bath.

SPEAKER_02 28:53

Oh, we truly want to thank you for joining.

Closing Thanks And Dismissal

SPEAKER_02 28:56

We know that it took time today. We hope that it was a good thing. Oh, you got to go.