PASSAGE: Matthew 3:13-17
SERIES SUMMARY
As Jesus steps onto the scene of history, Matthew paints a picture of him that invites our participation in what Jesus is doing. The portrait is that Jesus is the True King who is bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. This good news is not reserved for especially religious people in a distant future; it’s good news, right now, for ordinary people who come to Jesus in faith.
And while Jesus inaugurated the kingdom among us through teaching and serving in dozens of ways, he ultimately brought heaven to earth by embracing the cross as his throne and wearing thorns as his crown. In doing this, he broke the powers of the kingdom(s) of this world and opened up God’s new world through his resurrection. Now, because of these things, discipleship to Jesus is about praying and living “Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” It is about whole-life transformation and embodying kingdom realities. It is about becoming people who naturally live out what Jesus taught. Today, because of Matthew’s witness and Jesus’ ministry, the kingdom is coming in our own lives, “on earth as it is in heaven.”
PASSAGE GUIDE
Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus from the start as a Messiah who enters a broken human story rather than floating above it. The genealogy includes outsiders and scandal, and His birth unfolds in obscurity instead of royal display. The pattern is clear: God’s rescue doesn’t arrive through the neat, powerful, predictable routes people assume, but through humility and reversal that exposes what salvation is really like.
As the narrative moves toward Jesus’ public ministry, attention is drawn to John the Baptist preaching repentance on the margins. People come to the wilderness because God is doing something real there, not polished or controlled. Then Jesus arrives without fanfare and does something startling: He steps into the baptism line with repentant sinners rather than separating Himself from them.
John protests because the baptism is for repentance, and Jesus has nothing to repent of. Jesus responds that it is fitting “to fulfill all righteousness,” meaning He is stepping fully into the Father’s will and embracing the role assigned to Him in God’s saving plan. The language of “fulfillment” signals that Jesus isn’t merely checking a ritual box; He is inaugurating a mission that will be costly, surprising, and aimed at putting things right between God and His people.
The baptism becomes a public unveiling of Jesus’ identity and anointing. Heaven opens, the Spirit descends and rests on Him, and the Father declares Him the beloved Son with whom He is well pleased. The key emphasis is that this declaration comes before Jesus performs miracles, teaches crowds, or goes to the cross: identity precedes activity, and the Father’s pleasure is not a reward for performance but the foundation from which mission flows.
That pattern is then pressed into everyday life: most people try to answer “Who am I?” by attaching themselves to unstable things like achievement, approval, comparison, and reputation, and it leaves them anxious and exhausted. The baptism of Jesus answers the fear that God merely tolerates us by showing Jesus moving toward sinners, not away from them, and securing belonging before obedience. The application is to live from that reality: let God’s welcome settle the question “Does God really want me?” Let “fulfill all righteousness” move you from self-reliance to surrender, and practice a simple rhythm: remember your union with Christ, rehearse the Father’s words of belovedness, and respond in obedient trust in the ordinary moments of the week.
Remember - Rehearse - Respond
*We are a church located in Greenville, South Carolina. Our vision is to see God transform us into a community of grace passionately pursuing life and mission with Jesus.
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS
Remember, these are “suggested” questions. You do not have to go through every single one of them. You do not need to listen to both sermons at both campuses to participate in the discussion.
LIFE WITH JESUS
Take a moment to ask someone in the group how they’ve witnessed the Holy Spirit speak/move in their life recently.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Who do you notice Jesus to be in Matthew 3:13-17?
- How does Jesus’s posture toward His own baptism reveal humility?
- What does this passage reveal about the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
- What does Jesus mean when He says His baptism will “fulfill all righteousness” in verse 15?
- How does the idea that “identity precedes activity” confront performance-based approaches to faith?
- How can remembering our union with Christ reshape our reactions to failure, temptation, or success?
- What practices help you rehearse the Father’s words of belovedness rather than self-criticism or comparison?
- How does this passage speak to the question, “Does God really delight in me?”
- Who would you say you are after studying this passage?
- What’s a practical step you will take to grow in the areas of remembrance, rehearsal, and response this week?
CLOSING PRAYER
Father, thank You that You love us. Lead us into remembrance of Your never-ending faithfulness. Bring the identity we find in you back to our minds this week; that we are chosen, beloved, and given the inheritance of Your Kingdom.
RESOURCES