No Other Boast

Why does Jesus “withdraw” into Galilee? A casual reading might lead one to think that Jesus is afraid, or more reverently, that He seeks to avoid premature death. If this is how Herod deals with the herald, what of the legit King? But Jesus does not escape Herod’s domain, He just relocates to a different part of it. Next one may be tempted to think the reason is primarily pragmatic. Nazareth was a small out of the way village, whereas Capernaum was located by the Sea of Galilee, was more substantial with a population of approximately fifteen thousand, and was home to at least five of the disciples; but this isn’t the reason the Holy Spirit gives us. Jesus relocated to fulfill scripture. He will headquarter His ministry in Galilee of the Gentiles.

Galilee was the most northern edge of the former united kingdom of Israel and was surrounded and influenced by Gentiles. Gentiles not only resided around Galilee but were constantly traversing through it on the Via Maris, “the way of the sea,” a major trade route running from Damascus in the north to Egypt in the south. Galilee was a land of darkness influenced by idolaters. It was far from Judea, far from Jerusalem and the Temple, far from the light. The Messiah has come, but not where we expect Him, why? I believe this communicates to us something of Jesus’ mission.

When Jesus comes in to the world it is a place of darkness, not light; it is a Galilee not a Judea; it is a Sodom, not a Jerusalem. Galilee pictures the world.

God sent His Son into a world of darkness to magnify His Light. So when you look within and see only sin, remember God’s Light, Jesus Christ, is greater than your darkness (John 1:5). Don’t be arrogant about your sin; it isn’t greater than God’s grace. The darker the stain, the mightier His blood is shown to be.

In his excellent book, The Gospel Driven Life, Michael Horton comments on the disciples that,

They sought to learn the wisdom of his ways and imitate his example.  However, they missed the most important elements that true discipleship entailed.  They misunderstood the point of the journey.  They failed to realize that the most important part of following Jesus was realizing that they could not go everywhere that he was going; could not do everything that he alone could accomplish; and could not even understand why he had come, apart from the Spirit opening their hearts to recognize Christ in all the Scriptures.  The most important things that had to be done for the establishment of this kingdom Jesus had to do by himself.  In fact, the disciples had fled for their lives.

We are just as foolish.  We try to make this text all about us.  No doubt Christ is our example in overcoming temptation and we can glean many practical helps from our text, but this text is primarily about Jesus overcoming temptation, not us.  We are arrogant little fools trying to skip the prerequisites and go straight to graduate work.  Without the prerequisites we flunk temptation.

Jesus is doing here what we cannot – overcoming temptation and resisting the devil.  Remember Jesus has just identified Himself with us in His baptism.  Notice all the other marks of identification here.  He is in the wilderness for forty days and then He quotes from Deuteronomy 8.

The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.  And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.  And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.   – Deuteronomy 8:1-3

So Israel, God’s son failed the test of living by God’s Word alone, but the true and greater Israel, God’s only begotten Son doesn’t.  He succeeds where they – where we failed.  In His second and third temptation Jesus does more of the same.

Also there is something implicit here that Luke makes more clear in his gospel account.  Both Matthew and Mark go straight from Jesus’ baptism to His testing, but Luke, he inserts a genealogy in between.  What a weird place for a genealogy right?  But remember unlike Matthew who works forward from Abraham to Jesus, Luke works backwards from Jesus all the way back to Adam.  Now we can compare the first Adam in whom we fall to the Second Adam in whom we are risen to newness of life.

The first Adam had every provision, he could eat of every tree save one; the second Adam had been fasting for forty days.

The first Adam falls after one temptation and is driven out; the second Adam resists three temptations and Satan is driven out.

Here is the point, we fall to temptation continually, He didn’t, ever!  His victory over Satan, sin, and temptation is ours.  The prerequisite for overcoming temptation is union with Christ (Romans 6:6-7; 1 John 5:4; Revelation 12:11).  His victory is ours.  Faith, not merely technique is the key to overcoming temptation.

All divine power and strength against sin flows from the soul’s union and communion with Christ (Rom. 8. I0; 1 John 1. 6, 7). While you keep off from Christ, you keep off from that strength and power which is alone able to make you trample down strength, lead captivity captive, and slay the Goliaths that bid defiance to Christ. It is only faith in Christ that makes a man triumph over sin, Satan, hell, and the world (1 John 5. 4). It is only faith in Christ that binds the strong man’s hand and foot, that stops the issue of blood, that makes a man strong in resisting, and happy in conquering (Matt. 5. I5-35). Sin always dies most where faith lives most. The most believing soul is the most mortified soul. Ah! sinner, remember this, there is no way on earth effectually to be rid of the guilt, filth, and power of sin, but by believing in a Saviour. It is not resolving, it is not complaining, it is not mourning, but believing, that will make thee divinely victorious over that body of sin that to this day is too strong for thee, and that will certainly be thy ruin, if it be not ruined by a hand of faith.  – Thomas Brooks in Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices

John, well, he’s different.  Jesus’ kooky cousin wears camel’s hair and eats locusts and wild honey.  So its only fitting that his baptism is a little different too.  Christian baptism symbolizes and identifies us with the death burial and resurrection of our Lord (Romans 6:1-11).  That hasn’t happened yet so what is John’s baptism about?  It is the baptism of repentance (symbolizing repentance) in preparation for the coming King’s redemptive rule (Acts 19:1-7 emp. v. 4).

So if John’s baptism is symbolic of repentance, what is sinless Jesus being baptized for?  Matthew’s account is written to give an answer to that question.  All four gospels record Jesus’ baptism, but only Matthew includes Jesus’ explanation,  “To fulfill all righteousness!”  Yet this explanation only seems to make things worse!  But notice Jesus says to fulfill – not because He lacks but to fulfill, not because he is repentant, but to fulfill.  Three interpretations have gained favor among evangelicals.  I don’t think the first one is valid; I think the second one closer to the truth, but only as understood in light of the the third option.

1. Jesus’ baptism is anticipatory of His death, burial, and resurrection whereby he will fulfill all righteousness and make many righteous.
2. Jesus’ baptism is an act of obedience as a man to the new command of God going out through John.
3. In Jesus’ baptism He is identifying Himself with the sinners for whom He came to fulfill all righteousness.

So Jesus is fulfilling all righteousness not for Himself, but us, as our substitute.  He doesn’t lack righteousness, we do.  He comes as the second Adam, achieving all righteousness in our place (Romans 5:18-19).

Theologians have a helpful way to understand this; it is called the active and passive obedience of Christ.  Christ not only passively bore your sins and the wrath of God, He also actively achieved all righteousness in your place.  But don’t misunderstand this language to say that Jesus’ life comprises His active obedience, while His death comprises His passive obedience. Jesus suffered for us during His life, and His ultimate act of obedience was that of laying down His life. Yes, the cross is the ultimate, climatic act of both the passive and active obedience of Christ, but it cannot be dissected form His life. Jesus Christ didn’t just need to die for you, He needed to live for you. All of Jesus is necessary to save you from your sins. Christ fulfills all the obligations we shirked, and bears the penalty we deserve.  He didn’t just die in your place, He lived in your place.  He has become to you righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30)!  In Christ you become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:20).

This is how the Holy God of heaven now sees you, righteous in Christ.  As God is well pleased with His Son, He is well pleased with us.  We are loved in the Beloved.  His love toward His beloved is His love toward us (John 17:23, Ephesians 1:6).  The rays of the Father’s pleasure that go out toward His Son are the very rays of bliss that strike us.

And what a comfort is this, that seeing God’s love resteth on Christ, as well pleased in him, we may gather that he is as well pleased with us if we be in Christ!  – Richard Sibbes