Baptism: Understanding Jesus’ Sacrifice

“John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,  even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” (John 1:26-33, ESV)

When we think of ourselves in light of who God is, how do we see ourselves? Do we consider ourselves children and heirs? Do we see ourselves through the lens of the salvation Jesus won us and extended to us? Do we view ourselves as conquerors and overcomers? Do we see busy servants that are continuing Christ’s work through the talents God gifted us with? 

Do we see ourselves the way John saw Himself: humbly and in light of how seriously we fall short of Jesus’ magnificence?

Because although John may have had this extremely impressive and popular baptism ministry that was drawing crowds of people, John recognized that compared to the Messiah he was preparing the way for, he was unimpressive.

In fact, when asked if he was Christ, or Elijah, or a prophet, John’s answer was that he was none of those things. He was making the way for someone who was so great, he was not even worthy to undo His sandals. Meaning, compared to the ministry of the coming Lord, John’s contributions and his impact was nowhere near to the saving grace to come.

If you think the comment about the strap of the sandal is strange, allow me to shed some light on what that meant: In those times, it was customary to have the feet of a visitor or a guest in your home washed by a servant. Because the roads were dusty and the style of footwear for the time was sandals, your guests feet would be dirty coming into your home. Out of respect for that visitor’s comfort and the cleanliness of the home, foot washing was common practice. The first step in this washing would be to remove the dirty, dusty sandals so the foot washing could begin. This task of removing the sandals would be for the lowest servant of the household to complete. In Jewish law, cleanliness was everything. It was highly valued in their culture, and Jews were reluctant to come in contact with anything that would make them unclean, which is why dealing with these dusty sandals would have been reserved as one of the lowest jobs of the house.

But compared to Jesus, John regards himself as even lower than the lowest possible servant. He says compared to the One coming after him, he was not even worthy to untie His sandals.

Is that the way we see ourselves in light of who God is? Do we see ourselves in light of the sin that so deeply aggrieved the Lord? Do we see ourselves as unworthy to approach even the feet of Jesus because of that sin that we are capable of? 

Indeed, the only reason we are even allowed to approach Him is because He came to save us. The only reason we can come into His presence is because He paid the price for the egregiousness of our sins and made us clean. His majesty and our sin are incompatible and our sin is enough to keep us separated from Him for all time, making us lower than even the lowest of servants in Heaven.

Scripture says the very next day, Jesus came to visit John and he doubled down by saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” John declares Jesus not as the triumphant, victorious Messiah, not as the vanquisher of sin, but as the sacrificial lamb sent by God to bear and take our sins away. Even at the beginning of Christ’s physical ministry on earth, the cross loomed and cast its shadow. 

John says that this was confirmed at Jesus’ baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and affirmed the power and purpose Jesus already had from birth. Jesus’ baptism was not the moment that God bestowed His power on Jesus. Jesus was not simply a man before that moment, waiting for God to make Him a deity and pour out something new or unrealized on Him.

Instead, John bore witness to God’s sign to Him that Jesus was the one who would save the world and baptize His people with something much more powerful than water. John even makes a point to say that Jesus “ranks” or came before him. John, of course, knows that Jesus was born after him– he is Jesus’ cousin, after all, and John is the same baby that leapt in his mother, Elizabeth’s, womb simply from being near a pregnant Mary.

What John means is that although his purpose is to prepare the people to receive the coming Christ, and even though Jesus the man was physically born after John, Jesus precedes all as the God who was, is, and is to come. John acknowledges that not only does Jesus rank before him in power and preeminence, but Jesus existed before all as part of the Godhead. Jesus was there in the beginning, and He comes before John in the sense that He is the human face of God, who existed long before John did.

And Jesus being this long-awaited Savior, and the Son of God that God has sent to fulfill His plans to redeem His people, would have the power and ability to not only cleanse us of our sins, but also to baptize us in God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus would have a ministry that would outlive John the Baptist’s and held a higher eternal standard. Jesus’ ministry, sacrifice, and baptism would supersede John’s and outrank it.

And thank God for that. If not for Jesus’ sacrifice and His pouring out of the Holy Spirit baptism, none of us would stand a chance. We’d still be sacrificing sheep and praying it would be enough to cover our sins. We’d still be held to the law, not to grace.

But even still, what makes us worthy of that baptism? What makes us dignified enough to enjoy it? The answer is nothing but the sovereignty and supremacy of God. We are as John said: unworthy to even touch and untie Jesus’ sandals, and yet we are invited to sit at His table. We are lower than the lowest servant in Heaven, and yet we are still allowed to approach God on His throne. We are hopeless to clean ourselves and we deserve the dirtiest of jobs that the Father has to give, and yet we are found worthy to be cleansed of our sin. 

In light of that reality, what is our response? I should severely hope that it would be the deepest gratitude towards our savior from the bottom of our souls. I pray that it elicits praise in our hearts for the One who came to be that sacrifice and that atonement for us. 

Because you do stand before God unworthy in every way, but Jesus’ sacrifice covers that for us. His grace to us is deeper than we can fathom or understand. Our sin should disqualify us and yet Jesus still went to the cross, every step of His ministry, He knew would lead Him there. And He willingly went. 

What a gift and what an honor to know and walk with the Lord– the One who baptizes us with something that goes straight to the soul and cleans right to the quick of us.