WATER BAPTISM
Matthew 3:1-17; Colossians 2:12.
ALTERNATE LESSON -- Primary Course
MEMORY VERSE: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark
16:16).
Jesus’ Boyhood
Many years ago, when Jesus was on earth, He was a child like you! He lived in the little
town of Nazareth, far away across the sea, in the Holy Land. He grew and grew, and all the
while he was obedient to His mother and father.
His father Joseph was a carpenter. Perhaps Jesus helped Joseph in the carpenter shop,
making plough handles and wooden yokes for the oxen of near-by farmers, tools for the
neighbours, and many other things.
When the day was clear in Nazareth, they could see the beautiful snow-covered top of
Mount Hermon in the north. They knew that not far away, in the lush green of the Jordan
Valley, was the Sea of Galilee. Jesus may have gone there sometimes to bring home fish for
their supper.
His Father’s Work
He knew there was a great work for Him to do for His Heavenly Father, and at last the time
came for Him to go out and teach the people. No doubt he had told His mother that He must
go, and perhaps this morning they had prayed together before He left. We can imagine that
we see her standing in the doorway, waving to Him as He walks down the road. Perhaps it is
springtime and the roses of Sharon or the lilies of the valley are blooming along the way. The
air is fragrant. The birds are singing.
John the Baptist
Jesus walks and walks until He comes to a river. Do you know the name of this river? It
is Jordan -– the same river where God rolled back the water so the Children of Israel could
walk across on dry ground.
Not far away Jesus sees a crowd of people. Shall we find out what they are doing? Oh,
they are listening to John the Baptist! John has been preaching to the people, telling them to
repent -– to stop doing wrong things and to do good things, because Jesus, the Great King
from Heaven, is coming. They must be good and holy so they can receive Jesus.
Many of the people do repent and turn away from their bad ways, and pray, and ask God to
forgive them. Then the Blood of Jesus washes their hearts clean and they have a good life,
they love God and do what He tells them to do. They are saved!
No one can see what happens inside our heart, but God wants everyone to know what a
wonderful thing it is to be saved, so He gives us a picture in water baptism of what has
happened to us when we were saved. John the Baptist took those who were saved into the
river and baptized each one in water. They went down into the water, and the water covered
them all over for just a little second, and that showed what had already happened in their heart
-– they were dead and buried to their old naughty ways. When Jesus died on the cross He
took our sins away, and was buried. The baptized come out of the water, just as Jesus came
out of the grave -– to live a new life with Jesus and do what He wants them to do.
Jesus’ Example
Jesus is the Son of God. He never did do anything wrong or sinful. He always obeyed
God and did what His Heavenly Father told Him to do. But that day when Jesus came to the
river where John was preaching to the people, and baptizing those who were saved, Jesus
asked John to baptize Him in water, too. Jesus did this to give us an example so that all the
people who lived then, and all of us who are living now, can know that it is exactly the right
thing for us to be baptized in water after we are saved.
John did not want to baptize Jesus at first. Jesus was so good and holy that John did not
feel he should even unlace Jesus’ shoes. But when Jesus told John it was right for him to do
it, John Baptized Him.
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Jesus came up out of the water and waded onto the bank of the Jordan river as its muddy
water swished and tumbled down toward the Dead Sea. Then a wonderful thing happened -–
the heavens opened and a beautiful dove came down and lighted on His head. God was
pleased with Jesus because He was obedient, and God spoke right out of Heaven and said,
“Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus’ Works
For three years after that, Jesus did many kind and good things. He made the sick people
well. He raised up the dead son of the widow who lived in the little town of Nain. He fed
5,000 people out on the hillside with only five loaves and two fishes. He taught the people
that when they did wrong things they were sinning against their loving Heavenly Father. He
told them to repent and pray and be saved, so God could help them to be good and go to
Heaven.
Then one day wicked people took Jesus and nailed Him to a cross, and he died for us all.
But no one could keep Jesus in the grave. He was the Son of God! And the third day he came
back to life. He came out of the grave and walked and talked with his disciples for 40 days.
Then He went back to Heaven in a cloud.
Just before Jesus left to go back to Heaven, He told His disciples to go into all the world
and tell the people how He had died for them and that they, too, should be baptized in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. He said, “He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved.”
So all of us who are saved want to be baptized in water, and do everything that Jesus tells
us in the Bible to do. Then when we see God one of these days, he will say to us something
like he did to Jesus: “You are My beloved child and I am glad that you have obeyed Me.
Now you may live with Me in Heaven for ever and ever.”
QUESTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the name of the river where Jesus was baptized? Matthew 3:13.
Who baptized Jesus? Matthew 3:13.
Why was Jesus baptized in water? Matthew 3:15.
Why should we be baptized in water? Mark 16:16.
Going down into the water and coming up shows what? John 3:15.
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