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THE EASTER STORY BEGINS WITH A BAPTISM

by Jordan Easley

Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17


The Easter Story Begins with a Baptism
Jordan Easley
Matthew 3:13-17


Most of the time, when we tell the Easter story, we talk about it as being a 3-day event. Good Friday (the day Jesus was crucified) ... Holy Saturday (the day where Jesus laid in the grave) ... and Easter Sunday (the day when Jesus rose from the grave).

But this week, as I was thinking through the timeline of the Easter story, I realized something new: Before there was a crucifixion... And before there was a resurrection... there was a baptism.

3 years before Jesus died... Jesus was baptized...
We don't usually associate his baptism with this weekend because the truth is... Three years is a long time... and many things happened in Jesus' life and ministry between his baptism in the Jordan River and his grave experience in the garden tomb.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in how the story ends... that we forget where the story begins. When you look at the ministry of Jesus... it begins with a baptism...

[Matthew 3:13-17] 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to stop him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?" 15 Jesus answered him, "Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then John allowed him to be baptized. 16 When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased."

Today, I want us to focus on that one statement Jesus made: This is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness. When Jesus said these words, he was talking about his baptism. Get this in your notes today: The baptism of Jesus was an inauguration. That word inauguration means: "the ceremony of a new beginning."

For Jesus, this moment of baptism was a new beginning. You've ...

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