Fulfilling All Righteousness

Fulfilling All Righteousness

Imagine if I took a Bible and started ripping pages out—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—shredding them right in front of you. You’d probably think I was crazy. And you’d be right.

I’m not going to do that. But sit with the thought for a second. What if those four books were gone? You’d still have the Old Testament. You’d still have Acts and the letters of Paul and Peter. All of it good. All of it true. But without the life of Jesus modeled in His own words, what is the rest of it pointing to?

We’ve been walking through the red letters—those roughly thirty thousand words Jesus spoke—because falling in love with the Jesus of the Scriptures stirs first love again. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us read as if we’ve never read it before. To take off the lens of what we think we already know and let it come alive.

The First Red Letters

Last week we looked at John the Baptist—the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord with a baptism of repentance. People were coming by the droves, confessing their sins. Then Jesus shows up.

Matthew 3:13-15:

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”  

But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

In Young’s Literal it reads more like “Suffer it now.” There’s intensity in the word. John really struggled with this. Picture it like the foot-washing scene later in John 13, where Peter pushes back hard until Jesus says, essentially, “If I don’t do this, you have no part with Me.” Righteousness here is simply the right thing in God’s eyes—the thing God had ordained. This was the beginning of Jesus stepping fully into the ministry the Father had appointed. After thirty quiet years with no recorded miracles, no opened blind eyes, no public proclamation of the kingdom, the timing was finally “now.”

I call it crockpot Jesus. He waited until the appointed time.

All Four Gospels

When a single event shows up in every Gospel account, pay attention. God is underscoring its importance.

Matthew 3:16-17  

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Mark 1 records the same scene and then says immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.

Luke 3 adds a detail: “When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened…” Then Luke places the genealogy right after the baptism—an odd placement if you’re only thinking chronologically. From Joseph (as was supposed) all the way back to Adam. Over and over it reads like “the son of… the son of… the son of…” It is as if the Spirit is saying: Son of Man. Son of Man. Son of Man. And then, ultimately, Son of God.

Jesus took that title for Himself. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. He healed the sick, cast out demons, and walked in power as the Son of Man—fully identifying with us and fully dependent on the Holy Spirit.

John gives us John the Baptist’s testimony: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He saw the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, and he knew this was the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

Affirmed Before Any Work

Here’s the part that still wrecks me in the best way: Jesus had not performed a single miracle. He had not done a single public work. And the Father’s voice thunders over Him: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

If the Father affirms Jesus before any performance, how much more does He affirm us? Every born-again believer is a minister of the new covenant. Whether your assignment is your children, the people at work, or the community around you, your launching point is the same: “This is My beloved son… This is My beloved daughter… in whom I am well pleased.”

Immediately after that affirmation, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. He receives the commission, the affirmation, and the filling—and then walks straight toward the fight. He doesn’t wait for the devil to find Him.

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Returning in Power

Luke 4 tells us Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, was led into the wilderness. After the forty days and the three temptations—each met with the Word of God—He returned “in the power of the Spirit.” Something happens when you face the enemy from a place of known identity and dependence on the Spirit. Confidence grows. You come out with a testimony.

Romans 5 puts language to it:

…we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But when you know who you are—when the Father’s affirmation is settled in your heart—every attack can backfire. You end up with more testimony, more freedom, more of the life of Jesus on display. Paul shook the viper off into the fire on that island and kept going. He didn’t panic. He didn’t start frantically confessing every verse he knew. He had already settled the truth: Christ in me, the hope of glory. The whole island ended up hearing the gospel.

Come to the Water

Jesus stands in the water and calls. He points you out. He says, “Come. Take My hand.”

You step in with Him. The same dove that rested on Him rests on you. The same kind, caring voice of the Father speaks over you: “This is My beloved… in whom I am well pleased.” You don’t graduate from needing that. The more you grow, the more you realize how desperately you need to keep believing it.

If anyone thirsts, let him come to Jesus and drink. Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water—speaking of the Spirit whom those who believe in Him would receive.

Just ask. By faith. The same way you received salvation. “Father, I want to receive the Holy Spirit.” He gives freely.

This is the place where fear loses its grip. The love of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit annihilates it.

Let that picture settle. Jesus in the water. The heavens open. The Spirit descends. The Father speaks. And then He turns, looks at you, and invites you in.

Discussion Questions

1.  The opening illustration imagines the Gospels being removed from the Bible. How would your understanding of God, yourself, or the Christian life change if you only had the rest of Scripture without the recorded words and life of Jesus?

2.  Jesus said it was “fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” What does “righteousness” mean in this moment of His baptism? How does that reshape the way you think about obedience or timing in your own life?

3.  The Father affirms Jesus (“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”) before any miracles or public ministry. How easy or difficult is it for you to receive the Father’s affirmation apart from your performance or productivity? Why?

4.  Luke places the genealogy right after the baptism, repeatedly highlighting Jesus as “the son of…” all the way back to Adam. Why is it significant that Jesus is both fully Son of God and Son of Man? How does His dependence on the Holy Spirit encourage you?

5.  Immediately after the affirmation and the Spirit’s descent, Jesus is led into the wilderness. Have you experienced seasons where God’s affirmation was followed by testing or opposition? What did you learn in those places?

6.  Romans 5 says we can “glory in tribulations” because of the love of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. What would it look like practically for you to respond to an attack or hardship from a place of settled identity rather than fear or self-protection?

7.  The invitation at the end is to picture Jesus calling you into the water with Him and hearing the Father’s voice over your own life. Take a few quiet moments with that picture. What do you sense the Holy Spirit highlighting or speaking to you?

This post was shaped from the transcript of a recent teaching with the help of AI tools. I reviewed and edited every part so it reflects my own thoughts, voice, and study of Scripture.

Courtney Olson