The First Crimson Conversation

For those of you who may not have picked up on the blog title, I'll take a moment to explain. In many modern bible translations, the word spoken by Jesus Himself are often printed in red. When crucified, Jesus bled on the cross, and it is through His blood that mankind has equal opportunity at salvation by faith through this grace. Red words, and red blood, also called crimson in color are key to our understanding of the gospel, and our understanding of our relationship to Christ. A crimson conversation is simply the times in scripture where the Son of the Living God speaks. And when He speaks, we must listen.

We do not have to wait long to get to the first words spoken by Jesus. Chapter 3 of the gospel of Matthew reveals the first crimson conversation. Once we arrive there and read them, we see that while in the grand scheme of things these words may seem pedestrian, simple, common words to be spoken as would be in any everyday conversation. Certainly not a sentence of divine wisdom being revealed to all of mankind in a mountain-top "thus sayeth the Lord' type pronouncement that one would expect from a deity.

Or are they?

In Matthew chapter 3 John the Baptizer is on the banks of the Jordan River. Already having put the Pharisees and Sadducees in their places for their false religion and ungodly legalism that they had enslaved the Jewish people under for nearly 400 years, going so far as to call them a "brood of vipers"

John then speaks these words,

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

These are words that pierce the side of the men in religious authority. The same men that will pierce the side of their Creator on the cross.

Even then, mixing it up with the very men John is surely aware have the power to see him thrown in prison or worse for the actions he's already made and the words he's already spoken, is keenly aware of his position. Like us all, John is subservient to Jesus, and Jesus is on His way - literally.

In verse 15 John sees Jesus coming, Jesus responds to John's attempt to balk at baptizing Jesus and asks Jesus to baptize him instead. Who among us would not have done the same? Then Jesus speaks His first words recorded in the NT:

“Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Like I said earlier, these words may seen innocuous.But are they really? Are they just a simple reply to John so that he understands that Jesus Himself must be baptized? I think not. I see much more to this exchange.

With these first words that Jesus speaks in the NT, we see a pattern being formed. Jesus is setting a standard. The standard is twofold:

1. Righteousness
2. The Will of the Father

Jesus states that He must fulfill all righteousness. Here the word fulfill means to perform or execute as a matter of duty, to make complete in every particular, and to cause to abound! This is what Jesus desires to do for righteousness. Up to this point righteousness has been a character largely missing from the religious leaders. It most lacking among the group that stood and watched Jesus receive this baptism from John (the Pharisees and Saducees). We do find righteous men before Jesus time. Noah was called righteous before God, Lot was called righteous by Peter, and Abraham was a righteous man just to name a few. But none of these men, or any other men could fulfill righteousness. Only Jesus could have done so, and He did.

In this is also hidden the command of the Father that is the gospel of salvation. The map has been made. The plan has been laid out, even before the foundations of the earth. Jesus the Son, and God the Father knew this day would come and that Jesus would be baptized. Jesus desire to do the will of the father is unshakable, and cannot be broken, although the enemy would try very soon following this encounter. 

Jesus will do only those things that bring and show righteousness, that are righteous. This will play itself out as we go along. He will also say in chapters to come, that He does only the will of the Father (John 5:30).

Jesus could have said anything He wanted to be the first words recorded for us to read. He could have said, "I am the awaited Messiah", and put a stop to all the rumors that would soon be floating about and be debated by such nobles as Nicodemus (called a ruler of the Jews), Joseph of Arimathea, and quite probably Gamaliel himself whom we are told was one of the greatest teachers of all. Jesus could have said, "I am not here to cause a political takeover or to crush the Romans", which would have quelled the political unrest to come and settled the hearts of such men as Simon the zealot and Judas who would betray Him, but He did not. He could have said any number of the wonderful things that He did say later on; that He is the way the truth and the life, that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord they God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves.



Jesus said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” as His FIRST words. And we know He did, because one of His very LAST words was 'teleo' when He said, "It is finished". And finished it was indeed. This word teleo means, to be fulfilled, completed, to bring to pass. Thus He did. His life fulfilled righteousness for Himself, and for you and I. A greater work has never been accomplished.

So then, we are left with the discussion of application. Are you seeking God's will first over your earthly and fleshly desires? Do you place the importance of righteousness, being holy and righteous before God in all your actions over your desire to fulfill your personal freedoms even at the expense of stumbling a brother? Is being YOU more important than being like HIM?

These are hard questions that we must ask ourselves. While the answers may be even harder, the strength of Jesus Christ is able (through the Holy Spirit) to empower you to new heights as through Christ, all things are possible!