2 Chronicles 24:20-22 – “Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, ‘Thus says God, “Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.”’ But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, ‘May the Lord see and avenge.’”
The Spirit of God clothing Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest is a picture of all three persons of God at the baptism of Jesus. Zechariah, the son, represents Jesus. His name means “the Lord remembers.” Jehoiada represents God the Father. Jehoaida means “the knowledge of the Lord.” And the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah. Baptism is spoken as putting off the old man and putting on the new man, like a change of clothing. All of this is like saying at his baptism Jesus was clothed by the Spirit with the full, perfect, and complete knowledge of God.
In Matthew, Jesus gets baptized, then gets tested in the wilderness, and finally gave the sermon on the mount. In it he gives the commandments of his kingdom. He says, “you have heard it said…but I say unto you…” In a way he is asking why Is Israel breaking the commands of God. Israel had forsaken the heart of God’s commands, love.
Of course, the leaders of Israel conspired to kill Jesus just as those in the story above conspired to Zechariah, who was eventually put to death by the king.
There are some pretty interesting things to draw out here from the life of Jesus.