Baptism of Jesus
Posted By Aaron Marcelli on May 29, 2009
In our Bible study this past Sunday night we had some good discussion about the baptism of Jesus. As we were studying Matthew chapter 3, we came to the record of Jesus approaching John and seeking to be baptized. But why would the perfect Son of God, who was not a Christian and never sought forgiveness, need to be baptized? Some of the reasons and arguments that were expressed in our discussion are summarized below.
- To be an example
This is the most common answer and the “Sunday school response” to the purpose of Jesus’ baptism. That doesn’t make it right or wrong though. It was said that no greater validity could be given to the message of John the Baptist than for Jesus Himself to come and do what John was asking of others.
However, Jesus did not do the things He did on this Earth just to be an example. If we are seeking Him to be our example, we are going to get confused quite often. WWJD does not work because Jesus did not face every situation that we run into today for us to look to His example. Even the disciples, who were with Jesus more than anyone, had no idea what He was going to do. Many times they were even shocked and doubted the things He did because He was so unpredictable. Still, the example reasoning makes some sense and many hold to it as why Christ was baptized.
- Because it was required
An argument I had never considered on this issue before was raised by someone who said that maybe it fulfilled some unrecorded Old Testament prophecy or was a command of God for Jesus that would cause Him to be disobedient if it was not done. The wording in The Message Bible certainly backs this up as Jesus insists on His being baptized so strongly that it is as though He is saying His Earthly ministry cannot begin until John baptizes Him. In the last part of Matthew 3, Jesus commands John to “do it” and states that the entire work of God is coming to place in this act and by not doing so such a plan could be put on hold.
- To associate Himself with His followers
More than a couple people contributed to this response. Though Jesus is a good example, He did not come to be an example. But He did come to associate with man. If He is going to be the One who takes all of the sin of humanity on Himself, He could not come to Earth and live a life distant from those He came to deliver. It adds power to this passage to consider the public out coming of Jesus being an act not of power or miracle, but of saying “I’m not asking anything of you that I will not do Myself.” Perhaps by being baptized, He wanted everyone to see that He was willing to go into the same waters they do and that He would later walk their streets, worship their God, and die according to their law system, but it doing all of that heal their souls and provide salvation to those who were human just like Him.
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