It is commonly thought that Jesus was baptized as an example to us to be baptized. Just why did Jesus feel the need to be baptized? I don’t think that being baptized as an example for us to be baptized is the answer. The reason for Jesus’ baptism goes deeper than that. We’ll come back to the question shortly.
But first, let’s join John the Baptist at the Jordan River in the weeks before Jesus came to him to be baptized. We tend to read about John urging the people to repent and be baptized, and we may think, “Yes, that’s what Jesus later told his disciples — ‘Go out into the world and preach, and tell people they must repent and be baptized.’ ‘
But what John was doing was very different. You see, he was telling the Jews that they must repent of their sins and be baptized.
Apart from the Essenes, baptism for repentance of sins was not part of Judaism. The Jews knew and practiced baptism, but not for themselves. They only practiced baptism when a non-Jewish person, a proselyte, wanted to join Judaism. These proselytes were impure in the eyes of the Jews, and they needed to be baptized because of their impurity. But not so for Jews. They were God’s chosen people. They were descendants of Abraham. For these reasons, they, in their own eyes, were spiritually pure and they didn’t need to repent or be baptized.
So John’s message contained a new message for the Jews. He was telling them they must repent of their sins and be baptized. He knew what they thought about themselves — they regarded themselves as pure because they were descendants of Abraham. That’s why John challenged them:
“Don’t begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’ ‘
He lashed out at them, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance . . . Even now, the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’
John didn’t mince his words with his fellow Jews. And they listened to him, and many responded to his message. Tax collectors came, and soldiers, and crowds of others to repent of their sins and be baptized by John in the Jordan River.
It seems that in the hearts and minds of many Jews at that time, there was a need for a spiritual awakening. What John taught them caused them to think about themselves and look deep into their hearts. They were far from happy with the system of religion as practiced by the priests of their time. The priests were not teaching the love of God, they were not showing compassion to the people, they were corrupt and self-centered.
This had been going on for a long time. Malachi, who wrote 400 years before the birth of Jesus, wrote of the priests of his time, speaking of Israel as the wife of their youth:
“The Lord was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless. . . You have wearied the Lord with your words, yet you say, ‘How have we wearied Him?’ By saying every one who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” (Mal 3:14, 17, RSV1).
The priests had forsaken the work God had given them to do, and the people were suffering for it. What John told the people made sense. They were sinners in need of forgiveness. They wanted to come closer to God. Repentance and baptism was the start of this process. So the Jews listened to John the Baptist, and many were baptized.
Far to the north, about 75 miles (120 km) away in Capernaum, Jesus heard of the work of John the Baptist. He had been waiting for this. He was told of John’s message to the Jews that they must repent and be baptized. He heard that many were responding, and that John was baptising crowds of people.
Jesus was well aware from the Hebrew scriptures that a forerunner would come to prepare the way for him, the Messiah. He knew well the words of Isaiah:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord” (Matt 3:3, quoting Isa 40:3).
Jesus knew that John the Baptist was that person. He knew that the time had come for him to do the work he had been born to do. He had been sent to take away the sin of the world. There was only one way to do that. Jesus had to die as a sacrifice for sin.
Before sin can be forgiven, repentance for sin must first be felt. Because Jesus came to take away sin, John’s message of preparation was exactly right. The Jews (and later the Gentiles) must first repent and then be baptized. That was to be the message of Jesus, and John prepared the way of Jesus perfectly. It was a new and powerful message for the Jews. But it was just the beginning. The Jews were about to meet their Messiah, although not in the way they expected.
Jesus was now about 30 years old. He not only knew and understood the scriptures perfectly, and all the prophecies concerning himself, but for all of his life, he had communed with his Father, no doubt often going out into the hills around Nazareth during the night, and speaking to his Father as the moon and stars beamed down on him in the stillness and silence of the hills.
So, Jesus, now 30, realises that his work as God’s Son must now begin. He sets out alone (he had no disciples at this point) to walk the long 75 mile (120 km) journey from Capernaum to Bethany on the Jordan, where John the Baptist is baptising.
John at the Jordan
Let’s now return to John at the Jordan, and join him while Jesus makes his long walk from Capernaum. John knew that his role was to prepare the way for the Messiah. Although he was a cousin of Jesus, he had never met him. But he had been told, probably by an angel, that someone would come to him. John was to prepare the way for this person. John was in no doubt that this person was to be sent to him by God. John had been told that this person would be extremely special in God’s sight. He knew he would come to take away the sin of the world, and that he would be called the Lamb of God. John had also been told that he would see the Holy Spirit descend and remain on this person (John 1:29-34).
As John waited, day after day, week after week, for this person to come to him, his work was to tell the Jews that they must repent and be baptized. This prepared the way for Jesus, whose central focus would be to achieve forgiveness of sins through repentance and baptism. We can imagine John, always watching as he preached, watching, waiting, for this person to come. He knew enough about him to know that he, John, was not even worthy to untie this stranger’s sandal strap.
Jesus is now near the end of his long journeys. He sees John talking to a crowd of people by the river. He walks down towards him.
The Baptism of Jesus
John looks up and sees Jesus approaching. As he looks at him, he knows immediately that this is the person he’d been watching and waiting for. As John saw Jesus approaching, he said spontaneously, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). John had been preaching repentance to the Jews. This man would take away the sin, not only of the Jews, but of the whole world!
Jesus walked up to John. He said to him, “I would like you to baptize me.” John was astounded. He knew this man was God’s sacrificial Lamb who would take away the sin of the world! And he wanted John to baptize him?
He replied to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
And Jesus answered, and we can hear the gentleness in his answer to John: “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15).
Note that Jesus included John in this answer — “thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” He didn’t command John to baptize him. He said in effect, “let’s do this together, to fulfil all righteousness.”
This was the way of Jesus. He included people and dealt with them gentle. No wonder the people loved him. He exuded a love and understanding that was never seen in the priests. We see this gentleness and love in all his dealings with people.
Why did Jesus feel the need to be baptized? Well, he said it was to “fulfil all righteousness”. What does that mean? John preached repentance of sins and baptism. But Jesus was sinless. Some may say that Jesus was only sinless after he was baptized, and that he may have sinned during the first 30 years of his life.
I don’t accept that for a moment. The scriptures tell us that Jesus never committed sin. And never means never. He was sinless all of his life. So he didn’t need to repent of any sin, as we do.
Why did Jesus ask John to baptize him? I suggest there were two reasons why Jesus asked John to baptize him, and neither of them has anything to do with repentance.
First, his baptism was a symbolic looking forward to his death and resurrection in 31/2 years’ time. At this very beginning of his ministry, here in the Jordan River, Jesus publicly indicated that he was prepared to die for the sins of the world, and that he knew he would be raised to life again. It was his public “statement” that he would die and be resurrected. This was the core of his mission as the Messiah.
When we are baptized, our baptism represents being associated with Jesus’ death and resurrection in the past. But the baptism of Jesus looked forward to when he would be killed and three days later raised from death to life again.
His death and resurrection were the prime purpose of his ministry. He came not as a King on this occasion, but as the sacrificial Lamb. His mission was to give his life in death so that life would be given to you and me. “The wages of sin is death”. Even one sin means death for us. “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23).
And the words of Jesus himself: “Greater love has no man than he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). We are his friends, together with all those who follow him.
So, his baptism was a symbolic sign of his mission — death and resurrection. It showed what was to come. Of course, no one at the Jordan on that day who saw Jesus baptized would understand that. That would come later. For us, who have the benefit of hindsight, the foreshadowing of his death and resurrection in his baptism is clear.
The second reason for his baptism is that it indicated his commitment to his Father. It showed openly that he was willing to submit to death for his Father’s sake, knowing that his Father would raise him to life again.
This was why God sent His Spirit to descend on Jesus like a dove, as He spoke the words, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt3:17).
What did Jesus mean when he said to John that his baptism was to fulfil all righteousness? Did it mean that Jesus was righteous in being baptized? Did it reflect the righteousness of God? Did it mean that he was baptized in righteousness as an example for us to be baptized? It meant none of these things.
We don’t have to guess what he meant, for John tells us: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Ultimate righteousness is found in declaring someone righteous who isn’t righteous. Declaring someone righteous who is a sinner.
God was prepared to forgive our sins and to grant us life instead of death by giving His only beloved Son to die for us.
Jesus was prepared to suffer cruelty and death so that we may have our sins forgiven and have everlasting life. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22).
In those two supreme acts of selflessness and love, we see the righteousness of our Father and of His Son. Because of the painlessness and righteousness of Jesus, our Lord, we are declared to be righteous before God. This is the fulfilling of all righteousness that Jesus spoke to John about. The wonderful words of Paul confirm this:
“You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him (Col 1:21-22).
God seeks righteousness in all things. He is righteous, Jesus is righteous, and Jesus reconciles us to God through his death so that we, too, are righteous in him.
And there was something else about the baptism of Jesus that was unique. In sending the Holy Spirit to descend on Jesus like a dove, this was the sign that, through Jesus, God was going to introduce His Spirit to underpin the new covenant between Himself and mankind. This new, Spirit-filled covenant was to be initiated by His Son. In this, we must also remember that we are a part of that new covenant that is sealed not just by the waters of baptism, but by the Spirit as well. John the Baptist made it clear that all baptisms from Jesus on wards are by water and the Spirit:
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I . . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Matt 3:11).
So, in our lives after baptism, we know that we have the Spirit of Christ in our hearts to help us in our walk to the Kingdom. Paul confirms this:
“You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him…. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit which dwells in you” (Rom 8:9,11).
We have been given unimaginable riches through our Lord Jesus. If it were not for Jesus, we would be dead, with no hope whatever. So it is that we rejoice in the words of Hebrews: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:22).
Jesus was baptized a long time ago, but his baptism and his subsequent death and resurrection is just as relevant to us today as it was then. As Jesus said: “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore” (Rev 1:17-18).
And finally, in the words of one of our hymns we see our exalted Lord, with whom God was (and is) well pleased:
“Behold My servant, see him rise
Exalted in My might:
Him have I chosen, and in him
I place supreme delight.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One