on the Baptism of our Lord
Posted by Ryan Schroeder on October 17, 2006
Our Lord Jesus Christ began his public ministry when he was 30 years old, by receiving Baptism from John the Baptist. Each of the four Gospel writers take note of this event and at least mention in in their respective books. However for most people it is somewhat of a mystery as to why Jesus asked John to Baptize him.
There are primarily two schools of though on Baptism. There are those who believe the Biblical view, that baptism is for the forgiveness of sin. There are also those who believe it is nothing but symbolic of the change in their life. The goal of this essay is not to defend the Biblical teaching of Baptism, however it is enough to note that neither of these views explain why Jesus was Baptized. He had no sin that would be washed away. There was no change in his life that would be symbolized. Jesus was sinless for his entire life, and most definitely a believe in God for his entire life.
In Matthew 3:15, Jesus gives a very brief statement regarding the purpose of his Baptism. John had just protested saying that he was the one who needed to be baptized by Jesus. Jesus simply tells him to “Permit it now; for thus it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Again, this is not a very clear statement. Jesus simply states that it is proper to do so. that it will fulfill all righteousness. Jesus himself was already righteousness, John was the administrator of the baptism and certainly did not receive righteousness by doing so. Something however did happen here.
This is the first time that Jesus made a strong association between himself and sinners. By submitting to a Baptism that he did not need, he was in effect publicly making himself to be viewed as one of us, as one who is under the law. Even now, whenever someone is baptized, they are joined in the Body of Christ with all others who have received this blessed sacrament. By receiving John’s Baptism, Jesus connected himself to all the sinners who had received John’s Baptism. In this act, he expressed his willingness to take the sins of the world upon himself. He is assuming his redemptive office, as our perfect high Priest.
The other two persons of the Trinity immediatly express their approval of Jesus taking on the office. The Spirite decends upon him as a dove and the Father Speaks to all present that he is pleased. John understands this and refers to Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
This is the beginning of Jesus public ministry, and what a fitting beginning it is. The very Son of God humbles himself and shows us his willingness to take our sins upon himself.
SOLI DEO GLORIA
bonnieq said
I feel that what answers to the query presented in this great article, Ryan, was Christ’s admonition that we are to do as He did: in all things, which includes obeying God’s Twelve Commandments (His Doctrine), which brings us into harmony with God Himself. As scripture further enlightens, “the Holy Spirit comes to those who obey.”
One might also question why Jesus, the Son of God, needed the Holy Spirit to descend upon Him following baptism. The answer, of course, was because Christ was a mortal man. The Holy Spirit endowed Him with all the power of God, something He did not have prior to His water baptism.
Excellent article, Ryan! Perhaps you will visit me sometime.
Love in Christ,
http://bonnieq.wordpress.com
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bonnieq said
By the way, I have added your blog to my blogroll.
BonnieQ
Ryan Schroeder said
Bonnieq,
I am glad that you found my essay benificial to you. Your comments were interesting, although i cannot say that I agree with them. Obeying the commandments of God cannot bring us into harmony with God. Only if the entire law was kept perfectly, could this even be a possibility. Even then it would depend on our motivation in keeping the law. However, nobody has kept the law (save for Jesus) and thus we are all sinners who are under the curse of the law. There is no middle ground in keeping the law. Either you have kept the law 100% or you have not. If you only sinned once in your life, it was one time too many. The question is “have you kept the law” only yes or no are acceptable answers. All must answer no. If the answer is no, then no work that you do can bring you into harmony with God. Only the sacrifice of Christ on the cross can do that. Praise be to God that it did.
The other statement that I find troubling is that “The Holy Spirit endowed Him with all the power of God, something He did not have prior to His water baptism.” Jesus is truly God. He has been so from eternity. Although while on Earth he did not make use of all his Divine powers, there is no reason to assume that he could not have don so. He did not need to receive his divine powers from the Spirit as he always had them. To suggest otherwise may be interpreted to say that he was only man before the Spirit made him into God an Man. This is a terrible misunderstanding of the nature of Christ. Additionally, in order for Christ’s sacrifice to be able to free us from our slavery to sin, Christ had to live a perfect life. This is something that he was only able to do because he is God, even before his Baptism.
Again, thank you for your input and may God bless your study of His Word
Ryan