Why Jesus Was Baptized

Today I finish the meditations on this past Sunday’s Scriptures from the Lectionary.  This meditation is from the Gospel reading, Matthew 3:13-17, where Jesus has come to John the Baptist to be baptized.  The baptism of John the Baptist was a baptism for repentance of sins.  This is different from the baptism in Christian churches today.  The baptism that Jesus commanded His believers to practice in Matthew 28:19, is one that is an act of obedience to Him, and proclaims their faith in the crucified, buried and risen Savior, Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist was a forerunner of Jesus, and came preaching repentance from sin.  His baptism symbolized the washing away of those sins.  Many people, both Jews and some Gentiles, came to him to listen to his preaching, and also to be baptized.  Among those who came was Jesus.  The Holy Spirit had revealed to John exactly who Jesus was, and he knew that Jesus, the sinless Son of God, did not need to partake of a baptism of repentance.  That is why John the Baptist said in verse 14 that he didn’t feel it right for him to baptize Jesus.

Why would Jesus, the sinless Son of God, decide be baptized by John?  Jesus had come to earth to save sinners, and by doing this He was identifying with those He came to save.  Though He had never sinned, and did not need a baptism of repentance, He did so on behalf of sinful mankind.  Jesus was confessing sins on their behalf.  This was done several times in the Old Testament, where one who had not committed a specific sin, confessed those sins on behalf of the others.  It was done by Moses, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, where they confessed for the sins of the people of Israel.  This was what Jesus was doing on our behalf when He was baptized.

Jesus also submitted to baptism  to provide an example to us in being obedient to what the Father tells us.  He didn’t argue with God, saying that since He had never sinned, why should He be baptized for the remission of sins.  He obeyed, and we should also.

One final observation.  In this passage the Trinity is clearly shown.  God the Father is speaking in verse 17.  He speaks about the Son, which is Jesus, who came to be baptized.  And in verse 16, the Spirit of God descends upon the Son in the form of a dove.