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Im hesitant to ask this (for fear of looking super ignorant) but here goes.I'm reading through the Gospels. In Matthew 3. Wondering why Jesus was baptized if He had no sin. Wasn't that the whole point of Johns baptism? Remission of sin? So why did Jesus get baptized by John?
Hi Donna. You may get other views on this passage ( Matthew 3:13-15), & no, yours is a very good question & nothing to be ashamed of, because the reasons for His Baptism are not given, except that He had said that "it (this special baptism) becometh us to fulfil all righteousness".
So we see that both John the Baptist & Jesus are included in His statement. John too was involved in this great & mysterious act. I see several things that are in Jesus' Mind & it certainly wasn't that He needed to be baptized for repentance, as you wrote. As people who were conscious of their sins & in response to John's call came to be baptized, Jesus comes along as well. As people looked inwardly to their sin-sick hearts, Jesus was looking upward to doing His Father's Will & to prepare for the long road ahead that ultimately meant the securing of those people's salvation, by faith in Him.
So I see that Jesus' baptism was that first step - a public declaration to John & others present, receiving the Father's Approval & the Spirit's empowering, the water being the medium to signify His death & burial ( Mark 10:38), a vivid testimony to Himself that there was no turning back - the Cross was before Him, & for the institution of baptism for believers to declare this same testimony of death to self, a new life in the risen Christ, & a walk of faith till the end. At that moment in time, as John was using water towards repentance, Jesus was there using water towards salvation.
And as John was a witness to all these things, so all sinners coming to Jesus for salvation, must be witnesses to His offering of Himself (a witness from the Word and the Spirit). Many, for other reasons, come to Christ & do not truly believe in the full Personhood of Christ, even some Church ministers as we have read of. Unless every sinner coming to Jesus believes the Jesus as shown in the Word & confirmed deep in the heart by the Holy Spirit, then salvation is spurious & maybe just a wishful crutch to hang onto.
I wonder that also. It seems that Scripture does not really explain "why" other than to fulfill all righteousness. But then does not elaborate further. So, I guess, for me, where the Scripture is silent, I prefer not to present guesses unless I simply speculate and say it is speculation. I wish I knew the answer of this, but maybe someone else out there has some ideas to share.
So we see that both John the Baptist & Jesus are included in His statement. John too was involved in this great & mysterious act. I see several things that are in Jesus' Mind & it certainly wasn't that He needed to be baptized for repentance, as you wrote. As people who were conscious of their sins & in response to John's call came to be baptized, Jesus comes along as well. As people looked inwardly to their sin-sick hearts, Jesus was looking upward to doing His Father's Will & to prepare for the long road ahead that ultimately meant the securing of those people's salvation, by faith in Him.
So I see that Jesus' baptism was that first step - a public declaration to John & others present, receiving the Father's Approval & the Spirit's empowering, the water being the medium to signify His death & burial ( Mark 10:38), a vivid testimony to Himself that there was no turning back - the Cross was before Him, & for the institution of baptism for believers to declare this same testimony of death to self, a new life in the risen Christ, & a walk of faith till the end. At that moment in time, as John was using water towards repentance, Jesus was there using water towards salvation.
And as John was a witness to all these things, so all sinners coming to Jesus for salvation, must be witnesses to His offering of Himself (a witness from the Word and the Spirit). Many, for other reasons, come to Christ & do not truly believe in the full Personhood of Christ, even some Church ministers as we have read of. Unless every sinner coming to Jesus believes the Jesus as shown in the Word & confirmed deep in the heart by the Holy Spirit, then salvation is spurious & maybe just a wishful crutch to hang onto.
I wonder that also. It seems that Scripture does not really explain "why" other than to fulfill all righteousness. But then does not elaborate further. So, I guess, for me, where the Scripture is silent, I prefer not to present guesses unless I simply speculate and say it is speculation. I wish I knew the answer of this, but maybe someone else out there has some ideas to share.
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