By: Howard Johnson
The immediate response to the above question might be, “to fulfill all righteousness,” and that is a good answer. A review of the Scriptures will show that it was much more than that. In Matthew 3:13–17, Jesus came to John to be baptized. In verse 15 Jesus said, “…Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness…” (NKJV). Jesus was not alone in this event; the Bible says that it was important for them to fulfill the act.
John, the cousin of Jesus and the one chosen to prepare the way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3–4; Matthew 3:1–3; Mark 1:2–4; Luke 3:2–6; John 1:19–34), was a crucial part of the baptism. John was “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17) and “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Mark 1:3). He spent his whole adult life preaching and teaching a call to repentance and baptism for remission of sins.
John was told that he would see the chosen One from God, and he was an integral part of initiating the earthly ministry of our Lord. Knowing the background of the baptism of Jesus of Nazareth, I would like you to consider two reasons why Jesus was baptized.
To Fulfill All Righteousness
To be righteous is to be obedient. Jesus had to be in full obedience to the Law of God. God said that man needed to be baptized and sent John to perform it. In order for Jesus to continue without sin, He needed to be baptized. This baptism was not to have His sins remitted (taken away) because He was without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22–24; 1 John 3:5). Yet, to be in perfect obedience to the will of God, Jesus needed to be baptized—”to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
To Begin His Earthly Ministry
John told his disciples that “He [Jesus] must increase, but I [John] must decrease” (John 3:30). John knew that his work was for just a little while. He was to be a witness and an instrument in the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.
At the baptism of Jesus, John witnessed the descending of the Spirit of God like as a dove (John 1:32) and heard a voice from the clouds pronouncing His acceptance in the One called Jesus (Matthew 3:16–17). John knew then he would begin to decrease.
Today, as well as then, baptism has a three-fold purpose. To remit sins (though, Jesus was without sin, Hebrews 4:15), to show our obedience and to give us a starting point in our service to the Master. We all should agree that we need a starting point as Christians—a time when we can know assuredly that we are right in the sight of God. Baptism provides that starting point!
[Editor’s Note: Just as a note of clarification, John’s baptism has been replaced with the baptism of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19–20; Mark 16:15–16; Acts 2:38). Hence, anyone since the establishment of the church who may be baptized with John’s baptism needs to experience the baptism of the Great Commission (Acts 19:1–7). The physical acts of both John’s baptism and the baptism begun in Acts 2 are the same, and both baptisms are for the remission of sins. However, the purposes of the two baptisms are different from each other. John’s baptism was with respect to the coming of the Christ and the establishment of His kingdom or the church, whereas the current baptism is based on Jesus—the Christ—who has already come and established His church or kingdom. Perhaps to us the difference seems to be negligible, but the difference in purpose was significant enough that the apostle Paul baptized 12 disciples again in the Great Commission baptism, which heralded that the Christ has already come and has already established His spiritual kingdom. This alone is the baptism today that saves. “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”(1 Peter 3:21 KJV). ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor]
