The baptism of Jesus was a major event in Jesus’ life because it marked the beginning of his ministry. Very few scholars today dispute the fact that John the Baptist baptized Jesus, but the exact purpose and significance of Jesus’ baptism is still a matter of controversy.
He proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and that God’s people should prepare for the Lord’s coming by a renewal of faith toward God. For John, that meant repentance, confession of sins, and practicing righteous living. If that were the case, why would Jesus need to be baptized? If Jesus was sinless, as the New Testament says (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15 and 1 Peter 2:22), why did he submit to a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins? The Gospels provide the answers.
Mark presents the baptism of Jesus as a necessary preparation for Jesus’ period of temptation and ministry. At his baptism, Jesus received the Father’s approval and the bestowal of the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:9-11). Mark’s focus on Jesus’ special relationship with God, “You are my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with you” (Mark 1:11), brings together two important references from the Old Testament. Jesus’ position as the Messiah is presented in a radically new way, in which the ruling Messiah (Psalms 2:7) is also the Suffering Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 42:1). Most Jews thought of the Messiah as a ruler who would establish the kingdom of God. They did not think he would have to suffer for the people. Mark intended to show that Jesus was the only person whom God had appointed to fulfill his purpose for people.
The statement that the heavens opened at the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:10) may proclaim the arrival of the “end times,” which was the time of fulfillment and the establishment of God’s kingdom. A Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 64:1 held that in the last days God would open the heavens and come down to his people. In Jewish thought the opening of the heavens was also associated with hearing God’s voice and with God sending his Spirit to earth.
Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism has more detail than Mark’s. It begins by noting John’s reluctance to baptize Jesus (Matthew 3:14). John was persuaded only after Jesus explained to him that the act was “fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (3:15). Although the full meaning of those words is uncertain, they at least suggest that Jesus’ baptism was necessary in order to accomplish God’s will. In both the Old and New Testaments (Psalm 98:2-3 and Romans 1:17) God’s righteousness is seen in the salvation he offers to people. That is why the Messiah can be called “The LORD Is Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6 and Isaiah 11:1-5). Jesus told John that he had to be baptized so that God could offer salvation to all people. This is why God’s declaration at Jesus’ baptism was a public announcement. This emphasized that Jesus was God’s anointed Servant who was about to begin his ministry as the person who would bring God’s salvation to earth.
Luke passes over Jesus’ baptism quickly, placing it alongside the baptism of other people who came to John (Luke 3:21-22). The context in Luke also sheds some light on the purpose of Jesus’ baptism. Luke, unlike Matthew, places the genealogy of Jesus after his baptism and just before his ministry begins. The parallel to Moses, whose genealogy occurs just before his primary work begins (Exodus 6:14-25), seems more than just a coincidence. It is probably intended to illustrate Jesus’ role in bringing deliverance and salvation to God’s people in the same way Moses did in the Old Testament. At Jesus’ baptism, when the Holy Spirit descended upon him, Jesus was equipped to do the mission God had called him to do.
Following his temptation (Luke 4:1-13), Jesus entered the synagogue and declared to the people that he had been anointed by the Spirit to proclaim good news (4:16-21). That anointing happened at his baptism (Acts 10:37-38).
In his Gospel account, Luke tried to identify Jesus with the common people. For example, Luke does this in the birth story with Jesus being born in a stable and being visited by lowly shepherds (Luke 2:8-20) and through placing the genealogy, which stressed Jesus’ relation to all of humanity (3:38), right after the baptism. By doing this, Luke saw the baptism as Jesus’ first step in identifying himself with the people he had come to save.
In the Old Testament, the Messiah was always inseparable from the people he represented (Jeremiah 30:21 and Ezekiel 45-46). The Messiah is always viewed as the representative of the people to the Lord (Isaiah 49:5-26), as well as the servant of the Lord. Evidently Luke, along with Mark and Matthew, was trying to show that Jesus, as the divine representative of the people, had identified himself with them when he was baptized.
The fourth Gospel does not say that Jesus was baptized but does say that John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus (John 1:32-34). The story emphasizes that Jesus went to John during John’s preaching and baptizing ministry, that John recognized Jesus was the Messiah, that God’s Spirit was upon him, and that Jesus was the Son of God. John also recognized that Jesus, unlike himself, could baptize people with the Holy Spirit (1:29-36).
John the Baptist described Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The closest parallel to that statement in the Old Testament comes from a passage in Isaiah that describes the Messiah as a “servant of the Lord” (Isaiah 53:6-7). It is possible that “Lamb of God” could be an alternate translation of the Aramaic word for “the servant of God.” The idea that Jesus is the one who bears the sins of the people is obvious in John’s Gospel. Jesus’ position as the promised representative and deliverer of the people was understood by John the Baptist and conveyed by the Gospel writer.
In the four Gospels it is clear that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus at his baptism to enable him to do the work of God. All four Gospel writers saw that Jesus had been anointed by God to accomplish his mission of bringing salvation to the people. Those ideas provide a key to understanding why Jesus was baptized. When Jesus was baptized, God anointed him with the Holy Spirit in order to do his mediating work between God and the people. At his baptism Jesus was identified as the one who would bear the people’s sins and Jesus was baptized to identify himself with sinful people.
