All four of the gospels found in the Bible, tell us that Jesus began His public ministry after He was baptized. I’m not sure that you’ll find much in the Old Testament scripture that points to Jesus’ baptism, but there are certainly passages which help us to understand the meaning and purpose of baptism, and a reason that Jesus would have submitted to it to “fulfill all righteousness.” (See Matthew 3:15)
We should, however, consider that the Old Testament books of the Law and the books of the Prophets, were all written by Moses, who brought the law to Israel, and by men who lived under the covenant of law. We find scriptures in the Old Testament that tell of a herald or messenger that would go before the Lord, preparing the way, and the gospels tell us that this messenger was John, called the Baptist: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth; the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'' Isaiah 40:3-5
John was sent by God as a prophet to those also under the covenant of law, and in this sense, he was the last prophet under the covenant with the exception of Jesus Christ Himself, who being the “Word made flesh” is the absolute culmination or fulfillment of “the Prophet” foretold by Moses. The only sayings that we have from John are found in the New Testament scriptures, but it would be just as appropriate to put them in the Old Testament scriptures if we’d been given a written collection of them.
Many of John’s contemporaries recognized him as a prophet sent by God. The leadership of the Jews, whether they believed him or not, feared him enough to leave him alone. Some even came to be baptized by him: Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 3:5-7
The gospel according to John tells us that John the Baptist heard the word of God and believed the word that was spoken to him and it was through the signs given, that God’s Son was revealed: "This is He of whom I said, `After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' "I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.'' And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, `Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' "And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.'' John 1:30-34
Jesus, being the sinless Son of God, had no need of repentance, but submitted to Baptism by John, in order to fulfill the word of God given to John, and to reveal Himself in this manner as God’s beloved Son. John gave testimony of this, but the more powerful testimony came from God, given in the visible descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus and the proclamation of the heavenly voice: And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'' Matthew 3:17
While others were baptized by John for repentance (or as a sign of it), Jesus’ Baptism allowed those who were baptized for repentance to identify with Him. We find the spiritual aspect of the believer’s baptism explained by the Apostle Paul in His letter to the church in Rome: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:1-7
Those who were witness to the Baptism of Jesus, didn’t know that this Baptism was a sign to represent a more significant baptism to come, His death upon the cross and His resurrection in glory, but Jesus knew this and we see Him refer to it in the three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke): "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! "But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Luke 12:49-50, and: But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Can you drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?'' And they said to Him, "We can.'' And Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; Mark 10:38-39 (and the parallel passage in Matthew 20:22-23.)
So what exactly is Baptism intended to represent. In the case of Jesus, the water baptism that began His public ministry was representative of the death he would suffer and resurrection that would follow at the end of His public ministry (in the flesh.) Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection in terms of the “sign of Jonah” and as the only sign that He would give to those Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees that were rejecting Him: But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:39-40
If you haven’t read the book of Jonah, there are some things which I should explain. Jonah was an Israelite that God called to go to Nineveh for Him, to preach repentance to the inhabitants of that city, who were an exceedingly wicked people. As these people were an enemy of Israel, Jonah didn’t want to obey God, but instead attempted to get passage on a boat in the opposite direction. The book tells us that the boat got caught in a fierce storm and that the crew were all afraid and were all calling upon their gods to save them, but that Jonah was sleeping. So the captain of the boat woke Jonah up and told him to call upon his God as well.
The passage also tells us that the crew cast lots to see who had brought this trouble upon them and that the lot fell upon Jonah, (To cast lots was a kind of divination, tossing some objects such as carved bones, dice, sticks, or whatever, and reading their positions as signs given by the gods.)
The passage goes on to tell us that Jonah identified himself as an Israelite and that God had sent the storm because of him. When they asked what they should do to appease God, Jonah told them to throw him overboard. They were reluctant to do such a thing, but prayed to God not to hold them accountable for innocent blood and threw Jonah overboard, and the storm immediately ceased.
The passage also tells us that God had prepared a very large fish, having known what Jonah would do, and that this fish swallowed Jonah and three days later spit him out on the shore within walking distance of Nineveh.
Chapter 3 of the book of Jonah tells us that God called Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh and to preach repentance to them, and this time Jonah reluctantly obeyed the word of the Lord, saying that in 40 days Nineveh would be destroyed. The same chapter tells us that the Ninevites took Jonah’s message to heart: They repented of their evil deeds and God showed them mercy and didn’t bring the destruction upon them as Jonah had preached.
The last chapter of the book goes on to tell us that Jonah was displeased with God for sparing Nineveh, but God pointed out to him that the wickedness of the Ninevites was in part due to their not knowing better, showing that God is pleased to save people from the consequences of their own ignorance.
We should, however, consider that the Old Testament books of the Law and the books of the Prophets, were all written by Moses, who brought the law to Israel, and by men who lived under the covenant of law. We find scriptures in the Old Testament that tell of a herald or messenger that would go before the Lord, preparing the way, and the gospels tell us that this messenger was John, called the Baptist: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth; the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'' Isaiah 40:3-5
John was sent by God as a prophet to those also under the covenant of law, and in this sense, he was the last prophet under the covenant with the exception of Jesus Christ Himself, who being the “Word made flesh” is the absolute culmination or fulfillment of “the Prophet” foretold by Moses. The only sayings that we have from John are found in the New Testament scriptures, but it would be just as appropriate to put them in the Old Testament scriptures if we’d been given a written collection of them.
Many of John’s contemporaries recognized him as a prophet sent by God. The leadership of the Jews, whether they believed him or not, feared him enough to leave him alone. Some even came to be baptized by him: Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 3:5-7
The gospel according to John tells us that John the Baptist heard the word of God and believed the word that was spoken to him and it was through the signs given, that God’s Son was revealed: "This is He of whom I said, `After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' "I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.'' And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, `Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' "And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.'' John 1:30-34
Jesus, being the sinless Son of God, had no need of repentance, but submitted to Baptism by John, in order to fulfill the word of God given to John, and to reveal Himself in this manner as God’s beloved Son. John gave testimony of this, but the more powerful testimony came from God, given in the visible descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus and the proclamation of the heavenly voice: And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'' Matthew 3:17
While others were baptized by John for repentance (or as a sign of it), Jesus’ Baptism allowed those who were baptized for repentance to identify with Him. We find the spiritual aspect of the believer’s baptism explained by the Apostle Paul in His letter to the church in Rome: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Romans 6:1-7
Those who were witness to the Baptism of Jesus, didn’t know that this Baptism was a sign to represent a more significant baptism to come, His death upon the cross and His resurrection in glory, but Jesus knew this and we see Him refer to it in the three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke): "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! "But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Luke 12:49-50, and: But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Can you drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?'' And they said to Him, "We can.'' And Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; Mark 10:38-39 (and the parallel passage in Matthew 20:22-23.)
So what exactly is Baptism intended to represent. In the case of Jesus, the water baptism that began His public ministry was representative of the death he would suffer and resurrection that would follow at the end of His public ministry (in the flesh.) Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection in terms of the “sign of Jonah” and as the only sign that He would give to those Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees that were rejecting Him: But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:39-40
If you haven’t read the book of Jonah, there are some things which I should explain. Jonah was an Israelite that God called to go to Nineveh for Him, to preach repentance to the inhabitants of that city, who were an exceedingly wicked people. As these people were an enemy of Israel, Jonah didn’t want to obey God, but instead attempted to get passage on a boat in the opposite direction. The book tells us that the boat got caught in a fierce storm and that the crew were all afraid and were all calling upon their gods to save them, but that Jonah was sleeping. So the captain of the boat woke Jonah up and told him to call upon his God as well.
The passage also tells us that the crew cast lots to see who had brought this trouble upon them and that the lot fell upon Jonah, (To cast lots was a kind of divination, tossing some objects such as carved bones, dice, sticks, or whatever, and reading their positions as signs given by the gods.)
The passage goes on to tell us that Jonah identified himself as an Israelite and that God had sent the storm because of him. When they asked what they should do to appease God, Jonah told them to throw him overboard. They were reluctant to do such a thing, but prayed to God not to hold them accountable for innocent blood and threw Jonah overboard, and the storm immediately ceased.
The passage also tells us that God had prepared a very large fish, having known what Jonah would do, and that this fish swallowed Jonah and three days later spit him out on the shore within walking distance of Nineveh.
Chapter 3 of the book of Jonah tells us that God called Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh and to preach repentance to them, and this time Jonah reluctantly obeyed the word of the Lord, saying that in 40 days Nineveh would be destroyed. The same chapter tells us that the Ninevites took Jonah’s message to heart: They repented of their evil deeds and God showed them mercy and didn’t bring the destruction upon them as Jonah had preached.
The last chapter of the book goes on to tell us that Jonah was displeased with God for sparing Nineveh, but God pointed out to him that the wickedness of the Ninevites was in part due to their not knowing better, showing that God is pleased to save people from the consequences of their own ignorance.
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