Why John baptized Jesus
Hello, my name is Danny and I was an active Latter-day Saint for 60 years.
I titled this video: Why John baptized Jesus. My dear friend pointed out that it could be understood in two different ways: why John was the one - who baptized Jesus. Or why Jesus needed to be baptized. And, in both cases it would be right!
At first, it may seem unclear - but when you consider the throughline of scripture from the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible all the way through the New Testament/Apostolic Record - it was necessary and essential that Jesus or Yeshua be baptized, and for John to be the one to baptize Him. I’ll explain why.
Let’s start with the introduction of two very important individuals – a married couple advancing in age and who were unable to have children. Luke 1:5-17 “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he (John) shall go before him (Messiah) in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
I need to point out that there were certain qualifications to be a Levite priest. Not all Levites were priests. But to be a priest, Zacharias had to be a Levite. His priesthood is traced back to the time when the children of Israel left Egypt and were walking toward the Promised Land. At Sinai, when the Law of Moses was established along with God’s covenant and the tabernacle/temple – the tribe of Levi was given the sole responsibility of serving at and in the temple. Moses and his brother Aaron were Levite priests. It states in Psalm 99:6 “Moses and Aaron among his priests.”
There, was an age requirement for the priests mentioned in Numbers 4:46 “All those that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the chief of Israel numbered, after their families, and after the house of their fathers, From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation.” A teenage boy could not be a priest in the Levitical priesthood.
There was an essential ritual performed to set apart these priests. God instructed Moses to consecrate them by anointing Aaron and his sons with oil and washing them with water.
Exodus 29:1, 4, 7-9, 29, 44 “And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office: And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. Then shalt thou take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head and anoint him. And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them. And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office.”
We know that everything in the Old Testament under the old covenant pointed to Yeshua - the washing, the anointing, priesthood, high priest, temple, and sacrificial system. All greatly symbolic of what was promised to take place in the future to the final Great High Priest.
This Old Covenant lasted to the end of the Old Testament/Hebrew Scripture. Prophets foretold that a preparatory “voice” would precede the coming Messiah. It was prophesied in Isaiah 40:3 “The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” And in Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Then abruptly God goes silent for 400 years - during the intertestamental period - between Malachi in the Hebrews Scripture and Matthew in the Apostolic Record.
But eventually the time arrived, and those prophecies were about to be fulfilled - in the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Now, John had every right as a Levite priest to follow in his father’s footsteps and serve in the temple. Instead, God called John to be a prophet – the last of the old covenant prophets. Yeshua Himself declared in Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it.”
John was specially commissioned as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. It states in Matthew 3:1-6, 11 “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias (Isaiah), saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he (Yeshua) that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” That being an interesting reference to the fiery destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Yeshua spoke this of John in Matthew 11:10 “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee (our Lord).”
Also, recorded in Mark 1:2–8; Luke 3:1–18; 7:27; John 1:19–34.
Thus, it was apparent that John the Baptist was sent by God as a messenger to prepare the hearts and minds of the people of Israel for the coming of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ – Yeshua Mashiach. John used water baptism as the means by, which people showed their repentance of sin. They needed to recognize their sin and their need for a Savior and to be receptive to the Messiah, when He came.
The people of Jerusalem flocked in great multitudes to hear this curious man preach a message of repentance. Those who responded to his call to repentance were baptized by John in the Jordan River (Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:4–5; Luke 3:1–22; John 3:23). The Sadducees and Pharisees, who saw no need for repentance themselves, refused to be baptized by John. And John unapologetically called these Jewish leaders out for their religious hypocrisy.
Yeshua’s coming to John showed His approval of John’s baptism and bearing witness to it – validating that it was from heaven and approved by God. In his short but brilliant life, John the Baptist fulfilled his destiny and then died a martyr’s death. Yeshua paid him tribute that “of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John.” (Luke 7:28)
At first glance, the purpose of Yeshua’s baptism might be unclear to us. John’s baptism was the baptism of repentance (Matthew 3:11), but Yeshua was sinless and had no need of repentance. Even John was taken aback at Yeshua coming to him. John was aware that he, a sinful man was in, need of repentance himself, and felt unfit to baptize the spotless Lamb of God. John states in Matthew 3:14 “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied that Matthew 3:15 “it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” So, what did He mean by that?
There are several reasons why it was fitting for John to baptize Yeshua at the beginning of Yeshua’s public ministry. Yeshua was about to embark on His great ministry, and it was appropriate that He be recognized publicly by His forerunner. By baptizing Yeshua, John was declaring to all - that here was the One they had been waiting for - the Messiah - even the Son of God. We know that Yeshua wasn’t receiving baptism because He was a sinner - far from it. He did it as an example to His followers - as well as to identify with the very sinners He had come to save. Moreover, it was necessary to inaugurate His public ministry, which included His role as God’s High Priest - who will atone for the sins of the world.
Yeshua’s baptism by John takes on an added dimension, when we consider that John was of the tribe of Levi and a direct descendant of Aaron - that priestly line. It was one of the duties of the priests in the Old Testament to present animal sacrifices before the Lord. John the Baptist’s baptism of Yeshua was seen as a priestly presentation of the Ultimate Sacrifice - the Lamb of God.
Yeshua’s baptism symbolized the sinners’ baptism into the righteousness of Christ. And by this, He provides to all who come to Him - an exchange of their sin for His righteousness. It is written in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Perhaps most importantly, the event of the public baptism was to demonstrate the perfect expression of God, revealed in glory from heaven. The testimony directly from heaven of the Father’s pleasure with the Son and the descending of the Holy Spirit upon Yeshua in Matthew 3:16-17, is a beautiful picture of the nature of God. It also depicts the combined loving work of the Father, Son, and Spirit in the salvation of those Yeshua came to save. All the glorious truth of God through Jesus Christ, is on display at His baptism.
In the old covenant, before an animal could be sacrificed, it had to go through a process of examination and acceptance. It had to be brought forward, evaluated, and found to be without blemish. But Yeshua, the Lamb of God didn’t really need to go through that process, did he? Of course he did. You see, the gospel is so intentional. Leviticus tells us before the sacrificial lamb was offered, it had to be presented openly in the public. That is the first requirement. Second, it needed to be examined by a priest. Third the priest would declare whether the Lamb was spotless. Finally, the Lamb had to be accepted before the Lord. All of that took place that day at the Jordan River. Yeshua was publicly unveiled, witnessed, and identified as the spotless lamb by a priestly born prophet. And John announced, “behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
Remember, John and Yeshua were second cousins. John was slightly older by six months. Luke 3:23 states that Yeshua was about 30 years old at His baptism. Yeshua was ready to begin His earthly ministry – but who was going to wash Him and anoint Him as God’s High Priest? John’s priestly father Zacharias most likely washed and anointed John. Therefore, It couldn’t have been more appropriate than for another priest, namely John - to wash Yeshua in the waters of the Jordan River. And it is written in Acts 10:36-38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.” So, Jesus was washed by John - and anointed by God, through the Holy Spirit. Thus, according to the Law - Yeshua was consecrated and prepared for His ministry.
John the Baptist signified the end of the Old Covenant including the old sacrificial system, temple, and priesthood. And Yeshua ushered in the New Covenant, including the new sacrificial system, the new temple, and priesthood. When we finish reading the Old Testament, we start reading the Apostolic Record - which starts with Matthew chapter 1. But did you know that the New Testament era, and new covenant does not actually begin then? That’s right. It’s not baby Jesus in a manger that brings in God’s new covenant of grace. The new covenant didn’t truly begin until 33 years later - at the death of Christ.
Listen carefully to this. It states in Hebrews 9:16-17 “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the testator lives.” A testator is the person who creates and executes his legal will. That legal will does not go into effect until the death of the one who made it. Likewise, the new covenant did not go into force until Yeshua died. In fact, even the old covenant could not have gone into effect without blood. Exodus 24:8 “Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words’.” For this same reason, at the Last Supper, Yeshua told His disciples that the new covenant would be coming through His blood (not His birth). Yeshua said in Luke 22:20 “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
This meant that Yeshua’s entire earthly ministry while He was alive - was under the Old Covenant. Jesus was born under the Law, Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law.” Both Yeshua and His audience lived during the old covenant period of Law. Thus, we draw the dividing line of human history at the cross, not at the manger. And we realize that the Four Gospels up to the beginning of Acts 2 at Pentecost were all under the Old Covenant.
Right after Yeshua’s baptism, the heavens opened and The Father Himself declared “this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” And this matters to us because through His perfect sinless life and sacrificial death, Yeshua fully reconciled us to the Father. As a result, Christ’s Spirit now dwells in each of us. And now when you present yourself before God - You stand in The Son’s righteousness, not your sin and failure. You stand approved moment by moment! May we confidently stand in the Lord, is my prayer!
I hope to make a video soon on whether baptism is necessary for us.
Thanks for watching.
Find more videos like this on YouTube or at talkingtomormons.com.
God Bless!