“Why was Jesus Christ baptized?” asked a reader of Gospel Gazette Online magazine (www.GospelGazette.com). The biblical context from which this question arises appears in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22 and John 3:22-23. The most detailed account of the baptism of Jesus appears in Matthew 3:13-17. It reads:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (NKJV emphasis added)
The answer to the question above lies primarily in Matthew 3.
Note that Matthew 3:1-3 identifies John the Baptist as a messenger from God with a divinely given message to proclaim. In addition, John’s ministry was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah [40:3], saying: ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.”’”
When Jewish leaders challenged Jesus’ authority, our Lord’s response also emphasized that John the Baptist was a prophet of God.
Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people [and “scribes” Mark 11:27] confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John — where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” (Matthew 21:23-26 emphasis added)
Luke 20:6 elaborates about the fear the Jewish leaders felt if they were to deny that John the Baptist was a prophet, sent from Heaven, “all the people will stone us.”
People baptized by John the Baptist came to him repenting (Matthew 3:2) of and “confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:6). “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mark 1:4). Jesus Christ, however, had no sin, unlike every other accountable soul who lived before Him through the present and as long as time may remain. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:14-15 emphasis added). “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 emphasis added; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5).
Jews who observed the baptism of John but refused to submit to it were chastised as ungodly. “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance’” (Matthew 3:7-8).
Putting the pieces of the information above together, the conclusion is:
- John the Baptist was a prophet of God.
- His ministry called upon Jews to repent and to be baptized.
- Through the Virgin Birth, the Son of God was born into a Jewish family; Jesus of Nazareth was both God and man at the same time—God or Deity in a fleshly body.
- Jews who did not submit themselves to John’s baptism were categorized as ungodly.
- Though He had no sin, nevertheless, Jesus submitted to the baptism of John “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
Had our Lord not submitted to the divine message of John the Baptist, He would have been numbered with the ungodly who rejected John the Baptist’s preaching – indirectly also rejecting God’s message, as well as rejecting Him Who sent John. Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” If Jesus had not submitted to John’s baptism, He would not have remained without sin.
