The baptism of Jesus Christ was obviously not necessary to cleanse him of sins, but it was needed to set an example for Christians and begin Jesus’ ministry.
The Revs. Ben Ford and Kathryn Almendarez say John the Baptist was correct in a sense for saying he should have been baptized by Jesus, but the event was also essential as the transference of the role of savior of the world from John to Jesus.
“Several things are unique about his baptism,” said the Rev. Ford, pastor of Grace Christian Fellowship. “It’s when the torch is passed from John to Jesus and that happens more later when John tells his followers to go follow Jesus.
“It is the start of Jesus’ public ministry in a way, although he wanders for 40 days in the wilderness and after that we see him jumping into his ministry.
“Another thing about his baptism is the showing of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all in one place when the spirit of God descends on him like a dove and God says, ‘You are my son, whom I love.
“‘With you I am well pleased.’”
Ford said everyone else who had been baptized by John needed to repent from sins, “whereas Jesus didn’t need to repent from anything.
“He was just showing the example by going in and getting baptized,” he said. “What churches do today is different from what John the Baptist was doing. Now we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior because we have sinned and need a savior and because Jesus will make us clean by what he did on the Cross.”
Asked if Jesus did not receive his miraculous powers till he was baptized, Ford said, “The Scripture is silent on that, so I would be hard-pressed to say one way or another.”
The baptism is described in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11 and Luke 3:21-22.
The Rev. Almendarez, co-pastor of the Open Door Church, said considering the place of Jesus’ baptism raises intriguing questions.
“Two sites have been identified, one at the Sea of Galilee, where the Jordan began, and the other right above where the Jordan empties into the Dead Sea at the lowest place on earth, which would symbolize that Jesus meets us at our lowest point and saves us from the lowest depth of humanity,” Almendarez said.
“Jesus told John that he needed to be baptized to ensure all righteousness, and his baptism is a picture of his death, burial and resurrection. It was out of the Jewish heritage of ritual cleansing.”
Asked if that was when Jesus got his powers, Almendarez said, “No, I think he already had them.
“He just walked in obedience, and God opened the heavens at that point,” Almendarez said. “He was demonstrating the necessity of obedience, and by sending the Spirit down on him, God affirmed him right at the point of his obedience.”
