Words of Wisdom

Originally posted 6/19/06

Our church has just started a Wednesday night “growth group” program where small groups of people meet together in homes to study the Bible. Our initial study is one in which we will follow the life of Jesus by putting ourselves in the shoes (or sandals) of his followers to try and get to know the “real” Christ.

Our first meeting was this past Wednesday and we started with the event that is regarded as the beginning of the ministry of Jesus – His baptism. We began by talking about the event itself – how He was immersed by John the Baptist and then received the Holy Spirit on His emergence from the water – but then we started a discussion about the importance and purpose of His participation in this ceremony, which is where my personal opinion digressed from the general consensus of the group.

First there was the garden-variety CoC answer – “He did it as an example for us so that we would know baptism was necessary.” There were other similar ideas expressed too and I attempted to make my view, which I will get to shortly, but it didn’t come out quite as clear as I would have liked for it to have been. I’m not great at thinking on my feet (getting hit in the head with a semi truck will do that to you), but given some time and thought I think I can make my views a bit clearer.

Baptism was not a new idea when John stepped out of wilderness with a ratty old piece of fur wrapped around him and a stomach full of insects. The ceremony of John’s baptism (and the later Christian one) grew out of much older Jewish rites of cleansing and conversion. John’s baptism was one of repentance – people came to him, confessing their sins, to be immersed in water and wash their rebellions against God away.

In the Old Testament, there were various different washings that the laypeople and priests were to participate in. Many of them had the purpose of physical cleansing – a metaphor of John’s baptism where people cleansed their lives of filthy sins and were healed of them. There was also the ritural bathing (called a mikvah) where a Gentile could convert to Judaism – another metaphor to Christian baptism in which a person joins God’s people.

Jesus, though, was sinless and already a Jew. Our present-day Christian baptism is based on His burial and resurrection, which had of course not happened yet at the time of His immersion, so what was the purpose of it? I tend to disagree with those that say that the main reason for it was to be an example to us because what would it be an example of? Jesus fit none of the “qualifications” for baptism.

I believe that the baptism of Jesus involved none of these things – I believe it was for His ordination as a “High Priest.”

Exodus 29:1-9
“This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect. 2And from fine wheat flour, without yeast, make bread, and cakes mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil. 3Put them in a basket and present them in it—along with the bull and the two rams. 4Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 5Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband. 6Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred diadem to the turban. 7Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head. 8Bring his sons and dress them in tunics 9and put headbands on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance. In this way you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.”

Jesus began his ministry following his baptism at the age of 30 (Luke 3:23), which corresponds directly with age that priests could begin their work (Numbers 4:3,47). While Christ was not a direct descendant of Aaron as given in the Luke and Matthew genealogies, John was (Luke 1:5) by his mother Elizabeth. John’s father, Zacharias, was also a priest (Luke 1:5) of the order of Abijah, meaning that the position was passed down to him. John then passed it on to Jesus by the washing with water, just as Moses conferred the priesthood on Aaron and his sons (Lev 8:6).

This is not even mentioning the numerous times in Hebrews where Jesus is called a Priest according to the order of Melchizedek – who was also not a Levite, but, as it says in Hebrews 7, the priesthood through him is far greater than that of the Levites.

The baptism of Jesus, therefore, was not for atoning of sins, it was not for converting to Judaism, I believe it was to anoint him as THE High Priest of all high priests.