Hello beloved saints,
Today, we’re going to take a look at Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist and how significant His baptism was:
Now it happened that in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
— Mark 1:9
Mark’s account of the baptism is very brief and doesn’t go into the lengthy details that Matthew and Luke do in their accounts. However, as he was writing to his audience in Rome, we see this same structure throughout his gospel, where every account is brief and to the point, highlighting only the key details most relevant to the particular event.
From the previous verses, we’ve seen that the baptism John the Baptist was performing was the baptism of repentance. It was a baptism for the forgiveness of people’s sins. After the people were baptized, they confessed their sins.
Because of this, it stands to reason that if one was without sin, they did not need any baptism. Such was the case for Jesus. We know that Jesus lived the perfect life and therefore had no sins. We see Paul making this point in his letter to the Corinthians:
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
— 2 Corinthians 5:21
It’s clear that Christ knew no sin. Furthermore, we see Peter making a statement regarding Jesus, describing Him as a lamb without blemish, referring to His sinlessness:
but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
— 1 Peter 1:19
On top of all this, we read in Matthew’s account how when John the Baptist tried to push back on baptizing Jesus, Jesus Himself insisted on being baptized:
But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.
— Matthew 3:14-15
Jesus’ response was to fulfill all righteousness. This statement is not very clear on the surface regarding what Jesus is referring to.
The question then becomes, why would God incarnate, who knew no sin and had lived a sinless life, insist on being baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness?
The prominent answer among a number of theologians points to Christ’s humanness. We know that one of the driving characteristics in the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity was the humility He showed. We see Paul’s description of the incarnation to the Philippians giving detail to this:
Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
— Philippians 2:5-8
We see that in His incarnation, Jesus humbled Himself to a place lower than the worst of sinners, even eventually dying a sinner’s death on the cross. Jesus’ humility was paired with His ability to sympathize with those He was saving. Since Jesus was saving fallen sinners, His baptism was a way to sympathize with the sinners whose sins He was going to atone for on the cross. One commentator puts it this way:
He took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh; and thus, for our sakes, he sanctified himself, that we also might be sanctified, and be baptized with him.
— Matthew Henry
We see that this is very consistent with what the author of Hebrews mentioned regarding a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses:
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin.
— Hebrews 4:15
This is what Jesus was referring to when He said He needed to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness. Since the people He was saving were fallen sinners and needed baptism for repentance and forgiveness of sins, He too underwent baptism despite having no sin to repent for.
This should call attention to the love that God has for us. When you look at this picture of Jesus being baptized, it should remind us of how He humbled Himself for our sake. It is in this context that the words of the prophet Isaiah should come to mind:
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our peace fell upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
— Isaiah 53:4-5
I pray that this word will have us kneeling at the feet of Jesus Christ and confessing with our tongues that He is Lord over all because of the great mercy He has shown us even when we were children of disobedience.
He loves us.
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