Christians have wondered through the centuries why Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, for John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, but Jesus, the Son of God, had nothing to repent of. It even puzzled John, who said to Jesus, you should be baptizing me. The early Church Fathers pondered this and wrote some very insightful commentary.
John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, writes: In truth, Christ needed not baptism, neither His nor any other, but instead baptism needed the power of Christ. For that which was wanting was the crowning blessing of all. That he who is baptized should be deemed worthy of the Holy Spirit. He added this free gift of the Spirit when He came to the water. So John testifies, for this purpose, I came baptizing with water that He might be reviled to Israel, and John bore witness, I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him. I myself did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain; this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and have bore witness that this is the Son of God. John baptized with water precisely that Christ may be reviled and reviled as the repository of the Spirit on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain and the giver of the Spirit. This is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist poured water with his baptism and, by implication, does not pour out the Holy Spirit, and you can see why. The Holy Spirit isn't John's to give, but not so with the mightier One. He will pour out in His baptism the Holy Spirit and fire. You can't help but think about what happened on the day of Pentecost when the ascended Christ poured out His Spirit upon the gathered disciples with tongues of fire appearing upon them. Jesus can do this because the Spirit is indeed His to give.
So what is the connection between the baptism Jesus receives from John and Him being the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world? Remember, John's was a sinners baptism, yet the One and only One who had no sin of His own, He gets down with John in that water to receive it. And John gets that that makes no sense, but Jesus insists this is how we will fulfill all righteousness. Said another way - this is how the holy, innocent Lamb of God will accomplish the salvation of the world. He comes to stand with us in our sins. St Paul later goes on to put it most boldly; He made Him who had no sin to be sin for us. That in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5).
Do you not see how beautiful it corresponds to the baptism that Jesus commands? He steps down in the water to stand in solidarity with us sinners, that when we get in the water with Him at His bidding, we get to stand in solidarity with Him, the alone righteous One, the only all-holy One. By wadding into the water, He is already heading to the cross, and by pulling us out of the water with Him, He delivers to us the priceless gift that His cross has achieved. He pulls us from His own grave to share His resurrected life.
Finally, the sweet words of the Father, "You are my beloved Son, with You I'm well pleased." These words weren't merely spoken for Christ, for He has from eternity known them to be true of Himself. But the Father speaks these words over Jesus at His baptism to show us for when we stand in the waters of Jesus' baptism, the Father declares to us that we are His children, and He not only declares it to us as in Luke's Gospel but about us as in St. Matthew's Gospel. To His angels, to the demons, to all the world. He marks us as His and pleasing to Him because we are standing there with Jesus, and Jesus puts to that water everything that is His in order to bless and save us.
- Pr. Will Weedon
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