Why does jesus get baptized by john

The New Testament offers great wisdom and guidance to help us understand the purpose of baptism. Baptism is for the forgiveness of sins See: Acts When we are baptized, we repent by turning from our sinfulness and receive the forgiveness that Jesus provided through his death and resurrection.

Baptism is a symbol of our faith See: Acts The model we see in the New Testament is that when someone became a new believer demonstrating faith in Jesus , they repented and were baptized. Baptism serves as a vital step for those declaring their faith in Jesus.

Baptism is a symbol of being buried and raised to life with Jesus See: Romans When we are baptized, it is the means by which we enter into the death of Jesus, and it is also how we are raised up into new life in Jesus. When we take into consideration the scope of New Testament insight on baptism, we can conclude that Jesus did not need to be baptized for the same reasons that believers do.

But, Jesus did need to be baptized, which is why he asked John to baptize him. By being baptized, Jesus began his work to take our place and to redeem humanity. He modeled baptism as something all believers need to do as a step in their faith walk. This remains true for believers today.

God affirmed Jesus' baptism in a powerful way as recorded in Matthew's Gospel. As soon as Jesus was baptized and came up out of the water, the heavens opened. The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus following his baptism. This was a sign that Jesus' ministry was empowered by the Spirit and would usher in peace between humankind and God. Between John and Jesus, if one of them needed to be baptized, certainly that someone was John.

So, John complied. What did Jesus mean? Well, there are at least three possibilities. Possibility 1: Jesus was baptized in order to identify with those he came to save. Throughout the whole country there was an unprecedented movement towards God. Jesus wanted to identify with this turning.

Jesus fulfilled that promise. His baptism was simply the right thing at the right time: the last act of His private life.

According to BibleStudyTools. In this story, we see that Jesus approaches John and asks to be baptized. John had been proclaiming the Gospel and baptizing those who repent of their sin, want to make right their relationship with God, and await the coming Messiah. John is astonished that Jesus, the sinless Son of God, is requesting to be baptized as John felt like he should be the one asking Jesus to baptize him!

Jesus tells John that His baptism is "fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness". Jesus is baptized as a symbol of giving His will up to His Father and the beginning of His earthly ministry. When Jesus comes up out of the water, John sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove upon Jesus and they hear God's voice from heaven say "This is my Son, the beloved, whom I have approved.

This could be for the following reasons:. At the moment that Jesus was baptised there were significant events:. This gives Jesus power to equip him for his ministry.

The crowds of people standing on the banks of the River Jordan will know for certain that this is the greater person John has been telling them about. A stained glass window depicting the baptism of Jesus.