What exactly was John the Baptist doing?

[cordo]

A guest on one of the afternoon talk shows (I don’t remember whose) made the point that Judaism at Jesus’ time did not have a rite equivalent to Christian baptism. If that is true, and there were no Christians in John the Baptist’s time, what was he baptizing people (including Jesus) into?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Christians are followers of Jesus so there could be no Christian until Jesus began his ministry.

Jewish baptism and Christian baptism share some similarities but also some significant differences.

Baptism existed in Judaism as a form of cleansing the body once someone had repented of sin. However in Judaism baptism was not the means of forgiveness of the sins, one’s repentance brought about the forgiveness not the water. Water baptism was for purifying the body from the effects of sin. Baptism in the Jewish context was much like bathing and could be done frequently.

In Christian teaching sacramental baptism cleanses someone of all sin and removes original sin. While in Judaism baptism was seen as symbolic of a new beginning and could be received more than once, in Christianity baptism is THE beginning and thus can only be received once.