Why was Christ baptized?

[Regina_Marie]

Hello. Peace be with each and everyone,

My name is Regina Marie, I am 73-years-old and was baptized Catholic and went to a Catholic school for 12 years. I, like many other Catholics, have had many questions about our faith of things we don’t understand; for instance why was our Lord was baptized when He was without sin?. Can anyone give me the answer to my question?

P,S, Do any of you realize what our Lord went through physically as He went through the process of dying on the cross, and how what he was subjected to affected his organs and entire body? If you would like me to send you the e-mail on this that I received from my friend who is a devout Catholic, write me at luzodrose@comcast.net, and I will be happy to share that e-mail with you so that you can share it with your other Catholic and your non-Catholic friends as well, I cried for a long time after reading that e-mail. I am ashamed to admit that in all my life I never fully appreciated the suffering that our Lord endured to save us,until reading that detailed description of our Lord’s physical suffering as he hung on the cross dying.of his injuries. .I wish that e-mail I received could be shared with every person in the world.

 

[Todd_Easton]

John the Baptist asked the same question of Jesus Christ:

13Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:13-15a)
Imagine the scandal it would have caused if Jesus had abstained from receiving John’s baptism since John was correctly regarded by the people as a prophet of God and his baptism therefore regarded as a divine institution.

Jesus also received John’s baptism so that John, seeing the Spirit descend and remain on Jesus, would know that he should bear witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God:
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.' 31I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. 33I 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.’ 34And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34)

 

[Cachonga]

It is also important to remember that John’s baptism wasn’t for forgiveness of sins, but rather to turn the hearts of the people back to God. It was a turning point in the life of Jesus, who went from being a carpenter, into the ministry full-time.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Jesus took on the all the sin of the world. It would seem that accepting John’s Baptism was the first step in atoning for that sin. **

 

[Regina_Marie]

I want to thank Joe Kelley, Todd Easton, Cachonga and others for taking the time to fully answer my question, Why was Christ baptized.

Peace be with you all.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

A side note:

John’s Baptism called for an acknowledgment of sin. There is an interesting passage in Luke 7:29-30 on this.

29* (When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

The Pharisees considered themselves free of sin so refused the baptism. Without an acknowledgment of sin one could not receive Jesus’ message. This explains why Jesus made so little effort to reach out to them; they couldn’t hear Him so why waste time.

 

[Willy_Jose]

Jesus took on the all the sin of the world. It would seem that accepting John’s Baptism was the first step in atoning for that sin. **

I guess Pope Benedict XVI was also pointing out the same in his book “Jesus of Nazareth”.

Descending into the water, those baptised recognized their own sins and sought to free themselves from the weight of being oppressed by sin. What did Jesus do? Luke, who throughout his gospel pays particular attention to the prayer of Jesus, and constantly presents Him as the One who prays - in dialogue with the Father - tells us that Jesus was at prayer after being baptised. Because of the cross and resurrection it becomes clear to Christians what had occurred: Jesus took on his shoulders the weight of the sin of all humanity; he took it with him into the Jordan. From the beginning of his activity he takes the place of sinners. There begins the anticipation of the cross. He is, so to say, the true Jonah who said to the sailors: take me and throw me into the sea. (Jonah 1:12) The full meaning of the baptism of Jesus, his fulfilment of “all righteousness” (cf Matt 3:15) reviews itself only in the cross: the baptism is the acceptance of death for the sins of humanity, and the voice from heaven "This is my beloved Son” is the anticipated reference to the resurrection. Thus one understands the reason why in his own discourses Jesus uses the word baptism to refer to his own death. (Matt 10:38; Luke 12:50) [p 38]

 

[ryanoneil]

The baptizing of Jesus had another ceremonial significance. All the kings of the house of David were anointed by Levite priests, and often those priests were known as prophets as well. David himself was anointed by Samuel, a Levite priest and one of the most illustrious prophets of the Old Testament. Saul, who was king before David, had also been anointed by Samuel. The anointing was done by pouring oil on the head of the anointed one. The effect that followed the anointing was the coming of the Spirit of the Lord, in the Old Testament and with Jesus, as Todd mentioned. When the king had been anointed that way, he was known as the Lord’s Anointed One. David and all the kings of his line were also given an extraordinary promise by God that He would be Father to them and they would be His son.

So, Jesus said “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness,” because John the Baptist was a Levite and a prophet who was annointing the son of David as King of Israel.