How can we relate to Jesus baptism?
Luke 3:21 – 22
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H Koplitz
21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
When I first became a Christian and I read about Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River, I wondered why if we believe Jesus was sinless that he would need to be baptized for the removal of sin. I remember asking my pastor this and even he had trouble trying to explain it. After studying these two lines of Scripture and all the symbolism that is within it, I think I have a pretty good explanation of why Jesus needed to be baptized.
Yes, Jesus certainly was sinless therefore, his baptism must have meant something else. When we discover what that meaning is, we need it incorporated into our lives. We need to be baptized into the life of Jesus and we need to be cleansed of the sins we had before coming to know him as Lord and Savior. There is no denying that purpose of baptism. However, there is more to baptism than just the removal of original sin, or any other sin one has.
We need to think about what Jesus did before and after his baptism. The human side of Jesus grew up in a small town named Nazareth. He would have studied the Torah and the other traditions of Judaism while he was growing up. He would’ve learned a trade and that probably would’ve been one that was the same, if not like his father’s. He would’ve lived at home with his parents and any other nuclear family members.
Then one day came where Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized. Luke’s gospel does not give us a lot of information about the narrative as the other gospels do. However, what Luke offers us in short verses is very symbolic and contains a lot of meaning.
When each of us is baptized, the purpose of Jesus' baptism is to show God outwardly what we believe in our souls. We show God that we trust Him, and we have faith in what Jesus tells us. When we read the Gospels and learn about Jesus' life, we see he dedicated himself to preparing people to enter heaven. He explained to us how God wants us to live under the holy Scripture. So, when we are baptized into the faith, we accept we want to change our lives to align them with the pages of the Bible. Thus, we become the continuing story of God’s work here on earth. Yes, Jesus will live on through every one of us because each of us who has been baptized should act in compliance with what Jesus said.
For us today, we must start the journey with God by clearing ourselves of the sins that we’ve accumulated up to that point. Therefore, the first purpose of baptism is to remove original sin from us and any sins we’ve accumulated. That works very well for adults. If you have never been baptized and you're an adult, baptism will wash away your sins and offer forgiveness for every one of them. But what if someone baptized you as an infant or a baby who has committed no sins yet?
In this account, I follow the theological interpretation of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. He said that baptizing babies creates a commitment by the parents to raise the child to come to know Jesus Christ as its Lord and Savior. The parents agree to show Jesus to the child. Then, when the child reaches a certain age, Wesley thought around 13 years old that it was up to the child to decide whether they wanted to continue a life in Christ. Wesley believed God protected children until they reached around the age of 13.
The church does not believe that you need to be baptized twice. One reason for this is that God does not need to repeat a covenant that has already been made. Therefore, the church developed the concept of confirmation. This is the ritual where the youngster declares in front of the congregation and God that he or she believes and has faith in the power of Jesus Christ to save them for their sins and that they want to spend their life trying as hard as possible to imitate the ways of Christ.
When we see the actions of Jesus after his baptism, we realize that our baptism or confirmation is our starting point for our ministry work for Christ. Jesus went out to do the work that God had set forth for him. By our baptism, we go out to continue that work that God gave to Jesus because we become his hands and feet on earth. We are the ones that are going to bring the love of Christ to people. That’s an obligation that we accept when we declare that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.
According to Martin Luther, who led the Reformation, if a person is baptized into the faith of Jesus Christ and they choose not to follow Jesus' way, then all that occurred to them was that someone placed water on their head. We believe that when you’re baptized the Holy Spirit comes upon you in the same way that it did to Jesus and then you have the strength from the Holy Spirit to go out and do the work that Christ will give you.
So, think about your baptism and if you are child and you don’t remember it think about the obligation that you took upon yourself at confirmation. Ask yourself the question what are you doing for Jesus today? Remember, we are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, and we must go out into the world and show his love through us and that is done by our words and actions in the world.
