Baptism of Jesus

Baptism of Jesus. This event refers to Jesus’s baptism by John the Baptist at the Jordan River and is mentioned in the four Gospels (Matt 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22; John 1:29–34). Jesus’s baptism is not only a model for all His followers, it also marks the beginning of His earthly ministry and the fulfillment of prophecy pointing to Him as the long-awaited Messiah of the world.

Of the four Gospel accounts, only Matthew describes the dialogue between Jesus and John the Baptist and Jesus’s insistence on being baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15; cf. Rom 6:1–4). The Gospel of John, however, emphasizes John the Baptist’s testimony, under the Spirit’s inspiration, of who Jesus is as “the Lamb of God” and “the Son of God” (John 1:29, 33–34). What stands out in the Synoptic (Matthew, Mark, Luke) accounts is the consistent portrayal of the opened heaven, the Holy Spirit’s descent in the “bodily” form of a dove, and the Father’s voice affirming Jesus as “My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Moreover, in this event, each of the four Gospels uses the word “baptize(d),” from the Gr. baptizo, suggesting immersion as the manner in which Jesus was baptized (Matt 3:16; Mark 1:9; Luke 3:21; John 1:33, cf. Rom 6:4).

Furthermore, Jesus’s announcement at the beginning of His ministry, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15; cf. Matt 4:17), was a declaration that the prophetic time period of Dan 9:24–27 pointing to the arrival of the Messiah had arrived. According to Luke 3:1–2, Jesus’s baptism took place in the fifteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius Caesar, which can be dated to AD 27. Thus, Jesus’s baptism at the Jordan, how He was baptized, its prophetic significance, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the Father’s voice indisputably point to Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah and Savior of the world, mark a milestone in salvation history, and model the biblical rite of baptism.