Gracious Jesus -1: Presenting the KingSample

Jesus gets Baptized Jesus, aligned with Jewish traditions till date, now comes forward to establish a new sacrament. John preaches the baptism of repentance. Jesus does not need to repent. He is righteous, yet says he needs to be baptized to “fulfil all righteousness.” So, what is “baptism?” Baptism was originally used for ceremonial washing of hands or sprinkling of blood for purification. Later on, it was practiced when Gentiles needed to convert to Judaism. “Bapto” in Greek means to immerse; representing death to old ways as one is immersed into the water and life to new ways as one emerges out. Even children could be baptized but had to reconfirm their faith as an adult. We still see some of the above practices followed for baptism in various churches today. God tells John the Baptist that He would reveal Jesus on the occasion of baptism. (John 1:33) On this occasion, Jesus is also endorsed to the world by God Himself. He is also identified as the One who will baptize John (and us) by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was not only signifying the process of our spiritual death to life; He is actually about to fulfil it through His death and resurrection. When we get baptized, we endorse our commitment to Jesus to God and the world. We acknowledge our need for death to our flesh and life to our spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s baptism demonstrates the beginning of the Spirit’s activity in our life. Baptism by water should indicate baptism of the Spirit, which is the real thing. Paul confirms that “He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Corinthians 1:22) “Having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.” (Ephesians 3:13) Baptism is a command of Jesus. In Matthew 18:19, Jesus’ last command is ”Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus leads by example in being baptized so that his disciples across the nations will do so. Not only is the sacrament important but also what it represents. A new life to our dead spirit. Are our spiritual lives alive, active and growing? Are we seeing a death to the unwanted “fleshly” aspects of our lives? Are we developing new meaning, new purpose and new goals as our spiritual life comes to the forefront?