The day was hot and dry. Dust clouds puffed up as His sandals scuffed the road to the Jordan River. A young man He was, with all the vigor of a thirty-year-old in the prime of life. Muscles rippled under His tanned skin, hands coarse and callused from hours at the carpenter’s bench. Brown hair, average height, and a plain Jewish face—there was nothing that stood out as unusual. He blended in with all the other merchants and laborers walking along the path that day.
As they rounded the bend, the road banked down sharply toward the sandy riverbank, where a huge crowd had already gathered. You would think it was a soccer match, given the number of spectators, but back then, religious fanatics were the novelty of the day. New ideas on salvation, as well as political aspirations to win back Jewish land from the Roman occupiers, were top on the list of entertainment.
When He managed to find a spot among the jostling crowd, the carpenter could see a man standing in the river, shouting out his message of repentance and forgiveness. He told people to tell God they were sorry for not loving Him; to ask forgiveness of their family, friends, and neighbors; and to prove their change of attitude by being kind and generous to the poor and needy. He also added what seemed a strange request—for those people to come down into the river and symbolically wash away their old life of bad habits and unkind acts by being submerged in the water.
Many, wanting to prove their religiosity, were submerged in the Jordan. However, John, the preacher, the baptizer, recognized this attitude and didn’t mince his words about their foolishness. He called them vipers for taking advantage of innocent people and hypocrites for saying one thing and doing another.
But there were also those who were honest in their decision to be baptized. They knew that their lives weren’t perfect, that they felt a hollowness in their souls. So they went down, often embarrassed and shy, with tears pouring down their faces, and their shame was washed away in the river.
The carpenter just stood there, listening, hidden under a fig tree’s shade. His eyes scanned the crowd around him: fathers and mothers with their children; boys running around and being noisy, although one stood listening until his friends pushed him into the sand; hawkers selling refreshments or trading in jewelry or silk scarves.
A young girl was gossiping among her friends, but every so often she turned, entranced by the handsome preacher’s words.
“Did you know he’s single?” cooed a gorgeous redhead.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” a friend replied. “Who would want to be married to that raving lunatic?”
Presently, the carpenter moved closer to the front.
John stood waist-deep in the water, his dripping clothes held up by a coarse leather belt. His face, tanned deep brown from the desert sun, sought out the next believer among the scornful doubters. Then he saw a face that he recognized instantly. To everyone else, the Man seemed just another laborer, but to John, this was the culmination of his life’s work, his entire message. This was the Man he had spoken about, the One to come after him. This Man was God in human flesh! John was transfixed. He stopped mid-sentence and stared in hope and expectation.
The crowd was startled by the sudden break in John’s endless monologue. People elbowed one another and turned to seek out the Man at whom John gazed. And the carpenter stepped forward slowly, wading into the murky depths of the Jordan, holding His robe tightly around Himself.
The carpenter smiled as John stared, shocked as he realized the Man’s intention. For weeks, John had told everyone how he was not even worthy to undo this Man’s shoes, and now He wanted John to baptize Him?
John stuttered, “I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?” This Man was so much greater than himself; He had no need to be baptized. He didn’t need to change His way of life because He was already sinless.
And yet here He stood with smiling eyes and a humble stance. “Let it be so now,” the carpenter said. “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
John understood. The carpenter was a leader, doing this as an example for everyone else. He did it to show the importance of baptism. This act was evidence that He served the God of heaven. So John placed an arm around those muscular shoulders and laid the carpenter back into the water.
A strange sight met the carpenter’s eyes as He rose from the water. It was as though the greens suddenly became greener, the sky bluer, and an electric charge hummed in the air. Then a bird flew down from the sky and hovered above Him—a pure white dove glowing iridescent in the sunlight. At the same time, a deep voice spoke from the sky. It said, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).
Only a few people understood the message. Most thought it was thunder and rushed home to bring the sheep in to safety. The few who heard and understood gazed in amazement. This was a special moment. Of all the hundreds of other people who had been baptized in the Jordan, never had a bird appeared or thunder roared.
John’s judgment had been correct. This was Him! This was the One and only! And so he shouted out triumphantly “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. God told me that He would show me who His chosen One would be, and this is Him, this is God’s chosen One.” Some people whispered and gazed while others ridiculed his pronouncement.
The carpenter, Jesus, simply stood there quietly. His work had just begun.
Why baptism?
Baptism originated as a practical ritual to cleanse the body, but it came to symbolize the cleansing of the spiritual inner self. When people see the mistakes they have made and confess their sins, Jesus promises to forgive them, as long as they are truly repentant. So we confess and then accept Jesus’ forgiveness (this is a continual act even after baptism). When we accept Jesus’ forgiveness, we acknowledge Him as God and Savior, and His death gives us eternal life. We start a new life with God as our Lord and Leader. This private commitment is publicly declared through the act of baptism. It’s a public confession that we have chosen God as the Leader of our lives.
What the Bible says about baptism
Jesus said we must be “born again” (John 3:3), but how? Our first birth, which is physical, comes from our mother’s womb. Our second birth is spiritual. It happens when we accept Jesus as our Lord. Baptism is useless unless our spiritual, internal lives change first.
Baptism is a sign of repentance, followed by confessing to everyone whom we have offended by our mistakes and asking for their forgiveness.
Why was the perfect Jesus baptized? Jesus wanted to model the importance of baptism. However, though God requires baptism, a lack of it does not rule out salvation (see Luke 23:40–43). To be saved, we have to publicly acknowledge God (see Matthew 10:32, 33).
Baptism can also be the time when we receive the Holy Spirit, a special gift, our Comforter (Matthew 3:16 and John 14:26).
