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How is Jesus’ Baptism Similar and Different From Ours?
How is Jesus’s baptism similar, and then different from ours? What meaning should we get from His for ours?
Similarities:
1. Water is involved (Mt.3:13; Acts 10:47).
2. Connected to righteousness (Mt.3:15; Romans 5-6).
3. The Holy Spirit is received (Mt.3:16; Acts 2:38).
4. There is a declaration of sonship (Mt.3:17; Galatians 3:25-29).
5. Both are immersion by definition of baptizo.
Differences:
1. “For forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4; Acts 2:38). This difference is why John said he was unworthy to even untie Jesus’s sandals; and that Jesus should baptize him.
2. Not in the name of Jesus (Acts 2:38). Jesus was baptized at the beginning of His ministry. At the end is when baptism in His name became a reality.
3. Not looking back to the death (Romans 6). Jesus’s baptism signaled the beginning of His life ministry. Our baptism signaled Jesus’s death and life again.
The differences between Jesus’s baptism and ours are why it is important to understand the following: To be baptized because Jesus was baptized is not enough. While the similarities are important, so are the differences. Instead of being baptized because Jesus was, how about being baptized because Jesus commanded it (Mark 16:16)?
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