As we look again at Matthew, we will be looking at a few Jewish customs so that we can develop an understanding of what Matthew was actually saying as he wrote about John the Baptist. I think as you look at this study, you will find it amazing.
Matthew 3:1-2
John was Jesus’ cousin. He was six months older than Jesus. It is thought that he was born on or very near Passover. This is very significant from the Jewish thinking.
It is commonly thought that John was born on Passover, Nisan 15. This is due to the time that Zacharias served in the temple. There were 24 courses of the Levitical priests serving in the temple. Zacharias served during “Abia” the eight course of the year. This falls on the tenth week of the Jewish calendar. When he went home from his service Elizabeth conceived (Luke 1:23-24). It is easy from this historical truth to pin the birth of John nine months later on Passover, Nisan 15. Consequently, six months after this Yeshua was born. This lands directly in the festival of Sukkot, which lands in the September, October range[1]. This gives us extremely strong evidence that Yeshua (Jesus) was born during the Feast of Sukkot (Booths), which celebrated the exodus. During this festival the Jews live or reside in temporary dwellings for eight days. Jesus took on a temporary body of flesh and bone. He literally fulfilled this feast. The festival remembers the exodus from Egypt and the salvation that was brought through the Hand of God. Jesus brought literal salvation through his time on earth. The exodus focused on Salvation, Yeshua’s life was based on salvation, what better time to be born than a time where He stepped in to finish what He started in delivering the Jews from Egypt. Based on this information, the birth of Christ should be celebrated during Sukkot…not December!
Jesus stated that John was Elijah (Matt 11:9-15). This does not mean that Elijah was re-incarnated as Elijah but rather that he carried with him the likeness of Elijah (Matt 17:10-13; Mark 9:11-13). He carried with him the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Luke 1:17). We know this because when Zecharias his father was instructed on the nature of his son the angel gave very specific instructions. He was long watched for by Israel, was to be great in the sight of the Lord, was to drink no wine or liquor, filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, draw many men to repentance, and was a forerunner of Messiah to call for repentance (Luke 1:13-17). During every Passover Seder (meal), the Jewish people send a young child to the door to see if Elijah has come to join them in the Passover. A plate is always set for Elijah.
As Gentiles we fail to realize the significance of John being born on Passover. As we stated above, this points directly at the Passover Seder as a prophetic practice that still takes place today. Prophetically, John filled the exact role of Elijah showing up at the Passover Seder. His name “John” was transliterated from the Hebrew name “Yochanan” which means “Jehovah-given” (Strongs 2491).
Baptism context of Judiasm. Many of us quote the scripture Isaiah 1:18 and never realize that there is a verse preceding it which speaks of a mikvah or baptism. Look at Isaiah 1:16-17, better yet, look at it in context with the entire chapter. God was fed up with Jews who were going through the motions. He said clearly that they had become like Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:10). The promise for consenting and obeying the Lord follows with a promise of prosperity, disobedience with disaster (Isaiah 1:19-20). The list of offenses begins with a faithful city who became a harlot (Isaiah 1:21), which indicates blending their religion with the religion of the nations (Isaiah 1:28-31). In effect, they people of Jerusalem had compromised with the world so much that they looked just like gentile nations (Isaiah 1:21-23). Their actions proved that they had abandoned Torah even though they were keeping the festivals on the outside. Compromise with the world made them an enemy of God. He vowed to wipe out Jerusalem completely, then eventually restore it as a city of righteousness (Isaiah 1:24-28). This looks forward to an immediate fulfillment in Isaiah’s time, and a future fulfillment closely following the life of Messiah on Earth. The temple was utterly destroyed in 70 AD, and is still waiting to be rebuilt to its original state. John was the herald that reminded the citizens of the necessity to be baptized for repentance. Isaiah 2 looks forward to the great tribulation where God cleanses the nation of Israel by removing forever the blending of gentile religion with Torah. We call this the great tribulation, which precedes the 1,000 year reign of Messiah.
Malachi 3: John was the one who went before the Lord preparing His way. He draws the people to prepare their hearts before the Lord to prepare the way for the New Covenant which is established by Messiah (Mal 3:1). Malachi lists the sins of the people as sorcery, cheating workers of wages, oppressing the widow and orphan and turning aside the unfortunate. The essence of their sin is that they have “turned aside” from Torah (Malachi 3:6-7). Many hold that accepting Jesus Messiah as our Lord and Savior inscribes our names in the book of life (Dan 12:1; Mal 3:16-18; Rev 20:12-15). Jesus stated that those who follow Him will be evident by their service to Him by keeping His Torah or commandments (Mal 3:18; John 14:15, 21; John 15:10-14).
It is difficult to pin the idea down from the Greek word “metanoeo” which is translated as “repent” in Matthew 3:2. We do not have a reference point in the Greek to pin the exact meaning on. That is the reason that I focused on the prophecies above. We often read backwards into scripture the idea of repentance from intentional sin because we knowingly sin knowing that we are violating God’s direction as we perceive it. However,
Torah does not take into consideration “intentional” sin. As modern day “Greek” thinkers we read intentional sin into the scriptures that were written from a Jewish perspective. Malachi demonstrated that the sin of the people was abandoning Torah, so “repenting” must be “having a change of heart”. Zodhiates defined it as “To repent, change the mind, relent. Theologically, it involves regret or sorrow, accompanied by a true change of heart toward God.”[2] John preached repentance as a change of heart by returning to Torah and living according to God’s covenant (Mal 3).
Let’s reflect on Baptism for a moment: The Christian idea of the baptism of repentance or being born again from the modern perspective is abandoning our evil ways and turning back to God. Some refer to this as doing a “u turn”, which is far from the true meaning.
Repentance really means to return to Torah or to living life according to God’s established guideline. It is not focused on stopping doing wrong but rather living according to God’s word. It’s not so much a matter of turning back toward a right path that we have stayed from but rather taking an entirely different path which is directed by God. With John, his message was probably more along the idea of moving from “doing” the religious restrictive laws that the teachers claimed was Torah to actually living out Torah as the lifestyle that God intended.
Jewish people also have a baptism of repentance. This takes place at conversion to Judiasm. This immersion signifies leaving the old life behind and turning to the life of Judiasm. You could hardly call that a “u-turn” since the convert was never a Jew in the first place. In this way the idea of Baptism is aligning the person’s life with Torah or with Gods preferred way of doing things.
As I was reading through the website My Jewish Learning, I came across the idea of baptism from the Jewish perspective, look and see if it sounds familiar to you:
Submerging in a pool of water for the purpose not of using the water’s physical cleansing properties but expressly to symbolize a change-of-soul is a statement at once deeply spiritual and immensely compelling. No other symbolic act can so totally embrace a person as being submerged in water, which must touch and cover every lesion, every strand of hair, every birthmark. No other religious act is so freighted with meaning as this one which touches every aspect of life and proclaims a total commitment to a new idea and a new way of life as it swallows up the old and gives birth to the new.
The water of the mikveh is designed to ritually cleanse a person from deeds of the past. The convert is considered by Jewish law to be like a newborn child. By spiritually cleansing the convert, the mikveh water prepares him or her to confront God, life, and people with a fresh spirit and new eyes–it washes away the past, leaving only the future. Of course, this does not deny that there were good and beautiful aspects of the past. But, in the strictest religious sense, that past was only prologue to a future life as a Jew.[3]
A fascinating rule in this baptism is that the water must be “living” water. The pool that is used must be able to draw flow from a rain gutter or natural spring so that the water that is used is laced with living water that is part of the hydro cycle. This principle comes from Torah. When a person was found to be ceremonial unclean because of a discharge, first they washed their clothes or items that were touched (a type of ritual baptism), secondly they were totally immersed in living water and then declared clean (Leviticus 15:1-9). If a person were to touch anything associated with the unclean person they were to wash their hands and clothes as a ceremonial baptism (Lev 15:10-12). After the person became clean of the discharge, they were to be immersed in living or “running” water (Lev 15:13). Immersion (baptism) was required after a seminal emission or after a menstrual period (Leviticus 15:16-22). The priest prior to offering atonement sacrifice at the Mercy Seat was required to be immersed (Leviticus 16:4) after which he offered sacrifices of atonement for himself first. Aaron was also required to be baptized through immersion after to offering sacrifices and laying hands on the scape goat (Leviticus 16:24-26). This was because the scape goat took on the sins of the people. By laying hands on it, Aaron became unclean. The person who led the goat to release it had to also be baptized.
In ancient Judaism people would be ritually immersed every time they entered the sanctuary[4]. This symbolized coming completely clean before God prior to entering into worship. This came from the biblical principle that the priests would be immersed or baptized prior to entering the tent of meeting (Exodus 29:4; 40:12, 30-32). We also see an example of this when David rose from fasting for his dead son, he was immersed and worshipped (2 Sam 12:20).
Any person who touched or became associated with anything unclean was to be baptized in water and would remain unclean until evening (Leviticus 22:6-7). The person was declared clean after the sun set. On the Jewish clock, Sunset is the beginning of the next day. It is intriguing that Naaman was instructed by Elisha to be baptized seven times in the Jordan (living water) in order to be healed (2 Kings 5:10-14). With all of this taken in consideration when Isaiah prophesied that people were to be immersed, made clean and remove evil deeds from the Lord’s sight, it starts to make sense ( Isaiah 1:16-17).
Let’s return to Matthew as we reflect on the idea of John being a Baptizer. One who took ceremonially unclean people and prepared their hearts for the coming Messiah. John preached repentance or turning to God. The Hebrew people were haunted with paying the price for compromising Torah. The error that they would be most concerned with would be failing to live life according to Torah. This bears out to be true as the people gather to listen to Jesus teach them about how to follow Torah through the parables, miracles and specifically the beatitudes.
John preached a single message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2 NASB95). We covered repentance. What does the “kingdom of heaven being near” indicate? We looked at Malachi’s prophecy about how God would strike up a new relationship with His people and write those who follow Him in the book of life. It goes deeper than that. The ability for the kingdom of heaven to abide on earth has to do with the New Covenant that God established with the Jews (Jeremiah 31:30-34). In this covenant God promised to write His law (literal Hebrew word “torah”) on the hearts of the people (Jer 31:33). These people will live according to torah and wherein God will be their God and they shall be God’s people. Every one of those who allow Torah to be written on the heart will benefit from the Holy Spirit indwelling them and for forgiveness and expulsion of sin. Modern Christians often try to hijack this verse through replacement theology and claim that the New Testament is the New Covenant. Jesus established that covenant with His people. Paul teaches us that the Gentiles were “grafted in” to the olive tree (Israel) so that we also can enjoy and take part in the New Covenant partaking in the “rich root” of Judaism (Ro 11:17-18). Thus Jew and Gentile became “one new man” as a result of the work of our Messiah (Eph 2:11-22). Our basis as partakers in the New Covenant is tied to the work of the Messiah Jesus.
I have heard it argued that the Kingdom of Heaven is the community of believers presently on earth and in heaven who are truly following Yeshua. This could be argued effectively since all believers in Yeshua are members of the kingdom of heaven. However, all the verses in the New Testament are referring to the Kingdom of Heaven in a sense that indicates it takes place after death. For example, we are not going to be sitting at a table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob until we reach heaven (Matt 8:11). The words that Jesus uses to describe the Kingdom of Heaven all indicate future tense and often in a figurative sense.
Matthew 3:4 Matthew described John closely to the way that Elijah was described in the Old Testament, a hairy man with a leather belt (2 Kings 1:8). Locust and wild honey were considered to be clean food according to Torah (Leviticus 11:22). This demonstrates the sustenance of God since enough grasshoppers were supplied for him to live on. It is also intriguing that eating wild honey is a picture of God supplying abundant blessing on a person who is walking according to Torah (Psalm 81:11-16).
Matthew 3:5-6 John carried the message of God for repentance. The people responded. Imagine how radical that John appeared. Yet, he preached a message that demanded people evaluate their lives according to God’s instruction. He lived completely according to the instructions of Torah. When he baptized, he did so in running water. Everything that we see shouts “Torah” at us. John’s main thrust was to return people to following God’s instructions so that their hearts would be ready for Messiah.
I am going to stop here, the next time we will begin with verse 7. Here is a parting thought:
What would have happened if the nation had embraced the Messiah as John heralded Him? History would have changed. God gave the Hebrew people a chance to be baptized and repent before carrying out the last 2000 years of judgment. We as gentiles have benefitted from this; we have been able to take part in Messiah. But on the flip side, we also have blended pagan religion with Torah and stand just like our brothers the Jews to be judged for our indisgressions and compromise. Paul saw the joining of the Jews with the Nations of the earth to become One New Man, this probably will not reach completion until Christ reigns (Eph 2:13-15). The foundation of the joining is Torah (Eph 2:20) which has been engineered by our Messiah Jesus. Paul did not forsee the paganization of the Christian church under Constantine where we blended paganism with Judaism to form what we call Christianity in 325 AD. Today many Christian believers are starting to understand the fantastic implications of Torah and are beginning to incorporate it into the theology that they have been taught. We are responding today to the exact same message that John preached. The Christian church and the Jewish community are all being called to return to Torah and to the author of the Torah.
Matthew 3:7
Sin: Let’s back up a moment and consider the idea of “sin” (Mat 3:6). John pointed out that sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Sin is a failure to be able to live our lives according to Torah or God’s instructions for life. In a way lawlessness is actually “torahlessness”. God’s standard for the life of all of his followers was given in the form of Torah. This was the instruction passed on to man so that they could live according to God’s standard. Jesus followed Torah without error, this is how he was able to live a “sinless” life. He never made a mistake following the instructions of the Father. It is interesting to note that Jesus upped the standard a bit. He stated that the Father’s instruction to him was to take on flesh and live among men (John 10:18). He had the option at any time to return to his former state. However, the “instruction” of the Father was that Jesus was to lay down his life for men as a man. This instruction for Jesus is what we would call “Torah” for Him.
Many Christians contend that the Old Testament “Law” has been superseded with the New Testament. If that is the case, then these people were being baptized for nothing. The Pharisees and Sadducees we see in Matthew 3:7, realized they were deceived as well because they felt the need to repent for sin. These teachers and researchers of Torah knew that sin was a direct violation of God’s instructions. They were not ones who would be easily persuaded by a silver tongued evangelist (John the Baptist) to publically renounce Torah by accepting a different standard as God’s standard. John’s message was to keep Torah, not to eliminate it.
The standard definition of sin in the New Testament church is missing the mark. The idea is that if you have a target and shoot for the bull’s-eye, missing the target is sin. Since many of us consider the Old Testament to be a history book, what is the mark? Are we living according to the thumbnail sketch of Torah that Jesus gave in the beatitudes? Or are we living according to all that is written in the New Testament? In my opinion, it is impossible to flee from “sin” without understanding the biblical perspective of it.
Biblical thoughts on sin: Sin is deviating from God’s instructions. James (Jacob) expounded on this idea by stating that we are to be a “doer” of the law (Torah), not a judge of it (Ja 4:11). Sin is knowing God’s instruction (right thing, ie Torah referring to verse 11) and not doing it (Ja 4:17). James said earlier that any person who has broken one of God’s commandments has broken the entire law (Ja 2:10-13). The Law in this case is not a list of do’s and don’t’s but rather the Torah from the Old Testament. This was God’s instructions to men. There was not a set of rules that were listed in law books. John stated that if we claim that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves (1 John 1:8). Sin is breaking God’s law and acting contrary to God’s law (1 John 3:4-5). John had Torah as a guideline for life. The gospels may have been in circulation, and some of the epistles, however these were not made into the New Testament until about 300 years later… John was referring to Torah. John stated further that wickedness is sin (1 John 5:17).
Here is the kicker to the entire thought. “We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them” (1 John 5:18). According to good strong Calvinistic thinking, none of us can help but sin! The Bible disagrees. When we turn to God’s teaching we by nature want to follow the instructions written in it. God writes Torah on the hearts of believers and we purpose to follow it as completely as possible. The New covenant is not the New Testament! It is a covenant that is built upon the old covenants and written on the hearts of men:
““Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”” (Jeremiah 31:31–34, NASB95)
Perspective: You may notice that this New Covenant was not designed for Gentiles. It was designed for the Jews. We are riding on their coattails. John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Messiah. He was the voice crying in the wilderness that announced the coming of the New Covenant. This covenant was radically different from the other covenants that God gave because it was not written on stone. It was written on the hearts of men. Follow along in Matthew again.
Contextual Thoughts: Matthew 3:7: John wanted to know who had warned the teachers of the law to flee judgment. In other words, who was the one who motivated them to abandon the teachings of the Rabbi’s in order to hear his message?
Matthew 3:8: John encouraged the Scribes and Pharisees to keep with the fruit of repentance. In other words “return to the instructions that God gave for life”. Turn back to Torah. Otherwise, what guideline would they turn to? History demonstrates that when men do the thing that their hearts tell them is right, disaster follows (Judges 21:25). The teachers of Torah understood that change was in the air. They knew that God was moving and were perceptive enough to respond even though they were bound and sold out to legalism. John accepted their repentance and encouraged them to hold true to it.
Matthew 3:9-10 John continued with the instructions to the Scribes and Pharisees. His baptism requires action to be valid. Falling back on family history does not satisfy the new covenant. We do the same thing today. How often have you heard people cite their denomination as qualification for their Christianity? John realized that God has the power to raise up children of Abraham from even rocks. Gentile believers have been privileged to have the designation as spiritual children of Abraham even though we do not share genetics (Gal 3:6-9).
The Jewish leaders of the time felt that since they were in the office that they filled, they were righteous by default. How often have you heard that a church is full of “dead wood” referring to believers who have become stagnant in their relationship with God? That idea is carried in this passage. The Pharisees and Sadducees had become so legalistic and stuck in the mud that they became a hindrance to the Kingdom rather than a blessing. New growth through them was impossible since the spiritually dead do not beget spiritual life.
Note that John left room for the trees that were bearing good fruit. The Pharisees and Sadducees had the opportunity for change. If they were to change and lead change, they had a possibility of not being “cut down”. Some claim that the New Testament church is in the “grace administration”. However, Grace is one of the main themes that runs consistently through the entire Bible. You cannot point to any time in the history of the Bible that Grace has not underscored the existence of God’s people. Some refer to this as the “scarlet thread” that runs through the scriptures.
Paul carried the same idea that Matthew spoke about when he spoke of the Gentiles being grafted in to the stump of Judaism (Ro 11:17-21). John warned the Jewish leaders that if they did not change they would be cut off. He left door open to change so that they could bring life through repentance. Torah promises that those who are righteous will produce life (Psalm 92:12-14).
History tells us that the Sadducees virtually disappeared after the temple was destroyed in AD 70. The Pharisees were also greatly diminished except for a few who were able to record their thoughts in 220 C.E. in the Mishnah.[i] John’s prediction held true.
Matt 3:11-12: John spoke of Jesus as the one who was mightier. This was in conjunction with his role as fore-runner. It is intriguing to consider that John offered the Jewish leadership the early opportunity to repent and return to Torah. They received the promise of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost which was later given to the 12 disciples and community of believers (Acts 2). John was not preaching a radically new idea. He spoke about God destroying the chaff with unquenchable fire. John was also mentioned as the prophet Elijah who carried the warning message (Malachi 4). John promised that the one following him would not be immersing in water but would be immersing people in the Spirit of God. This could only be talking about the promised New Covenant that Jeremiah spoke of.
Conclusion: In this section of scripture we see God offering the Jewish leadership the opportunity to repent and take the leadership role in the advent of the New Covenant. Since they chose not to embrace the repentance fully, God raised up 12 Jewish disciples to turn the world upside down. Esther was given the same opportunity to warn the Jews of Haman’s plot. She was warned that if she did not act, God would raise up another in her place (Esther 4:13-14). She acted on her position and saved the nation. We cannot know what would have happened if the Jewish leadership had taken the torch and paved the way for the New Covenant. God offered the opportunity to the religious leaders before Yeshua (Jesus) started his public ministry.
[i] Stern, D. H. (1996). Jewish New Testament Commentary : a companion volume to the Jewish New Testament (electronic ed., Mt 3:7). Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications.
[1] Gleaned from the article Christmas, http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Christmas/christmas.html, accessed June 5, 2014.
[2] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
[3]Rabbi Maurice Lamm http://www.myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Events/Conversion/Conversion_Process/Mikveh.shtml?p=2
[4] Ibid.
Jesus is Baptized
Million dollar question: Why was Jesus baptized?
Many have pondered this question. Jesus was without sin and had no need for repentance, turning away from sin, or turning from a bad path in life. Many Christians are puzzled by this problem. In my opinion we are stumbling over our conventions for Baptism. Let’s think out of the box and examine these verses a little differently. How important was this Baptism? It was important enough that all four Gospels record the account (Matt 4:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lk 3:21-22; Jn 1:31-34). Let’s examine why…
Matthew 3:13-17:
Washed with Water: Jesus was a Jew who lived according to Torah. Prior to Aaron and his sons assuming the priestly role before the congregation they were washed or quite possibly immersed in water (Leviticus 8:6; Ex 29:1-9). The washing by water in these passages can be translated as washing, bathing or dousing. Context determines the translation. The term can be accurately translated as “washing” however, the Jewish people have taken the term to mean immersion since they immerse on several occasions. “Women after childbirth or menstruation, A bride before her wedding, Priests (in the Temple) before divine service, Men on the eve of Yom Kippur (also optionally, before Shabbat), For converts to Judaism, (and) In preparation of a dead person for burial”.[i] The point I am making is that ritual immersion was not a new idea. They obviously had the option of washing with water but saw the importance of going the extra step to make sure that immersion covered every part of their body. It is also interesting that on the Wild Olive website, they also noted that the person was not put under the water by another person. Rather they self-immersed by squatting in the water until they were completely submerged. If this were the case with John, he was officiating the baptism but did not take control of Jesus.
Washed with Water: Levitucus 8:6; Ex 29:4; Matt 3:16
Anointed with Oil: Lev 8:12; Ex 29:7; Mat 3:16 Another important aspect of the baptism was anointing with oil.
Mikveh: Baptism is the Jewish rite of Mikveh. We have discussed this in previous lessons regarding the Jewish idea of baptism. The Jewish people carried immersion to different levels than we as Christians are familiar with. John the Baptist was baptizing people to repentance. This was within the ramifications of the Mikveh, but also outside of it since it was a rite that took place at God’s appointed times (Lev 23). John’s use of baptism transcended normal Judaism since he drew the people to repentance outside of regular scheduled times.
Transition in Life: One important aspect of Jewish baptism was that of transition from one stage in life to another. This is captured well by the website http://www.myjewishlearning.com:
”There is a second layer of meaning to mikveh. It marks the beginning of the ascent to an elevated religious state. This function of mikveh goes beyond the basic purpose of purification. Anthropologists refer to this threshold of higher social status as “liminality.”
The person at this moment of transition is a “liminal” or “threshold” person. The liminal state is common to virtually all persons and societies, ancient and modern, and it marks a move to an altered status or to a life transition. Entering adulthood from adolescence, for example, requires a tunnel of time, a rite of passage, a liminal state that acknowledges by symbolic acts the stark changes taking place in one’s self-identity, behavior, and attitude.”[ii]
Jesus was transitioning from being the son of a carpenter to His intended role as Messiah. This baptism was one which demonstrated Jesus stepping out of his current role as a son and a carpenter into His earthly ministry (Matt 13:55). I have heard it said time and time again that the beginning of the ministry of Jesus took place at the wedding at Cana (John 2). We are ignoring the obvious when we take this stand. At the Baptism, Jesus transitioned from one lifestyle into another. It was at this baptism that He took on the role of Messiah publically.
Born Again: Think about his discussion on being “Born again” with Nicodemus (John 3:1-10). Note that his discussion had to do with water immersion and with immersion into the Spirit.Born Again: Why was Nichodemus chastised? There was a Jewish idiom that referred to the new moon as the moon being “born again”. The old month was gone forever and a new month was taking its place. Spiritualizing the idiom would indicate that life took on a new turn, or a new phase in the life of the Jew. Nicodemus was rebuked because he, as a Jewish scholar should have understood the implication of entering into a new phase in life. This was exactly what took place with Jesus. He transitioned from one stage in life to a new stage never to revisit the old one. In a sense, Jesus was “born again” as he transitioned thus demonstrating by example that all who follow Him must abandon their old life to take on a new one as His disciple.
There are quite a few examples of this taking place in the Old Testament as men who were chosen by God took on new roles and abandoned old ones. Abram became
Abraham as he stepped from one role into another. Saul stepped from being a shepherd to a king. David stepped from being a shepherd to the role of king. Once the former phase of life was passed, it was not returned to.
Repentance or Righteousness? Matthew 3:14-15: John was stuck on the idea of repentance. Jesus was not focused on repentance at all. He was focused on “righteousness”. This word carries with it the idea:
“In both the OT and NT, righteousness is the state commanded by God and standing the test of His judgment (2 Cor. 3:9; 6:14; Eph. 4:24). It is conformity to all that He commands or appoints. Since God Himself is the standard of the believers, the righteousness of God means the righteousness which belongs to God or to oneself from God, or God–like righteousness (Matt. 6:33; James 1:20). Thus righteousness, in general, is God’s uprightness or standard, without reference to any particular form of its embodiment, to which man is expected to conform.”[iii]
If we cook the idea down to its simplest form, we are looking at the purposeful adherence to God’s instructions. It is following the commands of God as is put forth in the Old Testament instruction or Torah. I wonder, how many of us are quick to quote Psalm 1:2 and fail to realize that the word “law” is literally the word “torah”. Jesus had to fulfill and adhere to the Torah or the instructions given by God in order to fulfill all righteousness. Any shortcoming in regard to Torah would have been sin. His instructions to John was to permit him to be baptized because it fulfilled Torah. Let’s look at the rest of the chapter now.
Messiah, Christ, Anointed One: Most Christians claim to follow Jesus Christ failing to realize that while Jesus is a name which was transliterated from Yeshua, Christ is a title which should have never been transliterated from Greek word Christos. This is significant because names are almost always transliterated. Meaning that the letters of one language is spelled out to sound as close as possible to the original language. My name for example in Spanish is Jose, English is Joseph, German is Joseppe. Similar sounds, different languages. The word “Christ” is not a name. It is a title. If Christ were to be translated, it would be “anointed one”. I often default to the Hebrew word Messiah.
We do not see the title “Christ” in this passage. The idea of the anointing is present.
Matt 3:16: When Jesus came up out of the water, we see the Spirit of God descending on Him like a dove. This was the point where Jesus was publically anointed by God as His instrument. When Aaron and his sons were anointed to take the priestly during the Exodus, oil was poured on their heads as a testimony of God’s appointment (Lev 8:10; Ex 29:7; Num 35:25; Ps 133:2). When you look through the Old Testament, the anointing of God is His way of doing things. God anoints His designated teachers, priests, and leaders. This anointing is often demonstrated in public ways. For example, Saul was anointed as king over the people (1 Sam 10:1). This anointing carried so much significance that David refused to raise a hand against him during his reign even after David was given the kingdom by God 1 Sam 16; 26:9). Another that is a good example is when Elijah was caught up and Elisha became the anointed one in his place (2 Kings 2:15). Probably one of the most radical anointing’s was when Jehu was anointed king, he went from a military leader to a radical enforcer once the anointing took place (2 Kings 9-10). When the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, the act carried with it the mark of anointing by God. This anointing was validated by the actual voice of God as He established that Jesus is the Son of God.
Chosen Son Prophesied in Isaiah 42: Along with Jesus fulfilling the anointing of the Levitical law, He also fulfilled the promise by God to be marked by the Holy Spirit as God’s son. This promise also carried with it the endorsement by God:
““Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:1, NASB95)
Matthew quoted Isaiah 42:1-4 as a passage directly speaking about Jesus (Matt 12:18-21). The audible voice of God served several functions. It validated that Jesus was the anointed one or the Messiah. It verified John the Baptist’ role as forerunner, and enabled him to see that Jesus was the one coming after him.
Enough said… I am going to stop here. Several of the commentaries that I read gave a token acknowledgement of Jesus’ baptism. I felt as I read through the account that there was a lot more than a simple story. I hope that as we have examined various scriptures that we have established that Jesus was baptized to fulfill Torah.
It leaves me to wonder if when we do ordinations, appointments of elders, marriages, and major life changes if the significance of these actions would deepen if we include baptism with them. Just a closing thought.
[i] http://www.wildolive.co.uk/baptism.htm Accessed April 15, 2015.
[ii] http://www.myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Events/Conversion/Conversion_Process/Mikveh.shtml?p=2 Accessed April 15, 2015
[iii] Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).