The Baptism of Pagans
In contemporary Judaic religious tradition of the day,
those pagans (non-Jewish people), who wished to convert to Judaism would have had
to go through a very specific ritual of Baptism. Moreover, this was the very
form of baptism that John was using to
baptize Jewish people—which is one of the things that made him a Prophet.
In order to understand what John was doing you need a
little more background.
The Direction of
Judgment
First, the place judgment was considered to be in the
direction of East. For example, when Israel was carried away captive to Babylon
they went in the direction of East. When Adam & Eve sinned against God and
were cast out of the Garden, it was in the direction of East. Going east into
captivity is not considered a good thing, while coming Westward and entering
into the Land of Promise is considered a very
good thing!
The Baptism that John practiced was and is still known as
the Baptism of Repentance. However, most Christians think of it as the
repentance from sin, but it is more than that—It is repentance from Pagan
anti-God practices! Here is how this form of baptism worked:
1.
If a non-Jewish person wanted
to follow God, they had to prove their repentance from their pagan ways by
going to the East side River Jordan. They would stand on the East side of the
river, which represented the Pagan Side of the River, the side without God.
2.
When they were ready, they moved
to the center of the river where a priest waited for them. Once in the middle
of the river the priest asked them to proclaim all of the pagan things they
were renouncing, which included their lifestyle, family, friends and their very name.
3.
Once they completed, the
previously the non-Jewish person went through a death and dying experience by
being “buried.” The priest would cause them to lie down back-first into the
water as a sign of dying to their old life. When they rose up out of the water
again they were no longer considered a pagan! They were considered “born” into
a new life—one as a member of the Commonwealth of Israel.
4.
Now, risen from the dead, this
person with their new life was proclaimed a first
generation descendent of Abraham and given a new name, “So-and-so, the Son
of Abraham” or “So-and-so, Daughter of Abraham.”
Don’t let go of this last point, it is important for
what comes next…
Why is this significant?
Jesus did not need to go through this ritual of
conversion from paganism to the religion of Israel, but he did so anyway. When
his cousin John protested, Jesus explained, that it had to happen this way:
13 Then
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But
John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come
to me?”
15 Jesus
replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all
righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon
as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on
him.
17 And a voice
from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:13-17 (NIV)
As in Genesis 22, God speaks audibly so that those
gathered can here and understand the words.
Here are some other important points to consider:
1.
Jesus was sinless. He did not
need to go through this Baptism at all, but by humbling himself to doso anyway
as a sinless man, it authorized him to take on the role and responsibility of
the First Born Son. The Son of Righteousness, who did what was right even to
his own hurt (Proverbs 11:19; 2 Peter 1:19).
2.
When Jesus “died” in the River
Jordan, he died the death of a Martyr, someone who did not need to die for his own
sins and pagan ways, but someone who was righteous dying for the pagan ways of
others. Thus spiritually, he was “reborn” into the anointing that would allow
him to physically take on the sins of all humanity so that he could physically
die and be risen from the dead at a later time. This later death would take
place on Mount Moriah (aka: The Temple Mount), where Isaac the son of Abraham
was nearly sacrificed.
3.
When Jesus rose up out of the
water he was given a new name. We do not know what that name is, only he knows
it (Revelation 19:12). What we do know is that he was immediately, according to
the tradition given a new name, “So-and-so, The Firstborn Son of Abraham.”
Only this time, Jesus the sinless man in fact became the
replacement for Isaac as the first-born son Abraham! By going through the
ritual of pagan baptism…
Jesus was literally anointed to die as a righteous man in Isaac’s place. This is
why the Spirit of God descended in bodily form and God the Father’s own voice
was heard for the first time in the History of the planet. It was a momentous
occasion, the Father was, “…well pleased.”
In this baptism, Jesus took on Abraham’s Calling (Hebrews
11:8), and was given Abraham’s inheritance as his first-born son. Specifically:
all of those from every nation on earth who believe on Jesus in faith. It might also be of note that Jesus acted with
greater faith than Abraham and Isaac in that Jesus allowed himself to die,
believing in faith that His Father would raise him up again from the dead!
(James 2:23) Thus again, proving himself the righteous first-born heir of God’s
Promise to Abraham (Hebrews 6:13, 11:17; Genesis 15).Next Time, The Baptism of John Fully Exposed...
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