Why did Jesus need to be baptized?
Firstly, we need to understand the meaning of baptism. What is baptism for?
Jesus is sinless, so his water baptism was not for the purpose of cleansing sin. He was also baptized with the Holy Spirit after being baptized with water. Why did Jesus need to be baptized with both water and the Holy Spirit? So what does baptism mean?
In John chapter 3, Nicodemus came to visit Jesus and asked about God’s Kingdom—how people could enter it. What did Jesus answer him?
Jesus said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jesus’ answer was very strange: “Born again”? So Nicodemus asked, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?
”What did Jesus tell him? He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
The key point is “unless one is “born” of water and the Spirit”, otherwise that he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Therefore, baptism is directly related to being “Born”, those can enter God’s Kingdom, baptized with water and the Spirit as the symbol of their identity.
You may understand that people who go to heaven must be born of the Spirit, but why must they also be born of water? And what does “born of water” mean?
Jesus gave us a hint about what “born of water” means. He said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. So people can enter heaven only when they are born of both flesh (water) and spirit. Jesus was talking about the requirement for entering God’s kingdom: the requirement of water (flesh) and spirit.
This appears to be true. That is why the Bible strongly emphasizes many times that Jesus is the Son of Man. His identity is that of a man (flesh), and Jesus used water to symbolize flesh. This is completely accurate, because the fleshly body is mainly formed of water molecules.
This can explain one of main reasons why Jesus came down to become a man: only in this way could he fulfill the requirement of being “born of water (flesh)”. But why does this requirement exist? Where did it come from?
This requirement comes from God’s words in Genesis 3:15. God said to the woman Eve and the serpent:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
Therefore, the offspring must come from the woman Eve in order to bruise the serpent’s head. We know God’s word is not only about the fleshly woman Eve, but also about the heavenly woman mentioned in Revelation chapter 12. Likewise, the serpent is not only the earthly snake but also the heavenly dragon—the Devil, Satan.
That is why the offspring who can enter God’s kingdom must be born of both—born of water (flesh) from Eve, and born of the Spirit (from the heavenly woman). That’s also why Jesus commanded the apostles “baptizing them(people) in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit“, so that they may receive Holy Spirit.
But wouldn’t you say that water baptism is unnecessary? We humans have already fulfilled the requirement of being born of water, because we are already flesh (water). There is no need to mention this point again.
You know that God’s law has to apply to all creatures, both earthly and heavenly. So God limited the offspring to those first born of flesh (water). That is why angels, who are spirit, could not meet this requirement; they cannot become part of God’s Kingdom or one of the 144,000 saints.
The 144,000 who can enter God’s Kingdom are first baptized with water. If they have been chosen, the Holy Spirit will baptize them. That is why Jesus said, ‘Many are called, but few are chosen’. Revelation discloses that their number is 144,000. They are few compared with the innumerable crowd; the innumerable have also been baptized with water. This may symbolize that they accept and have faith in Jesus’ blood to cleanse and wash their robes.
Therefore, the offspring have both identities—flesh and spirit—so they can be seen by humanity on earth. They can also go to heaven in spirit and see the invisible Most High, the Spirit Father God. This is just the same as our Lord Jesus, who can be seen by every eye and who serves as the High Priest in heaven.
In the New Heaven and New Earth, the 144,000 priests and the High Priest will serve humanity and the Most High forever and ever, bringing God’s blessing to all nations.
Amen.
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