What was Jesus baptism a sign of?

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Wiki User · Answer

The gospels tell us that John the Baptist baptised for the remission of sins, but we are also told that Jesus was untouched by sin. His baptism symbolised something more. It demonstrated for readers of the gospels that Jesus was the Son of God. The baptism of Jesus was the occasion on which the voice of God from heaven dramatically announced Jesus as his beloved son. In Mark's Gospel, where the story first appeared, the baptism was linked to other events, adding emphasis to this claim.

Mark wanted to demonstrate unequivocally that Jesus really is the Son of God and also associate him with Elijah and Moses. Immediately after his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness for forty days, ministered by angels (Mark 1:13) just as Elijah was ministered by an angel and in the wilderness forty days (1 Kings 19:5-7). There is no actual suggestion in Mark that Jesus fasted for this time, but those familiar with the story of Elijah are likely to have assumed he did do so. This brings into play another allusion, to Moses when (Exodus 34:28) he fasted for 40 days while he wrote the words of the Ten Commandments on tablets. Finally, the baptism, the voice of God from heaven and the forty days in the wilderness (events B, C and D) are linked through the framework, parallel structure of Mark's Gospel to the Transfiguration, in which the disciples saw Jesus talking to Elijah and Moses, as only one who is divine could do(events B', C' and D') :A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)

B .The baptism of Jesus (1:9)

C . The voice of God from heaven, "Thou art my beloved son" (1:11)

D . The forty days in the wilderness as an allusion to Elijah and Moses (1:13)

E . The people were astonished at what Jesus taught (1:22)

F . Jesus casts out an unclean spirit (1:23-26)

G . Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (3:6)

H . Demons, whenever they see Jesus, fall down and say that he is the Son of God.

-- Jesus commands that they tell no one of this (3:11-12)

I .. Jesus calls the 12 disciples (3:13-19)

J .. Jesus rejects his own family: he has a new family, his followers (3:31-35)

K . Jesus rebukes the wind (4:36-41)

L . The demoniac, wearing no clothes (5:15), cries out that Jesus not torment him and Jesus sends out the demons (5:1-20)

M . Jesus comes into his own country (6:1)
-- Where he was brought up

N . The people misunderstand Jesus and he can do no mighty work (6:2-6)

O . Jesus sends out the disciples and curses those who will not receive them (6:7-11)
-- in sending the disciples with authority and expecting all to receive them, Jesus is asserting his own authority

P . Herod thinks that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead (6:14)

Q . Herodias and her daughter conspire to kill John the Baptist (6:16-29)

R . Feeding the thousands, and related miracles and discourses (6:33-8:21)

S . Who do people say that I am (8:27)

T . Peter affirms faith in Jesus as the Christ (8:29)

U . Whosoever shall be ashamed of me: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed (8:38)

V . The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and scribes (8:31a)

W . Be killed and after three days rise again (8:31b)

X . Prophecy of second coming (9:1)- Jesus tells the disciples that some of them would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God coming with power.

B' .The Transfiguration of Jesus (9:2-3)

C' .The voice of God from heaven, "This is my beloved son" (9:7)

D' . Jesus talks to Elijah and Moses then to the disciples about Elijah (9:4-13)

E' .A great multitude was amazed at Jesus (9:15)

F' .Jesus cast out a dumb spirit (9:17-27)

G' .They shall kill the Son of man and he shall rise on the third day (9:31)

H' .Jesus clarifies his divine status, saying that he is not God: "Why call me good? There is none good but God" (10:18)

I' . Peter says the disciples have left all and followed Jesus (10:28)

J' . Those who have left their family for Jesus have a new family: all Jesus' followers (10:29-30)

K'. Jesus rebukes the 'sons of thunder', James and John (10:35-45 - cf 3:17)

L' .Blind Bartimaeus cries out for mercy and casts off his clothes, then Jesus heals him (10:46-52)

M' .Jesus comes into Jerusalem (11:1-10)
-- Where he will die

N' .Jesus misunderstands the fig tree that can provide no fruit (11:13-14)

O' .Jesus casts out them that sold and bought in the Temple and curses them for making the Temple a den of thieves (11:15-17)
-- Jesus is asserting his authority

P' .Jesus asks whether the baptism of John is from heaven or of men, and the priests, scribes and elders can not answer (11:30-33)

Q' .Parable of husbandmen who conspire to kill the vineyard owner's son (12:1-9)

X' .Prophecy of second coming (chapter 13)

-- on clouds of glory, within the lifetimes of some of those to whom he was speaking

R' .The Last Supper (14:17-25)

S' .Art thou the Christ, Son of God (14:61)

T' .Peter denies Jesus three times (14:66-72a)

U' .And when he thought thereon, Peter wept (14:72b)

V' .The chief priests, elders and scribes delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate (15:1)

-- Delivering Jesus is a similar concept to rejecting him.
-- Both parts of the pair involve chief priests, elders and scribes

W' .Jesus dies and on the third day rises again (15:37, 16:6)

A' .The young man explains the departure of Jesus(16:6-8)

The use of a parallel structure in this way emphasises the meaning of the baptism and the voice of God, telling us on both occasions that Jesus is the Son of God and was intended to leave readers in no doubt about this.

Wiki User · Answer

The baptism of Jesus is reported in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. John's Gospel alludes to the baptism of Jesus, without directly reporting it. Mark's account was copied by the authors of Matthew andLuke, so it is the oldest and most original of the three accounts. Mark 1:4 tells us that John baptised for the remission of sins, something Jesus ought not to have needed. Otherwise, the story of Jesus' baptism in Mark 1:9-11 is so brief that its sole purpose seems to be to demonstrate God's endorsement of Jesus. Matthew embellishes this account by saying that John told Jesus that he should baptise him, but Luke retains Mark's brevity.

The real meaning of Jesus' baptism can only be seen by looking at Mark's Gospel in its entirety, and seeing its relationship within the parallel structure of the Gospel. This structure is a sequence in which an opening set of events is contrasted with another, parallel set of events that mirrors the first. The purpose of the structure is to link, by association, the two events of each pair in the minds of the readers, in order to create emphasis or develop a theme that would otherwise not be apparent. The relevant events are B and C (1:9,11), which closely match events B' and C' (9:2-3,7) and are also associated with events D and D':

A . John explains the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-8)