It was John the Baptist who decided to baptize people in the Jordan River. Many scholars think that he might have been influenced by the Essens, who like John, were leading an ascetic life in the wilderness of Qumran or EinGedi. One of their principal religious rituals was a daily immersion in water to regain purity.
John was known as “the Baptist ” because he called on his followers to go through a ceremony of baptism to demonstrate their repentance for their sins; Jesus began his public life by submitting himself to John’s baptism .
John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, used baptism as the central sacrament of his messianic movement. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism . The earliest Christian baptisms were probably normally by immersion, though other modes, such as pouring, were used.
Possibility #3: Jesus was baptized in order to ceremonially cleanse himself before being filled with the Holy Spirit. According to Old Testament law, the Jewish high priest was the only man authorized by God to enter the Holy of Holies, the most sacred room in the temple where God’s Spirit dwelled.
The baptism carried out by John was full immersion in the River Jordan. Baptism was not a new idea. There is evidence that a monastic group called the Essenes used baptism at their monastery at Qumran as a type of ritual cleansing. Qumran was in the Jordan wilderness, near the area where John was probably preaching.
Water Baptism is an act of obedience for the believer. It should be preceded by repentance, which simply means “change.” It is turning from our sin and selfishness to serve the Lord. It means placing our pride, our past and all of our possessions before the Lord.
baptized in the name of Christ alone by “special dispensation.” (Whereas many modern scholars, by contrast, interpret the saying “in the name of Jesus Christ ” figuratively instead of literally in an attempt to reconcile the two conflicting passages [Acts 2:38 & Matt 28:19]).
This gospel, today generally believed by scholars to be the first and to have been used as a basis for Matthew and Luke, begins with Jesus’ baptism by John , who preached a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. John says of Jesus that he will baptize not with water but with the Holy Spirit.
In Matthew 3:14, upon meeting Jesus, John said: “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” However, Jesus convinces John to baptize him nonetheless.
The Catholic holds that there are three types of baptism by which one can be saved: sacramental baptism (with water ), baptism of desire (explicit or implicit desire to be part of the Church founded by Jesus Christ), and baptism of blood (martyrdom).
Adam was taught the plan of salvation, was baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ, received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and was given the Melchizedek priesthood. Adam ordained his descendants to the priesthood, including Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah.
Baptism is an important sacrament because Jesus was baptised, and after his resurrection he told his disciples that they too should be baptised. It was John who baptised Jesus. Christians believe that baptising cleanses people from original sin and marks a person’s official entry into the Church.
Peter told us in Acts 2:38 that repenting and being baptized is for the remission of sins. For the remission of sins means they repented and were baptized so that they could be forgiven of their sins. Jesus tells us in Mark 16:16 that “he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”.
On the banks of the Jordan River where the Bible says Jesus was baptized, 15-foot-high reeds rustle in the wind. The site on the Jordanian side of the river looks much like the New Testament describes it when John the Baptist came to live in the wilderness, surviving on locusts and wild honey.