Why did Jesus need to be baptized?
1. As with the totality of Jesus lifehe did not live for his sakebut for ours. He was not baptized because he needed to repentbut because we needed to see that even the Son of God bowed before his Father. Jesus certainly did not have reason to repent for his own sin. Yet, he came as the perfect example of the obedient servant. The sin he bore was ours and he showed us that repentance was the first step to an honest relationship with God (and there is no other kind of relationship with him). Baptism is a choice of humility before God and community. Jesus was baptized to show us humility and to lead us into personal repentance. 2. It was the public beginning of his ministry; Why did Jesus wait so long before beginning his public ministry? Primarily because Jesus was on Gods timing. He could not begin until he was called. Before Jesus star would rise, he had to be preceded by a voice crying in the wilderness. As a friend of mine said to me yesterday; John had to be born first, preach firs
