Over a month ago, I wrote a post answering the question “Why was Jesus Baptized?” where I argued that no answer has been truly satisfying, there were two paradigms that are very helpful to me. The first paradigm, argued for in the first post, was the “tri-perspectival” paradigm where I said that the entire baptism event (baptism, Spirit descending, and the voice of God) should be held as a unity integrating ideas such as identification, anointing, and pronouncement. Please see the first post for an actual treatment of this view. In this post, I’m going to look at the Biblical-Theological view. I also want to restate that I don’t think this is an either/or issue, but that both paradigms shed led on the baptism event. Nor do I think these are the only valid paradigms. Jesus’ baptism can be found in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22.
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I’ve been thinking recently on Jesus’ baptism. If John’s baptism was one that represented repentance and cleansing, why would the sinless Jesus have to receive such a baptism? I have never been fully satisfied with any one answer, and I don’t think we ever will be. With that in mind, I’m going to try and look at his baptism through two different paradigms. By doing this, I’m not saying the issue is either/or… but both/and. In other words, we shouldn’t use one paradigm to the exclusion of the other, but that both can be utilized in understanding what is going on in Jesus’ baptism. Also, by giving two paradigms, I’m not saying that these are the only two ways of looking at the issue- there maybe be several, maybe even many, others- but I am just focusing on the two that have come to my mind recently in thinking through the issue. Jesus’ baptism can be found in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22.
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