Who Was With Jesus At His Baptism?

Who was present during Jesus’ baptism? Does the Bible say?

Why was Jesus Baptized?

I hear the question “Why was Jesus baptized since He was sinless?” Good question, but we don’t have to speculate. The best way to find the answer is to go to Scripture. When Jesus came to John the Baptist to be baptized by him, John protested by saying “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented” (Matt 3:14-15). Jesus never sinned so He never needed to repent and be baptized but He was baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus kept the Law perfectly and fulfilled, or filled up or completed the Law, which no one had ever done before. Also, by Jesus being baptized, I believe He leaves us an example that all who are saved should have a believer’s baptism, right after publically professing faith in Christ. You can be saved in private but you should confess Christ before others and not deny Him in public because Jesus warns “whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 10:33).

Witnesses of Jesus Baptism

Obviously, John the Baptist was there because He baptized Jesus but also all of John the Baptist’s disciples. We might not realize that in the beginning, John had more disciples than Jesus did at it says “all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5) so there could have been thousands there when Jesus was baptized, including those who were waiting to be baptized and we have little doubt that there were also a lot of spectators who would be observing John from a distance. This surely included the religious leaders of the Jews since they had questioned John about why He was baptizing people (Matt 3:1-11) if he weren’t Elijah, the Prophet or the Christ (John 1:25-26).

The Father’s Presence

We can’t forget the most authoritative witness of the baptism of Jesus. The Father was just as much present as John the Baptist was because “John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:32-34) so the Holy Spirit was also present and of course the Father was too as “a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22) so here is Scriptural evidence that the Father and the Holy Spirit, the other two Persons of the Trinity, were present with Jesus at His baptism.

Your Baptism

I have heard baptism described as the dying of the old self (going under the water), and coming out as a new creation in Christ (coming out of the water). The old nature was buried because we were already dead in our sins (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13), but “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2nd Cor 5:17). Baptism can also be described as an outward sign of an inward conversion. You are not ashamed of the gospel (Rom 1:16) and would declare it publically; before family, friends, co-workers, and even strangers. Just like John the Baptist’s disciples were publically baptized, so too should the believer and now, having escaped the wrath to come, you want others to do the same. It is strictly motivated out of love that you seek the lost. It is with the hope that they might find Christ and receive the forgiveness of sins and be granted everlasting life. It is too precious of news to keep to one’s self.

Conclusion

May John’s humility be our humility. Every time the Jews asked John if he was Elijah, the Prophet or the Christ, (John 1:25) He only pointed them to Christ. John must have known that he came in the spirit of Elijah as he cried aloud and showed people their sins and also prepared the way for the Messiah, but he was too humble to ever say it. John simple pointed people to Christ and they began to follow Him (John 1:35-37), thereby keeping his own word where he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.