How Old Was Jesus When He Was Baptized?

How old was Jesus when He was baptized? Why did He need to be baptized since He was without sin?

Why was Jesus Baptized?

I would have asked the same question that John the Baptist asked Jesus when He came to John to be baptized. Jesus is sinless and had no need to repent from sins and be baptized because He never sinned. Since that is true, why did Jesus even need to be baptized? Matthew writes that “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, 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 3:13-15). Jesus tells John why He must be baptized and it has nothing to do with sin but just the opposite; it is “to fulfill all righteousness” meaning Jesus fulfilled every requirement of the law perfectly and gave us an example that all believers should obey but also all believers should be baptized upon profession of faith.

Witnessed by God

After “Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:16-17). The next thing Jesus does is enters into the wilderness for the three temptations by Satan (Matt 4:1-11) which ends by Jesus saying “Be gone, Satan” (Matt 4:10a) “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him” (Matt 4:11). Jesus had now been baptized and overcame the Devil’s temptations, and was about to enter His earthly ministry of repentance and belief (Mark 1:15) but first, something had to happen.

Jesus Age at Baptism

We don’t have to guess how old Jesus was when He was baptized because we can read in Scripture that “when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). Just before Jesus started His earthly ministry He “had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22) and he enters into the temptation in the wilderness. Then, and only then does He begin His ministry “at about thirty years of age.” We can conclude with complete confidence that Jesus was baptized around the age of thirty.

John the Baptist’s Mission

John the Baptist’s ministry was to prepare the way for the Lord, the long –awaited Messiah and John had finally completed that mission from God as written by Malachi the Prophet, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes” (Mal 4:5). Now that John had fulfilled that mission and he was imprisoned (Matt 4:12), it was fitting that it was “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). That marks a beginning point; “From that time Jesus began to preach,” and “Jesus continued to preach.” Just after this, Jesus begins to call His disciples, beginning with Peter and his brother Andrew and the sons of Zebedee, James and John (Matt 4:18-22) who immediately “left the boat and their father and followed him” (Matt 4:22). Jesus was now on mission for the purpose for which He came as “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Conclusion

Jesus came to reconcile sinners back to God and to make sinners into saints while yet being sinners. The only difference is we confess our sins and God forgives them (1st John 1:9). He died for the ungodly, the wicked, and His own natural enemies (Rom 5:8, 10) and that includes you and me. God doesn’t want you to die apart from saving faith in Christ (Acts 4:12). You have no other alternative than to repent and trust in Christ or face the wrath of God.

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.