Jesus Desired Baptism
Jesus never told anyone not to be baptized. There are some religious people today who will go where Jesus never went. They will tell you that you don’t need to be baptized to be saved. This was not Jesus’ attitude toward baptism. In fact, when He went to be baptized, John tried to tell Him that He didn’t need to be baptized, and Jesus rejected John’s statement saying, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). Even Jesus saw the necessity to be baptized “to fulfill all righteousness.” This means that if Jesus hadn’t been baptized, He would not have fulfilled all righteousness. Jesus also rebuked those who refused baptism. He said in Luke 7:29-30, “And when all the people heard, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.” After Jesus was raised from the dead, He told His followers to go make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching (Matthew 28:19-20). He also said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16). Jesus even supervised the baptisms of perhaps thousands of people. “Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples)” (John 4:1-2). This last passage implies that a person couldn’t become a disciple without being baptized. Yet, in light of all of this evidence, many today will say that baptism is unessential. What Jesus are they following? Let’s follow Jesus and not the opinions of men.
God bless you, and I love you. Kevin Cauley