Chapter 145 of 404

Jesus’ Baptism by John

The most telling explicit connection with John in the Gospels is that Jesus accepted baptism under John’s ministry. This baptism indicates, at the least, that Jesus knew and accepted John’s message, which involved summoning Israel to turn back to God.¹⁰⁸ That indication in turn supports the likelihood that Jesus’ message stood in continuity with John’s, even if their approach differed.¹⁰⁹ The traditions about Jesus’ message in our Gospels do in fact confirm this expectation.

Given the embarrassment of some early Christian traditions (both in the canonical Gospels and in the early Gospel of the Nazoreans) that Jesus accepted baptism from one of lower spiritual status than himself, it is virtually inconceivable that early Christians made up the story of John baptizing Jesus.¹¹⁰ It was established rhetorical practice to hurry most quickly over points that might disturb the audience.¹¹¹ Matthew appropriately hastens over the baptism itself in a participle (Matt 3:16); the Fourth Gospel omits it altogether! The Gospel writers did not wish to emphasize that Jesus had been subordinate to John’s ministry in some way, especially so close to the beginning of Jesus’ own. Following their sources, however, the Synoptics retain this information, albeit in the barest form.

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