In the foregoing message we considered the significance of the phrase “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” in 1:1. Let us now go on to consider the word “baptism” in verse 4.
Verse 4 says, “John the baptizer came in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.” Here we see that John came forth to preach the baptism of repentance. To baptize a person is to bury him in water. Such a burial is a matter of termination. The best way for something to be terminated is for it to be buried. When those who came to John were baptized, they were buried, terminated.
John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Whoever came to John in genuine repentance would then be baptized by him. The repentant ones were buried in baptism by John.
In 1:1 we have a beginning, and in 1:4, a termination. If there is no termination, there cannot be a new beginning. Why were we baptized after we believed in the Lord Jesus? We were baptized in order to bury our old life, including ourselves. Whenever a person repents and believes in the Lord, we should terminate the old life and old self of that one by baptizing him, by burying him. This termination is for a new beginning.
Mark 1:9 speaks of the baptism of the Lord Jesus: “And it came about in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.” The Lord Jesus was willing to be baptized; He was willing to be buried.
Why was the Lord Jesus baptized? Although in one sense with Him there was nothing that needed to be buried, in particular nothing old, the Lord was nevertheless a man, and as a man He was part of the old creation. If the Lord Jesus did not have anything to do with the old creation, how could He be the Savior of the old creation?
According to John 1:1 and 14, the Word, which was God, became flesh. The word “flesh” is a negative term in the Scriptures. God did not create a flesh; God created a man. Why, then, does the Gospel of John not say that the Word became man? John 1:14 clearly says not that the Word became a man, but that the Word became flesh. When Jesus came from Nazareth to John, He had a body of flesh.
Concerning this matter, Paul was very careful. In Romans 8:3 he says that Christ came in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Fallen man had become the flesh of sin. But the Lord Jesus had only the likeness of the flesh of sin; He did not have sin. Just as the brass serpent lifted up in the wilderness for the redemption of the fallen Israelites had only the likeness, the form, of a serpent but not the nature of a serpent, so the Lord Jesus had only the likeness of the flesh of sin, not the nature of the flesh of sin.
By the time the Lord Jesus became a man, mankind had fallen. However, within the Lord Jesus there was no sin. Although there was no sin in Him, yet His humanity was still in the likeness of the flesh of sin.
On the one hand, the Lord Jesus was the Son of God. This is a matter of His deity. On the other hand, He was the Son of Man. This is a matter of His humanity. With respect to His deity, there was no need for the Lord Jesus to be baptized. But with respect to His humanity, to His being a man among men, there was the need for Him to be baptized. The Lord Jesus as a man needed to be terminated, to be buried.
Of course, the Bible does not say that at the time of His baptism the Lord Jesus repented. Because He had nothing of which to repent, there was no need for Him to repent. The Lord did not have sin, and He never sinned. Because He had neither sin nor sins, He did not need to repent. Nevertheless, He had a humanity that was related to the old creation, and for this reason He needed to be baptized. In His baptism the Lord was willing to have Himself put aside.