Why did so many people get baptized by John the Baptist?

[GRACE_ambassador]

some of my observations:

In addition:

"And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to​

Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." (John 1:31 AV)​

​

Another Good Biblical Reason to leave water In the Correct Dispensation, eh?

 

[Grace911]

My question IS rhetorical in nature but I am sincerely curious as to what you think.

And to clarify, I'm asking about John's baptism BEFORE he knew that Jesus was the Messiah.

#1 Why did they come?

#2 What do you think was being accomplished each time John baptized someone? (A practice run? Something greater?)

Thanks.

In the Feasts of the Lord, the Jews practice at the beginning of the sixth month (Elul) 40 days of repentance up to Date of Atonement 1oth day of 7th month. Because Jesus fasted 40 days after John baptized, it could have been at this time. Those coming to be baptized were probably anticipating the 40 days of repentance.

Also note, Jesus ministry was about 3-1/2 years. The 7th month to 1st month (Passover season) is about 6 months plus 3 years brings Jesus to Passover (3-1/2 years).

 

[JacobGilbert]

My question IS rhetorical in nature but I am sincerely curious as to what you think.

And to clarify, I'm asking about John's baptism BEFORE he knew that Jesus was the Messiah.

#1 Why did they come?

#2 What do you think was being accomplished each time John baptized someone? (A practice run? Something greater?)

Thanks.

They came because something in them already knew they were dirty and that God was about to move. John wasn’t offering a new religion. He was standing in the river saying the old one had not been lived. People who still had a conscience walked out there to admit it.

It wasn’t a practice run. Something real was happening. They were turning. They were naming their sin out loud. They were putting their body in the water as a way of saying, “I am done pretending.” God met that. John’s baptism washed in the sense that it marked repentance and prepared a people. It did not yet join anyone to the Messiah, because John himself did not yet know who that man was.

So it was lesser than what came after Jesus, but it was not empty. It was the door being unlocked. The house was still waiting for the Owner to walk in.

 

[KelbyofGod]

“What REALLY stood out to me that I'd not seen clearly before is that in verse 14, he's saying that once we've been baptized we're no longer under the law, but under grace.”

yes thisnisnpauos argument that our baptism in Jesus name , means we’re included with him in his death ( for our sins ) and resurrection for our justification v the accusations of the law.

Remember even John the Baptist was preaching about faith in Jesus before he even appears in the open and announces his name. As he was baptizing for remission of sins remember Jesus blood being shed is the source of remission of sins
“for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26:28‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Paul is explaining the doctrine of baptism and how this relates to our faith in his death for our sins and resurrection the source of all of it .

I've been praying about baptism (water baptism), asking for more details of what it does, etc for some years now. I'm so glad I did (and am continuing to ask) because "Ask and ye shall receive" is a real deal, and I love what God is opening.

I didn't realize how much "being planted in the likeness of his death" really accomplishes!

 

[KelbyofGod]

Yes, "once we've been baptized we're no longer under the law, but under grace." Those who believe and obey God's command of water baptism in the name of Jesus are no longer who they were; the person subject to the law because of the stain of sin.

Very cool stuff, baptism is.

 

[KelbyofGod]

These are some of my observations:

It's fully established that John was sent by God:

John 1: 6-9

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Since, John was the son of the priest Zachariah, who was serving in the temple when Jesus was conceived, the Jews would have known John. And, since he had taken the vow of a Nazarite (Numbers 6) he would have been hairy. So, the people would have accepted John as a priest in the Levitical order and known he had taken the vow of the Nazarite, the devotion one who was serious before God.

John was sent to bear witness of the Light.

This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

A witness was a legal term of the Sinai law. One could not testify of something unless they witnessed what they proclaimed. In John's case, since he could not testify that Jesus was the Light of God before he started his ministry of water baptism, John's testimony was that "God has shown me the Light is coming and God has sent me to prepare the people for His arrival and make the paths straight for Him."

The people would have recognized that John's message was from Isaiah 40:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God."

The corruption out of the temple and of Jewish culture at the direction of the Pharisees and Sadducees was a known quantity. When Jesus publicly condemned their behavior it wasn't an expose like a hard-hitting journalistic piece. The people had been buckling under their unrighteous rule for some time before John and Jesus appeared (The Essenes had been critical of the amalgamation of Pharisaical and Sadducitical leadership for over a century.) What was different was that someone was actually saying something about it with authority AND proclaiming the imminent arrival of the Lord.

In Isaiah 40, the prophet calls out to "Zion" and "Jerusalem" to expect the appearing of God, "Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

So, from all of this, it would seem that the people, for at least three generations, had been victimized by the religious and political powers of their day and were ready for deliverance. When John the Baptist began his ministry ("Prepare the way of the Lord people of Zion and Jerusalem!") many would have been eager to follow him; a "super" priest who had taken the vow of the Nazarite. Couple that with the announcement of the Lord's arrival, John's baptism in water would have been a serious, counter-cultural testimony against the religious and political leaders. It likely exposed them to further abuse by the corrupt leaders who ran the temple and marketplace.

John's ministry likely attracted those who feared the Lord and those who anticipated His arrival. Of course some of them viewed Rome as the ultimate barrier to a full life (and thus expected God to deliver them from Rome) but many were sincere and willing to publicly "testify"m with Johnm that the political and religious practices of their day were not up to the standard of God. The fear of the Lord would have gone before them as they went down into the water to be immersed by John.

You bring up some very interesting points that I'd not considered about John the Baptist. Such as the fact that his dad was a priest, which sets him in the same lineage...

Also... Consider how strongly John must have been seeking and hanging on to God, in order to walk completely away from the expected traditional way of doing things.

 

[DavidLamb]

Very cool stuff, baptism is.

When I was baptised, it would have been cool, but the church had an immersion heater which they placed in the baptistry to warm it up.

 

[Wansvic]

In addition:

"And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to​

Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." (John 1:31 AV)​

​

Another Good Biblical Reason to leave water In the Correct Dispensation, eh?

To the Jew first and then to the Gentile:

"And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,

Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. " Acts 10:45-58