Baptism

Unless Jesus came forward without a confession of sin and the heaven
attested to his perfectness, it could not be done. But since Jesus did not
confess, it could not possibly have been the baptism unto repentance. Here
again we should distinguish between two types of sins. Jesus was sinless. In
what way? He did not commit personal transgressions and his intents were
always pure. But living in a sinful society implies non-committal indirect sin.
This is social or communal in nature. As a member of the community he lived
and he bore the sins of the community. A community that exploited the poor,
that kept a caste society, that kept a hierarchy, that upheld the social order of
have and the have-nots, and that maintained a self-centered society is
indirectly sinning. Remember Jesus lived in a society where slavery was the
order of the society. Women and children were traded for cash, to pay off
debts. Though all people living in the society do not do these, they all partook
of the sin indirectly. The evil of society is the responsibility of every one in
the society. Jesus was a carpenter and a poor one. Remember Mary had to
bring a pair of pigeons as her thanks offering instead of a lamb, because Jesus'
parents were poor. In this sense when he entered Jordan, Jesus was identifying
himself with the rest of mankind and was confessing these sins, which he
could not undo as an individual even in incarnation. So don't be carried away
by the term he was sinless as an absolute statement taken out of the context.
The purpose of the Baptism of Jesus was not remission of personal sin –
because he did not commit any personal sin. But to be the true Lamb of God,
worthy of sacrifice – lamb without blemish- in terms of law, he has to be
attested as such by an independent authority. It was to fulfill the law - all
righteousness in accordance with the regulations laid down by God – Jesus
went down to be baptized.
Matt. 3:13-15 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by
John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and
do you come to me?" Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do
this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.
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