A few years before Jesus’ Great Commission directed his followers to baptize and teach his Word (Matthew 28:19,20), John the Baptist baptized people (see Luke 3:3; 20:4; Acts 18:25).

Was John’s baptism the same as the baptism Jesus commanded? The answer is yes—and no. We can answer yes in the sense that John’s baptism was one “of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). There is no doubt that the promise of God’s grace was evident in this washing and people were granted faith in Christ. We can answer no simply from the fact that the New Testament speaks of “John’s baptism” and of “Jesus’ baptism,” indicating some difference.

Similarities and differences

Let’s start with how these baptisms are similar.

1. The gospel proclaimed by John is the same as the gospel proclaimed by Jesus. This gospel is the power to save (Romans 1:16).
2. Faith includes repentance and forgiveness. Both John’s baptism “of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” and Jesus’ baptism worked faith through the gospel promise.
3. Perhaps the best indicator of the similarities of the two washings is to inquire if those baptized by John were then rebaptized in Jesus’ baptism. While this is debated, it seems the best answer is no. For example, Apollos was a believer in God who knew only the baptism of John. We are not told that he was baptized again but only given more instruction (Acts 18:24-28). Admittedly, this is an argument from silence, but it seems that Apollos did not need another baptism.

Now to the differences:

1. As stated previously, the New Testament writers speak of two different baptisms because there clearly was a question in the early church about the nature of John’s baptism compared to Jesus’ baptism.
2. John himself indicates that Jesus will come to baptize with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16). This is not to say that the Holy Spirit was not active in John’s ministry, but the efficacy of his preaching and baptizing is based on Christ, not himself.
3. We do not know what formula John used. Nor do we know what formula Jesus’ disciples used. We are not given a formula for Baptism until the end of Matthew’s gospel (28:19). Since there was confusion about the Holy Spirit’s relationship to John’s baptism (Acts 19: 1-6), it seems that John’s formula was not trinitarian. This does not mean it was invalid, but the formulaic difference is worth noting.

Poetic pictures

It is helpful to consider John’s baptism and John himself in the overall story of Scripture. The promise of a Savior is first articulated in Genesis 3:15 and runs through the Old Testament until we get to the reality of the incarnation in the opening lines of the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John. Along the way, there are pictures of Christ. These pictures preach the same gospel we hear today but are only shadows of the reality that would come.

Consider the Old Testament picture of the lamb. The Passover lambs of Egypt point to the reality of Christ, the Lamb (see 1 Corinthians 5:7), whose blood spares us from the wrath of God just as the bloodstained doorframes were passed over by the Lord in Egypt. Every sacrifice of a lamb (or another animal) pointed to the crucifixion. While these sacrificial acts “preached” the gospel to believers in ancient Israel, they were only pictures of the reality to come. The same could be said about the washing rituals of the Old Testament.

Those washed in the Old Testament washing rituals and in the Jordan by John shared the same salvation and faith that we enjoy.

Notice that there was a need for sacrifice for blood atonement. Somebody had to pay for sin. This is not unique to Israel either. Most ancient religions realized this need. The problem was that they saw this need fulfilled by themselves (a transactional relationship with the divine), as opposed to God graciously providing the sacrifice himself. Similarly, there is a universal need for cleanliness.

It is natural to think of sinfulness as unclean—both the sins that we commit and the sins committed against us. Once again, God provides a gracious solution. The cleansing rituals of the Old Testament prefigure Baptism into Christ.

These cleansing rituals had a practical component to them. Those with a skin disease were quarantined until cured and inspected by the priests. They also served as a hedge around Israel, marking Israel as the chosen people. They were also catechetical in nature. Three lessons were gleaned from these rituals.

• First, life events that had to do with the cycle of life made a person unclean (monthly period, nocturnal emission, giving birth, contact with a dead body). The lesson is obvious: Sin (uncleanness) is handed down through the generations and ends in death.
• Second, it was impossible to remain clean. Who could stop their monthly cycle? Somebody has to bury the dead! Again, it is obvious: Everybody is unclean (sinful).
• Finally, people cannot clean themselves but have to go through a ritual washing. The lesson is that we cannot make ourselves righteous. We need to go to an outside source: God. These washing rituals were practical and also prophetic of Baptism.

A bridge between the old and the new

Then John enters the story. John can be thought of as the last Old Testament figure and the first New Testament figure. He is like an Old Testament prophet speaking truth to power and calling out the people for their hypocrisy, while pointing ahead to the Messiah. He even dresses the part. In this way he is the bridge between the Old and the New.

Luke points this out in the opening chapters of his gospel by comparing John and Jesus. He first tells us about the annunciation of John’s birth in the temple. We then travel north to Nazareth and hear about the annunciation of Jesus’ birth to Mary. We go back south to Judea to witness Mary visiting Elizabeth and John’s miraculous birth to an old and barren woman (the last in a line of Old Testament miracle boys). Then we head to Bethlehem to hear about Jesus’ birth. Notice that in each instance Jesus is better than John. The New is the fulfillment of the Old. Mary believes, while Zechariah doubts. John is born of an older woman; Jesus is born of a virgin. All of Judea wonders about John’s miraculous birth; the heavens sing when Jesus is born. John ushers in Jesus, and Jesus is better.

Can we apply this to the baptisms of John and Jesus? I think so. The gospel message is the same, but we are now in the reality of the New and no longer in the shadow of the Old. John’s baptism is a clearer but still shadowy picture of washing seen throughout the Old Testament. We are getting closer to the reality of Christ whose death and resurrection make Baptism a death of our sinful nature and a resurrection of the saint made righteous in Christ’s blood (Romans 6:1-11).

This is what we can be sure of: First, the gospel is the same, now and always. Those washed in the Old Testament washing rituals and in the Jordan by John shared the same salvation and faith that we enjoy. Second, God worked this faith by the preaching of the Word often seen through the pictures of the Old Testament that became reality in Christ. Finally, God has graciously given us a specific trinitarian formula for Baptism so there is no doubt that we are saved by grace through faith and made heirs of his kingdom.

Learn more from Michael Berg about Baptism in his book The Baptismal Life, available from Northwestern Publishing House, nph.net.

Author: Michael Berg
Volume 111, Number 12
Issue: December 2024