Vallhall

What purpose would be given to explain baptism of Jesus?

Not sure why or how the question suddenly struck my ignorant mind. But now I simply struggle to let it go.
Was the divine born in sin? could he be reborn, if not cleansed from his former presence? Does something about the situation even make sense?

Without going to far out on a limb, I am reminded of the painting The Virgin by Da Vinci. If considering linguistics and theory of reference and name, one could almost speculate in the two being aspects of the same. Both being function with reference to each other names.

I struggle with how baptism in literal terms could in any way make sense, without doing so purely on faith. So hopefully someone can add the obvious I fail to see.

outhouse

Example

Metaphorical for washing away ones sin, allegory.

Dunking in water goes back a long ways. Look at the mikvahs.

Key phrase, "ritual purification"

spin

Miqwahs have nothing directly to do with baptism at all. Ritual purification is an ongoing observance. Baptism is a singular ritual of initiation. Baptism is not about purification, but submission.

outhouse

Thanks for the correction.

James The Least

The sect had a baptizing ritual prior to the writing of the gospels and epistles.

By getting dipped in water, the convert was initiated into the mystery of the Christ, which allowed them to enter heaven when they died.

When writing about the most recent manifestation of the Christ on earth, Mark decided that having Jesus Christ himself baptized would resonate with members of his ekklesia.

The hardest part of the story to understand is the figure of Yohann the Baptizer. Why not have the archangel Michael baptize Jesus? Why say it was just some guy?

outhouse

Was reading up on this.

Many customs and translations can be applied.

Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and used baptism as a purification ritual.




I think what OP was asking was about JtB baptizing Jesus

We see in GMark 1:4 the "repentance of sins" for baptism, as the mythology goes.


But in GJohn we see Jesus Disciples debating about purification with Johns Disciples.


Will we ever know the exact tradition of JtB and baptism? I still think your on the right track with initiation over a ritual though.

I looked at the poor villages in Galilee and wondered what they did without mikvahs for ritual purification.

Toto

What are you reading?

You brought up this point in JoeWallack's thread Was the Baptism of Jesus Likely Historical, and I posted there:

The idea that Jesus had some connection with a poverty stricken village in Galilee is a neo-Marxist fantasy with no evidence to support it.

ApostateAbe

According to Josephus, John the Baptist's purpose for baptism was very simple: cleanse the body. John may have intended to remove the uncleanliness from both the inside and outside. John was a Jew, and cleanliness was a central element of the Jewish religion. Jesus was a disciple of John the Baptist, but he shifted the purpose of baptism to be a cleansing of the soul and, relatedly, for remission of sins.

outhouse

Off topic

For the purpose of this thread following a baptism in the Jordan by JtB, Jesus lived in Nazareth and Capernaum which were both poor based on the most recent archeology in Capernaum.


And since no mikvahs have been found in Nazareth, or anything for that matter, th eodds of the village having one is unknown. My question relates to what ddid they do without a mikvah in these poor villages. Right on a lake, did they need one?

Toto

The purpose of this thread is to ask for an explanation of Jesus' baptism. Nothing in that question requires that we accept the gospels at simplistic face value.