The baptism of Jesus has been woefully under-appreciated. Because we tend to think of Jesus as divine and without sin, we assume he did not need to be baptized, and so we find some easy and simplistic explanation for why he was baptized (i.e., to be an example for others, because that’s what a good leader does). But I think such explanations pass far too quickly over an event in the gospel story that can teach us something much more deep and profound, especially with regard to Jesus’ divinity and his humanity.
When Jesus was baptized, God was baptized.
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