The Baptizing Messiah

5 Minute Lessons on the Kingdom of God

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"¹⁹This was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, 'Who are you?' ²⁰He came right out and said, 'I am not the Messiah.'
²¹'Well then, who are you?' they asked. 'Are you Elijah?'
'No,' he replied.
'Are you the Prophet we are expecting?'
'No.'
²²'Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?'
²³John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
'I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
"Clear the way for the Lord's coming!"'
²⁴Then the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵asked him, 'If you aren't the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?'" (John 1:19‑25 NLT)

Notice that the Jewish expectation of the Messiah was that He would be coming and baptizing.

"²⁴Now some Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵questioned him, 'Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?'" (John 1:24‑25 NIV)

The Pharisees questioned John the Baptist with these words. If you are not Christ (the Messiah, the King of Israel), why are you baptizing? If you are not Elijah (which was to be the forerunner of the Messiah — Malachi 4:5), why do you baptize? (See Matthew 11:14). If you are not the "Prophet" (another expression for the Messiah — Deuteronomy 18:15), why do you baptize? Why was the Messiah expected to baptize? Good question.

We will try to answer that question in a moment. First, let's establish the fact that Jesus did indeed come baptizing.

"²²After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized." (John 3:22 NKJV)

"¹When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
²(Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
³He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee." (John 4:1‑3 KJV)

The statement that Jesus "baptized" (John 3:22, 26) probably means He was overseeing the baptizing done by His disciples (John 4:2).

If you notice in Hebrews 6:1‑2, the foundations of Christ (the Messiah's doctrine) that baptism was not in the singular "baptism," but it was in the plural "baptisms." Why? Because Jesus baptized in water, indirectly through his disciples (John 4:1‑2), and Jesus also directly baptized individuals (both Jews and Gentiles — Acts 10:45‑48; 11:15-18) with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5).

Now here is part of the answer to the question, "Why was the Messiah expected to baptize?" Because it was prophesied in the Old Testament that the Messiah would do so. Not by water only, but by Spirit.

"²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit." (Joel 2:28‑29 KJV)

The Apostle Peter, on the day of Pentecost, quoted the Joel passage in Acts 2:16‑18 and said,

"This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God." (Acts 2:39 NLT)

Have you received this power from on high (Acts 1:8)? Have you received the promise of the Messiah's baptism (Acts 1:5)? Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed (Acts 19:2)?

"...ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16:24)

Questions

Jesus Himself is the one who baptizes His believers with the Holy Spirit.
True or False

Answer

"³³Now he (Jesus) is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God's right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today." (Acts 2:33 NLT)
The "last days" constitute a time of prophetic witness calling everyone to repent and believe in Christ.
True or False

Answer

"³⁰'God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. ³¹For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.'" (Acts 17:30‑31 NLT)

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The Rise of God's Glorious Empire: The Kingdom of God