“… and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:6)
John’s preaching attracted a lot of people. Many of these were touched by his message. They repented and they confessed their sins. As a sign of their repentance, they were baptized in the river Jordan. The water symbolizes their need to be “washed”, to be cleansed from their sins.
Nowadays, Christians are still baptized. And this is still a sign of repentance, it symbolizes that we need cleansing and forgiveness from God. But there is more. John’s audience did not yet know about Jesus’ death and resurrection, but we do. Therefore, we are now baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). We are symbolically buried with Jesus by baptism, in order to receive a new life in Him (see Romans 6). In baptism, we lay down our old sinful life, so that we “might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), united with Jesus Christ.
Have you been baptized? Did you realize the deep meaning of baptism?
