J O H N’ S  B A P T I S M

The Baptizer had already become famous throughout Israel.  John preached the basic Essene message of individual repentance for each person and spoke to the issue of repentence for Israel as a nation.  For John, national repentance includes the removal of the current Temple Priests, the Sadducees.  His message also included repenting from Pharisaic legalism*, and he chastised the scribal authority, those scribes who followed the legalistic imperative to attain righteousness.  Instead, John asserts that a new baptism is required.  John denounces Herod the Idumean and Herod’s suspicious marriage to his own brother’s wife.  He attacked Sadducean Temple authority and the rule of law imposed by the Pharisees.  He tells the multitudes there is a sinful stain upon the nation (Mt. 3.7).

*Cleansing and purity laws and prayers that accompanied these laws.

To cure this stain of sin, John pronounces that repentance must arrive as a change in thinking, essentially an awakening into a new relationship with God.  The sin stain is the current religious order, but the sin itself is keeping the people from a true relationship with God.  This change in thinking is later reflected by Jesus: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again [second birth, awakened], he cannot see the kingdom of God,” as is spoken to Nicodemus in John. 3.3.  A change in thought, and accompanied by faith, these attributes will always remain the fundamental element within conversion.  Both John and Jesus preach a conversion that can only occur through a personal transformation, a new revelation.

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John points to Jesus as the Messiah.

John’s ministry plants a spiritual standard.  John’s message transcends the strict standards of law and asserts a revelatory and prophetic nature.*  The outward demonstration gives way to an inward preparation for the Messiah.  It is difficult to comprehend how oriented to this preoccupation with sin the people were, and then legally trying to bring themselves right before God—everything Jesus mentions relative to this hardship, such as laying on of heavy burdens (Matt. 23.4), should be taken literally.

*Baptism from teacher to acolyte was the usual practice upon entering a new sect.  If we examine the roots of John’s early ministry, immersion represents the cleansing of the old mind and the establishment of a renewed one.  For a religious order to become established, this transformation must occur.  The baptismal is intended to initiate the new man, not just the old man fixed up, a new man who has a different view of the world, himself, and God.

Previous prophets also administered the religious calling of the repentance message.  Good references are found in Jer.  18.8-11, Jeremiah’s speaking on God’s power in judging nations—evil for evil and good for good—with repentance the pivotal issue.  Joel 2.13 tells us to repent of evil and receive the blessing of a merciful God, much like the message of John the Baptist.  Jonah 3, especially verse 10, wherein God sees the penitent works of Nineveh and repents from levying retribution.

For the people of Israel, baptism is the direct preparation for the coming Messiah.  Repentence is in line with their scriptural heritage.  John’s baptism, however, represents a radical shift in perspective, and one that contrasts with waiting and wondering when the Messiah will come.  John’s baptism initiates expectancy and preparedness for change.  This baptism creates a whole new paradigm.  Accept baptism, repent of the old way of thinking, accept the good news that you are forgiven, and participate in hastening the Messiah!  Anointing of kings and priests became prominant after 600 BC, but this time the anointing is inward and promotes the awakening to the spirit of God.  The anointing is not intended as a religious formality but represents a wholesale change in thinking.

This message conveys the fire of the spirit as well as the urgency, as John continues to preach.  As John states in Matthew 3.3, he (John) is the voice crying out to “prepare the way of the Lord.”  This preparation is a subtle way of saying that the Messiah will bring forth the final message, the ultimate conversion.  John arrives first to prepare the expected order of events before the coming of the Messiah.

“While all the people were being immersed, Yeshua too was immersed.  As he was praying, heaven was opened; the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) came down on him in physical form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with you,'” Lk. 3.22.*  No one could deny the light that manifested, and by those observing, this experience would have been a witnessing no one would forget.

*The Complete Jewish Study Bible

The Way emphasizes leaving behind the old way of thinking, often characterized by a contrived intellectual slant, such as legalism or personal legalism.  Accepting the precepts into the new way of thinking requires entering the pathway, practicing the path, and thus being further confirmed.  Following the footsteps of John and Jesus, the anointing is a supreme blessing.

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The power of the anointing would be overwhelming for those who grasped the meaning.  People were expecting the Messiah.

Jesus formed his first ministry in Capernaum, where others knew him.  He did not begin in a place barren to him, such as Jerusalem.

A person may pray for guidance as to his calling, and the spirit may convict by witnessing from within or demonstrating without.  Pentecost anointed 5,000 (without), but how many during Jesus’ ministry received the witnessing quietly (within)?  How many were converted by seeing healing or from the word of Jesus’ preachings?   A person can sow seed for the spirit to reveal their life mission, or may ask to be blessed within a specific discipline.  All Children of God are anointed, should they accept it.  As you proceed in the Way, be willing to adjust to the spirit working within your calling, of which Jesus is our best demonstration.

News concerning the anointing would spread into Jerusalem within days.  Some would travel through smaller villages on the way home, quickly welling up excitement.  Others would ask, was this anointing the provocative move of a resurgent religious order?  The Pharisees, in particular, would carefully watch.  Was John’s more radical preaching a sign of the return of a more active Essene priesthood?  Was the anointing of Jesus the triumphal ascendancy of a new high priest?  These would be disturbing questions for the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and as word of Jesus’s ministry spreads, these concerns would continue to mount.

The Herodian faction, the Pharisees* who supported Herod, crank up the heat. Herod’s connection to the Sanhedrin remained tightly bound. His power base remained with the Sadducee Temple power and wealth, as well as with Rome.

*Some scholars believe the Herodians to be Qumran Essenes.  From another perspective, the Herodians favored Greek customs. They counseled with the Pharisees (Mk. 3.6).  They were accusatory toward Jesus and incited against Jesus for healing the withered arm on the sabbath.

Now, the clash in consciousness occurs.  The people’s view differs from the hierarchical view, as illustrated when Jesus is in Bethany (Mt. 21.46): “But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared for the multitudes, because they took him for a prophet.”  By the time Jesus reaches Bethany, the people’s conversion is well underway.

For more information on anointing, see the story of Gideon.  All Children of God may receive an anointing.

God Bless!