| Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness and thereby made a covenant with God. Followers of Christ submit to baptism to show their desire to be forgiven and to enter into God’s kingdom. Jesus had no need to be forgiven of sin but still was baptized to fulfill the commandment.
“John the Baptist,” Loui Novak, Encyclopedia of Mormonism
An overview of John from the miracle of Elisabeth’s conception to his ministry, being beheaded, and his postmortal ministry to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
Chart 8-10: “Baptism of Jesus in the Four Gospels,” Charting the New Testament, John W. Welch, John F. Hall
All four Gospels and the Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew give an account of the baptism of Jesus. This chart presents a side-by-side comparison of each account of how Jesus was baptized.
“Dove, Sign of the,” Robert L. Marrott, Encyclopedia of Mormonism
The Holy Ghost is a personage and does not confine himself to the form of a dove, but the sign of a dove was given to John the Baptist to signify the truth of the baptism of Jesus, according to Joseph Smith.
“Understanding Christian Baptism through the Book of Mormon,” Noel B. Reynolds, BYU Studies 51, no. 2
Why baptism? What does baptism really mean? Noel Reynolds shows how the Book of Mormon adds to what the New Testament teaches: Baptism is a sign of a covenant between a person and God and shows that we repent of sin. It is important to recognize that people being baptized do not wash away their own sins through baptism but seek to have their sins forgiven and desire to enter into a covenant with God. Jesus had no need to be forgiven of sin, but he still had to enter the covenant and thus was baptized.
“Baptism,” Carl S. Hawkins, Encyclopedia of Mormonism
Latter-day Saint teachings show the need for baptism, the several aspects of the covenant that the person and God are entering into, and the rich symbolism of the ordinance. |
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