Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Harris Lenowitz on the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist

  

John’s baptism of Jesus lies within the tradition of prophets anointing prophets. The association of the baptism scene in Matthew with monarchic power (the “kingdom of Heaven”) situates the baptism within the tradition of the anointment of kings by prophets while combining these roles, through the motif of purification as a condition of being close to God, with that of the sacrificing priest. The full accounts in Mark and Luke both contain John’s prophecy that a better baptizer will come—a B element; Matthew’s account alone contains John’s demurrer: that it is more appropriate for Jesus to baptize him, to be the Elijah to his Elisha. The immersion returns Jesus to the purity of his birth. Recognition by others reinforces this theme. Like the baptizing sectarians of the time, the account in Matthew here sees bathing not simply as a way of preparing properly for an encounter with the divine, but as a public act of penitence that gives one entry into a particular community. (Harris Lenowitz, The Jewish Messiahs; From the Galilee to Crown Heights [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998], 39)

 

 


 

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