Then why do we call him John the Baptist? It is because he baptized Jesus. What does baptism mean? It means ‘to pass on to, to be buried, to be washed’—the same as ‘the laying on of hands’ in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, when a man sinned, he passed his sins on to the sacrificial animal without blemish by laying his hand on the head of it, and the sacrifice died with those sins. ‘The laying on of hands’ means ‘to pass on to.’ Therefore, ‘the laying on of hands’ and ‘baptism’ has the same implications, even though they are apparently different.
Then, what was the meaning of the baptism of Jesus? His baptism was the only way for us to receive the remission of sins. God had established the law that sin might be transferred to a sacrifice through ‘the laying on of hands.’ Thus, in the days of the Old Testament, sinners had to lay their hands on the head of a sacrifice in order to pass their sins onto its head. After that, they had to cut its throat and the priests placed the blood on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering. This was the way to atone for daily sins. Then, how did they atone for yearly sins? In this case, Aaron the High Priest offered the sacrifice for all the people of Israel. Because John the Baptist was born to the house of Aaron, it was proper for him to be the high priest, and God predestined him to be the last High Priest, according to His promise of redemption.
Sichembe Gilbert, Zambia
