My seminary teacher told a ridiculous story once in my ninth grade seminary class. He told us how he was late that morning because he woke up late and when he got into the shower there was no soap. So he proceeded to run to the storage closet, grab a bar of soap, run downstairs and throw in the washer for a short spin.
“What a ridiculous thing to do,” we all told him. Why on earth would you wash a bar of soap? Soap by definition cleans! He told us how he just had to get that first layer off where all the dirty hands in the factory had touched it. We all looked at him with disbelief until finally I realized why!
Soap is clean; there is no purpose in washing soap. Just as some might think, Christ was clean. What purpose could John have in baptizing the Savior of the world? He was perfect and was not in need of repentance and being washed clean through the act of baptism.
I think we would all respond as John does in Matthew 3:14 when he says, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” John was the imperfect one here, why was he the one baptizing Christ?
We read the answer in the very next verse which reads, “And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
I really like the verse in 2 Nephi 31:7 in which Nephi asks, “Know ye not that he was holy?” He asks the same question we do. Why would Christ be baptized? He was holy already. He then goes on to tell us that Christ was baptized for many reasons.
1. To be an example
2. To humble himself before the Father
3. To show his obedience in keeping the Fathers commandments
Christ wasn’t baptized because he needed to be made pure, but rather to be an example of how to humble ourselves and obey the Father. If Christ, the most holy man to come to earth was still obedient to his Father, shouldn’t we do the same?
What comes next is a wonderful lesson about the Holy Ghost. In verse 16 it reads, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17).
What does this teach us about the Holy Ghost? Let’s start off with the form of a dove. One might interpret the word form to mean the visible shape or configuration of a dove, thereby thinking that the Holy Ghost was present as a dove. Joseph Smith clarified that “John ‘led the Son of God into the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove, or rather in the sign of the dove, in witness of that administration.’” The prophet Joseph then explains, “The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage.” This helps us understand that while the Holy Ghost was not literally a dove, but rather, he sent down his stamp of approval, a sign telling the people that this was ordained of God.
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he last lesson we learn from this experience which I would like to share is the evidence that each member of the Godhead are separate and distinct personages. This is an interesting account in which Christ is present here on earth, the Holy Ghost shows his presence through the form of a dove, and God the Father calls down to introduce his son. What a great account in proving the reality of the distinct personages of the Godhead. Each provides a different role, yet they are each one in purpose.
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