The Baptism of Jesus
The sinless Son comes to the water to fulfill all righteousness — and heaven answers: the Spirit as a dove, and the Father’s voice naming his Son.
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The reading is the Restoration Edition — the Joseph Smith Translation reading — carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the RE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
13And then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14But John refused him, saying, I have need to be baptized of you, and why do you come to me? 15And Jesus, answering, said unto him, Suffer me to be baptized of you, for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And John went down into the water and baptized him. 16And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up immediately out of the water. And John saw, and behold, the Heavens were opened unto him. And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Jesus. 17And behold, he heard a voice from Heaven saying, You are my Son; this day, I have begotten you.
9And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10And immediately coming up out of the water, he saw the Heavens opened and the spirit like a dove descending upon him. 11And there came a voice from Heaven, saying, You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
21Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also came unto John. And being baptized of him and praying, the Heaven was opened 22and the holy ghost descended in bodily shape like a dove upon him. And a voice came from Heaven, which said, You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.
29The next day, John sees Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 30And John bore record of him unto the people, saying, This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me, and I knew him, 31and that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore have I come baptizing with water. 32And John bore record, saying, When he was baptized of me, I saw the spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abided upon him. 33And I knew him, for he who sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom you shall see the spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes with the holy ghost. 34And I saw and bore record that this is the Son of God.
29The next day John beheld Jesus coming to him, and said to those who were with him, Behold the Sacrificial Lamb of God, who will redeem from the fall of the creation! 30And John testified of him to the others, saying, This is him I described before, saying, After me will come a man who has progressed far beyond me, for he existed before me in Heaven. 31I recognize him, and testify to Israel that he is that Prophet foretold by Moses to whom all must give heed. Therefore I am here baptizing with water to prepare people for him.
32And John recounted, When I baptized him, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven in a sign of a dove, and it abode upon him. 33I recognized him as God’s Son because God, who sent me, and commanded me to baptize to prepare people to hear him, told me, On the man you see the Spirit descend in a sign of a dove and remain with him, he will be the one sent to bestow the Holy Ghost. 34I saw this happen, and testify that he is the Son of God.
Fulfilling All Righteousness, and the Sign of the Dove
Fulfilling All Righteousness
In an editorial on baptism, Joseph Smith reasoned that every righteous person — Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses — came into God’s presence by keeping his commandments and ordinances; and so, he wrote, even the sinless Son:
Editorial, “Baptism,” Times and Seasons, 1 September 1842 (3:902–905); Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 266
…or whether it was Jesus Christ himself, who had no need of repentance, having no sin, according to his solemn declaration to John: “Now let me be baptized, for no man can enter the kingdom without obeying this ordinance; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Surely, then, if it became John and Jesus Christ, the Savior, to fulfil all righteousness to be baptized — so surely, then, it will become every other person that seeks the kingdom of heaven to go and do likewise; for he is the door, and if any person climbs up any other way, the same is a thief and a robber!
In the former ages of the world, before the Savior came in the flesh, the saints were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to come, because there never was any other name whereby men could be saved; and after he came in the flesh and was crucified, then the saints were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven — that they might be buried in baptism like him, and be raised in glory like him; that as there was but one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of us all, even so there was but one door to the mansions of bliss.
The Sign of the Dove
A week after his discourse on John and the kingdom, Joseph Smith answered a question it had raised — naming, among the reasons John was the greatest of prophets, that John baptized the Son of God and beheld the sign of the dove. (Excerpted here; the full discourse also treats John’s greatness and the parable of the Prodigal Son.)
Discourse, 29 January 1843, Nauvoo · History, 1838–1856, vol. D-1, 1457–58 · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Who ever led the Son of God into the waters of baptism, and had the privilege of beholding the Holy Ghost descend in the form of a dove — or rather in the sign of the dove — in witness of that administration?
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. It does not confine itself to the form of a dove, but in sign of a dove.
The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove, but the sign of the dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token of truth and innocence.
- Jesus had no sin to repent of, yet he was baptized "to fulfill all righteousness." What does it mean that the sinless Son submitted to the ordinance — and to John’s authority?
- The RE records the Father’s voice as "this day I have begotten you" (the words of Psalm 2:7). What might it mean to hear sonship spoken over the Son at the very threshold of his ministry?