The Age of Jesus at Baptism
A big clue when Jesus was baptized can be found in Luke. The apostle Luke writes, “Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). Luke doesn’t record the exact age of Jesus at the time of His baptism, but rather stresses that He was “about thirty years of age” when He started His ministry. And we know that He started His ministry after His baptism. For the Jews, the age of 30 was commonly regarded to be the time when a man reached maturity and was as a result eligible for the duties of public life.
If the birth of Jesus took place in the autumn of 5 B.C., as seems possible according to Luke 2:6, 8, Jesus’ 30th year, by the Jewish method of measuring time, would have started in the autumn of A.D. 25 and ended in the autumn of A.D. 26. This is in harmony with Luke’s sentence that Jesus was “about” 30 years of age, and also with all the chronological information about Christ’s life. Thus, we can conclude that Luke is not here making an exact statement but is only showing that Jesus was of mature age at the time of His baptism and the start of His public ministry.
Did Jesus need to get baptized?
Jesus did not need to get baptized for he was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21). He got baptized to be our example (Matthew 3:15). From the example of Jesus, we learn that no person should be baptized unless he knows the truth of God, believes it, has repented, and has experienced conversion. The Bible says, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
Therefore, infant baptism is not Biblical. No infant can qualify for baptism. To baptize babies is to go against what the Bible teaches. Infants can be dedicated to God at birth just as Jesus was dedicated to God by Mary and Joseph at the temple (Luke 2:21-24).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team