If Jesus was sinless, why did he have to get baptized?

I think that He was baptized not because He "had" to be , but as an example to us , to do the same.

He did not have to.
To fulfill all righteousness.
'Pre-buttal' to the Pharisees.
To establish Baptism by example.
For Him to say "Follow me", He must show (by act) The Way!

In Christ,
W.D.

Jesus fulfilled the law, to do so he obeyed the Torah perfectly even if unnecessary. I this is another example (for the new covenant now instead of old) of fulfilling what should be done or is considered to be right (God said he was most pleased) even though for Jesus himself it is not necessary.

thaiv said:

People from other faiths are welcome to answer this also, but I would particularily like to hear how christians answer this. After some replies I will respond and say what I believe the answer to be. Try to be short and concise. I think thats all it takes to answer this.

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If Jesus was sinless, why did he have to die?

I think you should know the answer by the question I asked.

peaceful soul said:

If Jesus was sinless, why did he have to die?

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Because I am NOT (sinless).

wdfrmtn1 said:

Because I am NOT (sinless).

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Ditto.

I don't think his baptism was the same as ours. Jesus baptism was his anointing. Our baptism, at least in the Protestant tradition, is an affirmation of one's commitment to Jesus.

On the dying for our sins thing, what did Jesus really achieve by being crucified? People still sin now, so doesn't that mean Jesus failed? Im confused by the bible on this.

Isis-Astoroth said:

On the dying for our sins thing, what did Jesus really achieve by being crucified? People still sin now, so doesn't that mean Jesus failed? Im confused by the bible on this.

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Without going into a long and drawn-out theological treatise, it is simply this:
God is Perfect and Holy.
Man, since the fall, is imperfect and unholy.
God's Pefection and Holiness requires that sin cannot co-exist with Sinlessness.
Man's sin separates him from God.
God's Perfect Righteousness demands a penalty paid for sin, as sin is rebellion against His Perfection and Holiness.
Man's sin condemns him to the punishment of that penalty.
A price must be paid.
Jesus, by dying in our place, for all past present and future sins, paid the price for all.
Jeus, in rising from the dead, has conquered the penalty, and establishes our place in Heaven with God.
As a man, He died for all men, as God, He conquered the penalty.

Now, to your exact question.
Since Jesus is God, and the sacrifice is timeless, it continues to pay the price for the sins of man today, and for always.
Man will always sin, even after Salvation... it is the way of the imperfect an fallen. The difference is in willful, continuing rebellion of the unrepentant.
Jesus did not come to abolish sin, he came to pay the price for, and conquer the penalty of sin.

Jesus failed? Hardly so, as His Blood continues to cleanse the black stains of sin from us yet today.
He did not merely die, but died and rose again, and in that resurrection is our assurance of Living In Christ beyond death.

If this does not answer all of your question, perhaps it helpes, and will raise other questions that the answers of which will continue to guide you.

"Seek, knock, and ask" and He will answer.

In Christ,
W.D.

It was not the same, remember that there were others that were immersed before him by John. John came to prepare the way, he did not baptize them just for the remission of sins, but of repentance also. This is what should come first, repentance, then a symbolic cleansing of what takes place in the heart.

Now why would Jesus need this? It was different and we can learn that by reading Luke:

Luke 3
1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

This part is very important:

23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Thirty years old was the age for becoming a Priest, and to do so you had to have a mikvah or immersion as a ceremonial cleansing. At this time you were also annointed. Jesus was not just annointed with oil but with the Holy Spirit.

For we read:

22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

Aaron the first priest was baptized as well by the prophet, his brother, Moses, and Jesus was baptized by the only living prophet during his time, his cousin , John.