It may still be asked, “why did Jesus go specifically into the Jordan river to be water baptized by John, and is there any more we can understand about this from the Old Testament?.
Jesus was fulfilling an Old Testament type when he was baptized into the Jordan river, and this was a deep spiritual truth that he was revealing.
In the book of Joshua we see the type that Jesus fulfilled when he was baptised in the Jordan river. The Jordan river crossing speaks to us of Christ death and resurrection and our union with him and in this and into the new land.
Joshua 3: 1. And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]tim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2. And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3. And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it..“ (
Joshua 3:1-3)
As they come to the Jordan river the ark of God goes first before them. This ark is a type of Jesus Christ and how we are to follow after him. The ark was made of wood and overlayed with gold. The materials typify the humanity of Jesus (the wood) and his divinity. (the gold). And the priest bearing it up are symbolic of the priesthood of believers and Christ as our head and we bear him before the world.
Notice also that it was “three days”, typifying Jesus resurrection after three days.
"4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. “
This space between them and the ark, may figure how far away we are from that crossing over and only the Lord can do this for us. We have not gone this way before. This is the Lords doing and mighty to save.
“And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you. 6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.”
Jesus was manifested to all Israel at His baptism
John 1:31) and this was in the Jordan river. This is similar to the language in Joshua, “This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel”.
God also said that as he was with Moses he would be with Joshua. This is telling and it would seem to join the two crossings together as one, one by Moses at the Red Sea nd the other by Joshua at the Jordan river. In Moses crossing we see the death of Christ on the cross without us and our standing still by faith, as Moses said “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, and the Jordan crossing we see ark going before us and Joshua (a type of Christ going with us into the land to defeat the enemies). Typifying our death and resurrection with Christ and being risen with him to the newness of life and our entrance into the promised land.
8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.... “
Again, this work is a work of the Lord we must stand still and not by our works, and then by faith we enter into the grace.
“Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.... ...16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam,.. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan....
The word “Jordan”, means “a decender, the stream of Judgement”, and when we see the ark of the covenant (a type of Christ) and Joshua (another type of Christ) go through the Jordan river on dry land and rise up into the new land, we see a type of Jesus Christ death and resurrection. Jesus decended to death for us and rose again and we die with him and are burried with him and rise again with him into the new life and land of the kingdom of God in our hearts, for the kingdom of God is within us (
Luke 17:21). In all this we see a deeper spiritual reality of our dying with Christ and rising with him and the inward work, this baptism is not a outward washing with water, but typifies a purifying of the heart and new life in Christ and death to self, judgement of our sin.
This aspect our our being crucified , burried and risen with him is seen in the twelve stones that are mentioned here, The twelves stones in the midst of the Jordan river signify our dying with Christ and the twelve stones taken up into the new land symbolize our being risen with him.
“... And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.... And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: 6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? 7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.” Joshua 3, and 4
There is a great deal of revelation in this section. Joshua teaches us a typology of Christ with his church in heavenly places “we are raised up with him to sit in heavenly places
Ephesians 2:6.
So when Jesus was being baptized in the Jordan river we see him fulfilling this type of the ark and Joshua and the people going in through death and judgement to the old life and into the land to defeat all the enemies with Joshua. When we are baptize into Christ he comes into our hearts and defeats all the enemies also.
But much of this is lost in the understanding s of many today, who only see the water baptism of John and do not see beyond this and the typical meaning in the Jordan river..
So when The apostles water baptised at times, they may have been following Johns water baptism, that being close to them, and since they had done it before Christ died they continued in this also after his resurrection. Even though in the beginning of Acts Jesus said it was a past ministry
Acts 1:5. This was to cease, and became like many things in the law that lingered in the new covenant and which they struggled with for many years, here are just a few references, Acts 10: (no Lord etc ,
Acts 15:1, ? Acts 21, Galatians 1 etc , Colossians , etc etc.
But water baptism belonged to the Old Covenant with John and had its fulfillment under the law. However many have zealously followed John in this despite the true and saving baptism, being an inward work and part of the “one baptism for today
