Hi, need to submit a 1500 words paper on the topic The Baptism of Jesus in the Gospels is a critical point in his mission. Explain why and what is its connection to the Paschal Mystery. As Jesus did not inherit original Sin, why did he offer himself for Baptism. To understand this, it is necessary to understand that the mission of Jesus on earth was to save mankind from sin and return him to God. To be able to do this, it would be necessary for him to not only die on the cross, but to also set an example for human beings (McDonnell, 1996). Because humans need the sacrament of baptism, he had to set an example to human race that baptism was not just a mere ritual, but a process that was necessary for any believer who wants to have a committed relationship between himself and God. As (OCollins, 2002)He therefore did not do it because he had sins that needed to be forgiven through this sacrament, but because it was an example for human on the path they must follow in their quest to have a working relationship with God, from whom they had been separated by their own sins. When for instance John hesitated to baptize him arguing that he (John) was the one who was in need to be baptized by the messiah, Jesus said that it was necessary for him to “fulfill all righteousness”. This can be seen in Matthew 3:15 and what Jesus was to set the precedence for all other humans. The precedence in this case is the fact that if he did not get baptized, it may also mean that some people will not see the significance of being baptized. As a result, even though he did not need to be baptized, he had to fulfill the scripture, which is the guidance to the path of salvation, a salvation that Jesus wished for every human who ever lived on earth.

Secondly, he had to fulfill Isaiah’s scripture which identified John the Baptist as the one who had come to level the path for messiah. Because his relationship (in context of the gospel) and John had already been set whereby John was predicated as Jesus’ predecessor, it was only necessary that this was done so that it would be clear that Jesus was the messiah for whom the john had come to level the paths.