Jesus, like many other Jews of his day, went out into the wilderness to hear John and accepted baptism at his hand. In doing this, Jesus became the new Joshua, leading the new Israel into the new kingdom of God. It was by God’s specific direction that Jesus had been given the same name as Joshua. The name Jesus is but the Greek form of the name Joshua. Jesus was baptized not because he needed to have his sins washed away but because it was part of his ministry to lead the new Israel into the new kingdom of God. Through baptism Jesus entered into the kingdom of God, and through baptism the
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