And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
See notes on our Saviour's baptism, Matthew iii.
That Christ was baptized by immersion, is clear from the text; for he who ascended out of the water must first have descended into it. And this method was of general use in the Church for 1300 years, as appears from the acts of councils and ancient rituals. It is imagined by some, that in the very spot of the river Jordan, where the ark stood whilst the Israelites passed over, our Lord (the ark of the covenant of grace) was baptized by St. John.