Was baptism a new practice among the Jews when John the Baptist appeared?
No. Baptism was not something totally new or out of the blue for the Jew when John the Baptist came on the scene. The practice was already familiar within the Jewish context, so John’s baptism did not appear as an entirely unprecedented ritual.
Les explains that baptism was not something totally new and out of the blue for the Jew as John the Baptist came on the scene. To illustrate the Jewish backdrop, he turns to Hebrews chapter 9, which he thinks Paul wrote. There he rehearses the Day of Atonement: the High Priest went alone into the Holy of Holies once every year, never without blood, offering for himself and for the people. Les notes this Old Testament economy was a figure, symbol, or illustration for the time then present, with gifts and sacrifices that could not make the worshiper perfect as pertaining to the conscience. Animal blood could not take away sin, but that is not the point he is making. His point is that John’s baptism fit within an already-existing Jewish framework rather than appearing out of nowhere.