Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

Hi

If there was a historical Jesus then did he perform cleansing rituals other than being baptised by the baptist ?

I would think so, to judge from Mt. 5:17-19:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

According to John 13:1-17, Jesus washed his disciples' feet, with the command that they do so for one another in the future. The reenactment of this is part of the liturgy of several living Christian denominations.

baptism is to clean from sin, any other rituals involving water when it came to cleaning from sin?

moses,

So the cleansing rituals you mentioned have to be for sin? In that case it is worth pointing out that in Josephus' account the baptism of John was not for sin:

Ant. 18.5.2:

John, that was called the Baptist ... was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away of some sins, but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness.

This is what I thought you meant by cleansing rituals, of which there are many examples in Torah, such as Num. 19:21:

This is a lasting ordinance for them. The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening.

The purpose for these cleansing rituals was to not pollute the sanctuary, as mentioned in Lev. 15:31:

Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.

This is why Jesus mentions sacrifices in Mt. 5:23 (in the context of keeping all of the Torah):

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

This in keeping with what Josephus says about John above, that "the washing would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away of some sins, but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness."