19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him

who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ. " 21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." 22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself ?" 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' " 24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" The last verse is what caught my attention. What did they know about baptism, was this something that had been practiced in the past? Was is a new introduction by the Greeks before Rome came? Wikipedia: Although the term "baptism" is not used to describe the Jewish rituals, the purification rites in Jewish laws and tradition, called "Tvilah", have some similarity to baptism, and the two have been linked. The "Tvilah" is the act of immersion in natural sourced water, called a "Mikvah"[80][81] In the Jewish Bible and other Jewish texts, immersion in water for ritual purification was established for restoration to a condition of "ritual purity" in specific circumstances. For example, Jews who (according to the Law of Moses) became ritually defiled by contact with a corpse had to use the mikvah before being allowed to participate in the Holy Temple. Immersion is required for converts to Judaism as part of their conversion. Immersion in the mikvah represents a change in status in regards to purification, restoration, and qualification for full religious participation in the life of the community, ensuring that the cleansed person will not impose uncleanness on property or its owners (Num. 19 and Babylonian Talmud, TractateChagigah, p. 12). During the Second Temple period the Greek noun baptismos was used to refer to ritual washing in Hellenistic Judaism. mikvah http://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1541/jewish/The-Mikva h.htm Immersion in the mikvah has offered a gateway to purity ever since the creation of

man. The Midrash relates that after being banished from Eden, Adam sat in a river that flowed from the garden. This was an integral part of his teshuvah (repentance) process, of his attempt at return to his original perfection. Before the revelation at Sinai, all Jews were commanded to immerse themselves in preparation for coming face to face with G-d. Immersion in the mikvah has offered a gateway to purity ever since the creation of man In the desert, the famed "well of Miriam" served as a mikvah. And Aaron and his sons' induction into the priesthood was marked by immersion in the mikvah. In Temple times, the priests as well as each Jew who wished entry into the House of G-d had first to immerse in a mikvah. On Yom Kippur, the holiest of all days, the High Priest was allowed entrance into the Holy of Holies, the innermost chamber of the Temple, into which no other mortal could enter. This was the zenith of a day that involved an ascending order of services, each of which was preceded by immersion in the mikvah. The primary uses of mikvah today are delineated in Jewish Law and date back to the dawn of Jewish history. They cover many elements of Jewish life. Mikvah is an integral part of conversion to Judaism. Mikvah is used, though less widely known, for the immersion of new pots, dishes, and utensils before they are used by a Jew. The mikvah concept is also the focal point of the taharah, the purification rite of a Jew before the person is laid to rest and the soul ascends on high. The manual pouring of water in a highly specific manner over the entire body of the deceased serves this purpose.

The Water of Cleansing 1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: 2 "This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer1 without defect or blemish2 and that has never been under a yoke.3 3 Give it to Eleazar4 the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp5 and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle6 it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned--its hide, flesh, blood and offal.7 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop8 and scarlet wool9 and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After

that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water.10 He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening. 9 "A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer11 and put them in a ceremonially clean place12 outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing;13 it is for purification from sin.14 10 The man who gathers up15 the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening.16 This will be a lasting ordinance17 both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them.18

Babylon Talmud Page 193: http://books.google.com/books?id=fFIPAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA193&img=1&zoom =3&hl=en&sig=ACfU3U1YMhO3zEcWAZDsTJrVhaxmWzW33w&ci=22%2C3 6%2C946%2C1607&edge=0

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: 1. Baptism of Proselytes: Converts in the early centuries, whether Jews or Gentiles, could not have found this initiatory rite, in which they expressed their new-born faith, utterly unfamiliar. Water is the element naturally used for cleansing the body and its symbolical use entered into almost every cult; and into none more completely than the Jewish, whose ceremonial washings were proverbial. Besides those the Jew had what would seem to the convert a counterpart of the Christian rite in the baptism of proselytes by which Gentiles entered the circle of Judaism. For the Jews required three things of strangers who declared themselves to be converts to the Law of Moses: circumcision, baptism, and to offer sacrifice if they were men: the two latter if they were women. It is somewhat singular that no baptism of proselytes is forthcoming until about the beginning of the 3rd century; and yet no competent scholar doubts its existence. Schurer is full of contempt for those who insist on the argument from silence. Its presence enables us to see both how Jews accepted readily the baptism of John and to understand the point of objectors who questioned his right to insist that all Jews had to be purified ere they could be ready for the Messianic kingdom, although he was neither the Messiah nor a special prophet (John 1:19-23). 2. Baptism of John: The baptism of John stood midway between the Jewish baptism of proselytes and Christian baptism. It differed from the former because it was more than a symbol of ceremonial purification; it was a baptism of repentance, a confession of sin, and of the need of moral cleansing, and was a symbol of forgiveness and of moral purity. All men, Jews who were ceremonially pure and Gentiles who were not, had to submit to this baptism of repentance and pardon. It differed from the latter because it only symbolized preparation to receive the salvation, the kingdom of God which John heralded, and did not imply entrance into that kingdom itself. Those who had received it, as well as those who had not, had to enter the Christian community by the door of Christian baptism (Acts 19:3-6). The Jewish custom of baptizing, whether displayed in their frequent ceremonial washings, in the baptism of proselytes or in the baptism of John, made Christian baptism a familiar and even expected rite to Jewish converts in the 1st century. Page 415

I truly am convinced that part of fulfilling of the law was to use old testament symbolism and rituals for the New Law, and John the Baptist was simply using this ritual in a new sense, using the living waters of Earth for conversion to The Way, and that is why these actions could be viewed by the priests and Levites as possible dissension from the Jewish faith. We easily miss this by being weighed down by the word, baptism when it is clearly in our face.