The most striking aspects of Mark’s account of the baptism are its brevity and lack of apology. Although classified as a legend by R. Bultmann and a myth by M. Dibelius, the historicity of this account cannot be reasonably doubted. So potentially embarrassing is the idea that the Christian Lord was baptized by a Jewish prophet in a rite that for others symbolized repentance for their sins that the early church would never have invented the story. Matthew (3:15) felt the necessity of making some explanation,