Note 4 at Mt. 3:11: John the Baptist introduced baptism as we know it in the church today. Under the Old Covenant there were many "washings" (Heb. 9:10) which may have symbolized baptism, but it had not been done unto repentance (Mk. 1:4) as John administered it. However, the Jews didn't question baptism and even expected it to be a practice of the Christ and of the messenger that God would send before him (Jn. 1:25). John baptized for two reasons. The first was for the remission of sins (Mk. 1:4, Lk. 3:3). The Greek word "eis" is translated "for" in these verses and literally means, "because of; by reason of; on account of." The second reason was to make Jesus "manifest" (or known) to the nation of Israel (Jn. 1:31).