Deeper into Baptism
Last week we dove in to the discussion of baptism by looking at the Baptism of Jesus, and from that story we discovered that Jesus’ Baptism was Intentional, that it wasn’t without opposition, that it was a baptism of obedience, that it happened in the water and that Jesus’ Baptism testified to the trinity.
But the story of Jesus’ baptism isn’t the only account in the New Testament of water baptism, so this week we are going a little deeper into the topic, so to speak.
Sometimes we get the impression that baptism was invented by John the Baptist. And that isn’t the case at all. By that time in Jewish history baptism was a part of the process when a gentile, that is a person who wasn’t Jewish wanted to convert to Judaism. It wasn’t a biblical commandment instead it was something instituted under the laws of the Rabbis.
What we do have in the Old Testament are regulations in Leviticus and Exodus, for various times that ceremonial washing was to take place. Before the priest could go into the temple, if you touched a dead body, after child birth and after numerous other events.
This eventually evolved into full immersion. And from that concept came all kinds of rules and regulations on the where the when and the how. It was from these extra biblical rules that the Mikveh came to be in the Jewish religion, which was very much like what we think of as a baptistery. Here is a picture of an ancient Mikveh and here is a modern Mikveh.
And there was even a prescribed blessing that was said before someone immersed themselves in the water of the Mikveh, Blessed are You, O Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us regarding the immersion. The exception to when the blessing was said was in the case of someone who was converting to Judaism. Because they weren’t under the commandments of God until after they had immersed themselves signifying their new life. So instead of saying the blessing right before they were immersed they would say it as soon as they surfaced.
And then you get scriptures like we find in Ezekiel 36:25-27 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”
Water to the Jew signified birth, and so when they were immersed in the Mikveh and came out it was as if they were as clean as a newborn. But it was a never ending process, they just kept adding to the list of when you needed to enter the Mikveh. For the priests it was necessary before they entered the temple, for those who had a skin infection it was necessary before they were declared clean, for anyone who came in contact with a dead body it was required. Women needed to go to the Mikveh after they give birth, and every month from puberty until menopause.
And that is just kind of background bringing us to the baptism that John was offering, which was very different from the baptism that most of those who heard him were familiar with.
And so while Christian Baptism may have had shared some similarities with the ceremonial cleansing of the Old Testament it changed direction with John and then again with Jesus and the movement that he established.
So let’s dive right in and see what we can discover. Let’s start with The Why
The question that people will often ask when I first talk about baptism is “Why?” And last week we talked a little bit about the example that was set by Jesus when he asked John on the shore of the Jordan river to be baptized. And so to a certain degree we can tell people that we need to be baptized because of the example set by Jesus. But it has to go deeper than that.
We aren’t just baptized because Jesus modeled it, we are baptized because Jesus commanded it. Mark 16:15-16 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” And so Jesus himself commanded folks, to not just believe but to believe and to be baptized. The baptism shows the belief in action. It’s like Jesus is saying, “Ok, you’ve said you are going to follow me, let’s try this out. . . follow me into the water.”
And the command to be baptized didn’t stop with Jesus, when the very first sermon of the new church was preached on the Day of Pentecost Peter says this Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for your sins.”
And so for Peter the need for people was clear, repent, turn to God and be baptized.
And so if the question is “Why?” Then the answer from the bible would have to be “Because I say so.”
So the next question needs to be The When After the resurrection, before Jesus returned to heaven he gave the apostles directions on what they, and the church, were supposed to do in order for the movement to carry on.
The official churchy name for this is the Great Commission and this is where we read Jesus’ words, Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus said “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
And so the church is commanded to baptize those who become disciples, which means that those who become disciples are supposed to be baptized. And notice the order, they become disciples, that is followers of Jesus, and then they are baptized and then they are instructed on all the commands that Jesus gave.
Within the early church the process always seemed to be the same, people became Christ followers and they were baptized. It happened with Paul, it happened with Lydia, it happened with Crispus leader of the synagogue, with the Philippian Jailer, Simon the Sorcerer and thousands of others.
Sometimes, today, it seems that we want for folks to become disciples, that is to start following Jesus, and then to be instructed in all the commands that Jesus gave, and then once they have that down pat then they ought to be baptized.
But the New Testament church taught and modeled that baptism was the first point of obedience. Believe and be baptized.
So, we’ve looked at the why, and the when. I guess the next is The Where. In most of the cases of baptism in the Bible the common element is water. Last week we looked at what John was looking for in a baptism spot and we discovered in John 3:23 At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism. And so John choice this particular spot for one reason: there was plenty of water there.
In the book of Acts we read the story of how Philip led the Ethiopian Eunuch to the Lord, and in the aftermath of that event we read: Acts 8:36-38 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
In Acts 16 Lydia was at the Riverbank when she made the decision to follow Jesus, and was immediately baptized, presumably in the river.
So the where is: in the water.
The How The correct answer here is we don’t know. It would be great if there were specific instructions in the bible about “How to baptize”, but there isn’t. We are given some general directions in Matthew 28:19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are at least told to baptize in the name of the Trinity. But the mechanics, pouring, sprinkling, immersion? There we are left to guess.
Love the story of the Baptist and Anglican minister arguing over who had it right in baptism. The Anglican guy says, “What if they got wet to the waist?” and the Baptist says “No it has to be all the way” and the Anglican says “what about if he got wet to the chest?” and the Baptist says “No it has to be all the way”. And the Anglican responds by saying “How about neck deep, surely up to the neck would be fine? and the Baptist says “No it has to be all the way”. And the Anglican says “what about above the eyebrows, that should be enough?” In frustration the Baptist guy yells “No, no, no it has to be all the way, up to the eyebrows won’t work.” To which the Anglican says “See, it’s just the little bit on top that counts.”
And while there are not a lot of examples given in the scriptures there are some. And so we read in Mark’s account that after Jesus was baptized that he came up out of the water. That kind of implies that he had gone down into the water. And in Acts when Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch it says “They both went down into the water.” But it still isn’t definitive, they could have knelt down in the water and had water sprinkled or poured on them, and even if we knew that they were immersed we aren’t told to baptize people the same way as John and Phillip Baptized people.
We are given a hint in a word picture that Paul uses in the letter to the Romans. Paul writes in Romans 6:3-4 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
The picture here of being buried with Christ and then being raised from the grave is dramatically pictured in full immersion. But . . . we are still guessing and speculating.
Which finally leads us to The What: I mean we understand the why, that Jesus commanded it, but beyond the obedience factor what else is there about baptism that we need to know, what all does Baptism teach us?
If we go back to the scripture that we started with we read, Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on the character of Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
And so the first thing we discover is that Baptism Teaches us About Christ’s Transforming Power I’ve said this multiple times, if your Christianity doesn’t make a difference on this side of eternity, then your Christianity isn’t going to make a difference on the other side of eternity. The bible comes back to this theme over and over again about becoming a new person, putting on new clothes, being born again.
2000 years ago the teaching was clear, that the before Jesus person and the after Jesus person are supposed to be different. And this was shown through baptism. People often talk about how they wish that the church was like it used to be. So let’s go down that road for a while.
Sometimes people will ask us why we don’t use white robes for baptisms, after all they were baptized in white robes, and the church they grew up in used white robes. So I did a little digging, discover something new all the time. From drawings on the walls of catacombs and early church writing I discovered that white robes are a fairly old tradition in the church. And I know that some of you are feeling pretty smug and self-satisfied right now, got that “told you so” vibe going. But let’s keep going, the white robe wasn’t for the baptism it was for after the baptism. The candidate got to the edge of the water, peeled off their old clothes, got baptized in the nude and were given a white robe when they came out. All symbolic. Taking off the old and putting on the new. Times were different 2000 years ago. But the message is the same, baptism testifies to a new beginning and the transforming power that Jesus has had in your life.
But that’s not all, in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”
Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
Baptism Teaches us About Christ’s Ownership. You are not baptized in the name of the Wesleyan Church, or Cornerstone or Denn Guptill. In our tradition baptism does not translate into membership in the local church. It’s not about following Denn, or Stefan, or Ben or Jason. It’s about following Jesus. And someday when Denn is gone you should still be following Jesus.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
Baptism Teaches us About Unity in the Body Rich, poor, employee, employer, male, female it didn’t matter everyone was baptised the same and became the same, A Christ Follower. The church may have lost its way for a while in how it viewed equality but the message of the cross and the message of baptism was that we are all the same in Christ.
And that’s why the Wesleyan Church was at the forefront of the abolitionist movement in the 1800’s fighting against slavery. Some of our earliest Wesleyan churches were a one-day journey apart, as part of the Underground Railroad, smuggling slaves from the South to freedom in the North. In fact it is reported that in one county in the South, there was a saying that "there is not enough rope to hang all the Wesleyans."
And that’ why when in 1848 when the first Women’s right’s convention was held in Seneca Fall’s New York, it would be held in a Wesleyan Church, and why the first women ordained in the United States was ordained by the Wesleyan’s and the first woman ordained in Canada was ordained by the Wesleyans. Because we believe that part of what is illustrated through baptism is our unity in Christ.
But that’s not all, we read in Colossians 2:12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. And it’s here we see that Baptism Teaches us About Christ’s Death & Resurrection The early church used baptism as a constant reminder that Christ was buried and rose from the grave.
And so in that simple act of immersion we see his death and resurrection illustrated. Dying to sin, dying to your old self being buried and then being raised to a new life a life of holiness and obedience.
And finally we read in Romans 10:9-13 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”
And maybe you are wondering, “What does this passage have to do with baptism?” Well, Baptism Is a Confession of Jesus as Lord
We are told that in the early days of the church when someone was about to be baptised they stood in the water and confessed that ‘Jesus is Lord’.
Many scholars believe that this simple one-line confession is reflected in Romans 10:9. To call Jesus ‘Lord’ meant that He was acknowledged to be absolute owner, King and God. This verse teaches that both inner faith and outward confession are necessary for authentic salvation.
But it went deeper than that, we’ve talked about this before that the Romans had a pretty Laissez-faire attitude about religion. It really was a live and let live philosophy, all that the empire required was a yearly acknowledgement that “Caesar is Lord”. And the new Christians tried to be really good citizens but this was the one thing they couldn’t do. Because they knew that there could only be one Lord in your life. Caesar or Jesus?
And so Baptism publicly proclaims Jesus is Lord.
And you thought baptism was just about getting wet.
In just a few minutes Phil and Evie Croucher will be joining us in the celebration of baptism and they will be testifying to all of those things. And here is the thing if you have never been baptized we’d love to have you join us, we have spare towels, or if you feel you need to run home and grab dry clothes the water will be here in the next service as well.
But hold on to this from last week and this week, Baptism is the first point of obedience or disobedience in your Christian experience.
Free PowerPoint may be available for this message, contact me at denn@cornerstonehfx.ca
