As we begin a discussion on baptism, I want to begin with a biblical review. While there may be hints of baptism in the Old Testament, in a real sense, baptism burst on the scene with the coming of John the Baptist. We know that wasn’t true in a historic sense; when John called people to be baptized, they knew what he meant. It wasn’t new. But it’s new to Scripture.
John’s baptism can be a bit troubling. It certainly was back then, for Jews didn’t typically baptize faithful Jews, at least not in mainstream Judaism. It’s a bit troubling for us. The book of Acts limits John’s baptism to repentance, yet the book of Mark links it to repentance and forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:4) Things would be neater and tidier if Mark hadn’t said that.
John also talks about Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit and with fire, contrasting that with the water John was using. (Matthew 3:11) We’ll look at that statement some more later. It is interesting that Jesus apparently avoided baptizing people by his own hand. (John 4:1-2)
When James and John seek places of honor in the coming Kingdom, Jesus speaks of baptism in a symbolic sense when he answers:
““You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”” (Mark 10:38–40)
He made similar use of the term baptism in Luke 12:50.
At the end of his ministry, Jesus sent out his disciples with a command to baptize:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19)
“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15–16)
I’m aware of the textual difficulties with Mark 16. That’s another topic I want to touch on. For now, I’ll stick to my practice of dealing with the text as we’ve received it.
There is some debate as to whether or not Jesus refers to baptism in John 3. [“Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5)] I believe the context suggests that it is baptism; again, I’d like to discuss that more fully in a further post.
For now, that’s all that I can think of that the gospels have to say about baptism. Any other texts that you think we need to consider?
I assume this was just an oversight or perhaps you dealt with it in another blog but I don’t see a reference to Jesus’ baptism itself (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). And also, you should mention that Jesus’ disciples were baptizing in order to make disciples in John 4:1-2.
Are you going to look at the OT and baptism at all? I believe you can see a kind of “evolution” toward baptism from the Old Testament. Here is a good list of OT washing scriptures from the Torah. http://quakergirl.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/tevilah-jewish-water-baptism/ (And for the record, I disagree with much of what this writer was saying in this post, but I appreciate the listing of the scriptures.) By the time Psalm 51 was written, there was a desire to have a washing to produce a clean heart. I think that while John was doing a new thing, the seeds were sown.
Wow! Wow. I forgot to include the baptism of Jesus in this overview.
Thank you, Jordan. And I hadn’t planned to explore much with the Old Testament. That could be another oversight.
I may need to start over!
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