Jesus' Baptism

Preached  13 January 2019

Water for cleansing

Yesterday as we were preparing for tea with the grandchildren we sent Leo up to the bathroom, but unusually we didn’t send Freddie with him. So Leo was in a hurry. After he had been to the toilet he dashed out of the bathroom, and I had to call him back.

“Wash your hands Leo”

There was no protest, he simple put some water in the sink, and after checking that it was warm enough washed and dried his hands and dashed down stairs to makes sure that Freddie hadn’t somehow gained some sort of advantage.

We are all familiar with using water to get ourselves clean. These days we also ensure that the water is warm and that soap is used. We make the practice into a ritual, so that it becomes a habit. That way we don’t forget even if we are in a hurry.

Old Testament cleansing

There are lots of verses in the Old Testament that talk about washing and being clean. In many cases they are more extreme than the rules we use for ourselves. Often they are also part of the spiritual rituals as well as the physical rituals that the Israelites were part of.

Here is just a single example, but there are many others:

Ex 30:17 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

Not only must Aaron and his sons, the priests of the Israelites be physically clean before they touch the thing that have been consecrated to the Lord, but they must also be spiritually clean – they must not take their sin in with them to the Tent of Meeting.

The Flood

The symbolism of this cleaning can also be seen in the story of the flood, which washed the earth clean of sinful humanity, preserving the only righteous family – Noah’s family – to re-populate the earth.

Roots of Baptism

The New Testament practice of baptism has its roots in these cleansing ceremonies, but the ideas associated with it have moved on a bit.

John’s Baptism

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, and it attracted a lot of people to come out into the wilderness to be baptised. So many, that the Pharisees and Sadducees decided to go and take a look. They question John, expecting him to be the Messiah, but he denies it, and says that he is “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”. The Pharisees and Sadducees clearly expect baptism to be a sign of the Messiah. (see Matt 3:3) The people are also wondering. He tells the “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Jesus’ Baptism

Then Jesus turns up and wants to be Baptised by John. If we look in Matthew chapter 3 we find:

But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then John consented.

Jesus does not need to repent of any sins – He hasn’t committed any, but by asking to be baptized He has aligned Himself with us sinners. He already knows the plan, that He will give his life for us on the cross so that we can be permanently put right with God, and our sins once and for all be forgiven.

This makes Jesus’ baptism unique, but that is not the only unique thing about it. As Jesus was praying heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove. It landed on Him and presumably appeared to somehow become a part of Him. But while this is happening God speaks ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’.

When God speaks

At other times when God speaks the scriptures record the reaction of doubters. In John 12:27-29

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

Here though the words are clear, and no doubters are recorded. The words announce the start of Jesus’ ministry as much as anything else. From now onwards He will be watched to see what He does, how He does it, who he associates with, and every word will be listened to and argued over by those who are threatened by His presence. His life has changed from obscure to very very public. So it is no surprise that He immediately goes into the desert to be tested and come to terms with His ministry.

The Trinity

Did you notice that we were also introduced to the trinity in this short passage. The father speaks from heaven, the son gets baptised and starts His ministry, and the Holy Spirit is visible to the crowds in the form of a dove.

A Christian’s Baptism

Our baptism’s have some similarities with Jesus’ but also some important differences.

The first is that for some of you, like me you will not remember your baptism because it happened when you were very young. I will talk more about that later.

Baptism we are told is a ceremony that demonstrates an outward sign of an inner change. It may also be our first act of obedience to one of God’s commands.

Public Baptism

One thing that our baptism has in common with Jesus is that is takes place in the public arena. Whether we are adults or babies, or something in between there will be in a gathering of family and friends to be witnesses to the baptism. The sponsoring congregation should be there as well. After baptism, you, or possibly your parents, should be under close scrutiny to see how you behave and whether the inner change has been effective. Baptism is a sign of commitment to God and the foundation on which your future Christian life is built – start as you mean to go on.

In the early church, by the fifth century, baptism had been established as an annual event, where candidates spent a considerable time in training and preparation before they were allowed to be baptised. The spread of Christianity and the number of heresies made this essential. We are not so strict today – perhaps we should be.

The Holy Spirit

John promised us that Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire. That all happened to Jesus at one time – at His baptism. With a quick glance at the New Testament you will soon see that for most converts it is not as straight forward as that. People come to faith in many ways and to baptism with water, and to baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire in God’s own time, not following any pattern that any of us have designed, or think we may have descerned.

Infant Baptism

The practice of baptizing infants seems to have started in the early 200’s. Cyprian, a North African bishop from about 248AD wrote:

But in respect of the case of the infants, which you say ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, and that the law of ancient circumcision should be regarded, so that you think that one who is just born should not be baptized and sanctified within [i.e., before] the eighth day, we all thought very differently in our council. For in this course which you thought was to be taken, no one agreed; but we all rather judge that the mercy and grace of God is not to be refused to any one born of man. (Cyprian, Letter 58:2)

While I personally have mixed feelings about infant baptism, I very much agree that “the mercy and grace of God is not to be refused to any one born of man.”.

What I do know about the practise of infant baptism is that it has a great and positive effect on at least some of the parents who ask for it, and must therefore have a positive effect on the child, bringing all of them closer to God.

But I do have sympathy with those like myself who feel they were denied the opportunity to be baptised at their own request. Once the ceremony is performed it is done and can’t be re-done.

References

http://www.textweek.com/yearc/baptismc.htm
https://www.thoughtco.com/baptism-of-jesus-by-john-700207
http://www.baptismsite.com/the-baptism-of-jesus/
https://chrisaccardy.wordpress.com/2013/06/24/the-old-testament-roots-of-johns-baptism/
https://www.bridgesforpeace.com/letter/hebraic-roots-the-origin-of-immersion/
https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/john-the-baptist/
http://www.bible.ca/ef/topical-baptism-a-prechristian-history.htm
https://www.gotquestions.org/origin-baptism.html
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Washing
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3934
https://www.seetheholyland.net/jordan-river/
https://www.christian-history.org/infant-baptism.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprian