Intro
Reading through the four gospels and the book of Acts reveals that baptism was important to Jesus and the early church. As a result, baptism became a fundamental part of the church throughout the centuries. But despite that, some people question baptism and its importance. And others put a greater importance on it than the Bible does. Even though baptism is of great importance, there seems to be a growing lack of knowledge behind the “why” and some of the basic concepts of baptism. My goal in this post is to explain what baptism is and what it meant to Jesus and the early church. I plan to tackle the other end of the spectrum that gives greater importance to baptism than its due in a later post (or posts – there’s a lot of material to cover there).
What is Baptism?
At its core (notwithstanding the “dunking under water”), baptism identifies us with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:3-4 (NIV)
For the Christian, baptism publicly announces to the world that we have a personal faith in Jesus Christ and commit to following Him. It also historically served as an initiation into the Christian faith. And this makes sense since in the early church (and a long time after), baptism occurred immediately after a person made that decision to confess Jesus as Lord. They didn’t schedule a time for people to come and witness it, they just grabbed the nearest body of water (public bathhouses included) and did it.
Why is it Important?
Because Jesus command it. End of story. Except…why? John baptized Jesus and Jesus commanded His followers to baptize people in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). John called people to repentance. Then he baptized them as a symbolic act. Baptized also serves as a test of our faith. Or at least it did back then when all baptisms were performed in a public setting. (Rich people with personal private water holes excepted.) People walking by the river would notice and could see all who got baptized. So, if you claimed faith and shied away from baptism, did you really believe in the first place? Because faith in Jesus would not fear what man may say. Jesus also said, “If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15). So, by refusing baptism, you brought into question your claims to love Jesus.
And the fact that Jesus allowed Himself to experience baptism should be enough. After all, He’s the creator of the universe who chose to become one of us and relate to sinful man in order to bring us back into right relationship with Him. That’s astounding. So, yes, it’s enough for me that Jesus commanded it.
Why Jesus?
A lot of people ask the question, why was Jesus baptized? After all, John’s message was one of repentance. Jesus had nothing to repent for. Jesus never sinned. Makes no sense. However, rest assured, Jesus’ reason isn’t as mysterious as it may look on the surface.
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. Matthew 3:15 (NIV)
Jesus gave His reason for His baptism as “to fulfill all righteousness.” That’s great, but what does that even mean? What “righteousness” is Jesus trying to fulfill here? To answer that, let’s look at a couple more passages.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 (NIV – emphasis mine)
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17 (NIV)
Looking at these two verses, we see that God (and Jesus by extension) held the law as righteous. And Jesus came to fulfill the law – not abolish it. So, we can conclude that Jesus’ baptism fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law. But what part of the law did He fulfill? Searching the Torah (first five books of the Old Testament) leads me (and many others) to believe that He fulfilled the requirements of the High Priestly inauguration. I’m going to show the parallels below.
The Priestly Requirements
- Had to be 30 years old
- OT Requirement: Numbers 4:3, “Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.” Admittedly this seems an odd passage for supporting this requirement, but if you had to be 30 simply to work in the tabernacle (precursor to the temple), it stands to reason that all priests were of that same age range.
- NT Fulfillment: Luke 3:23, “Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.”
- Washed with water
- OT Requirement: Exodus 29:4, “Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.”
- NT Fulfillment: Matthew 3:16, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.”
- Annointed with oil (an OT representation of Holy Spirit)
- OT Requirement: Exodus 29:7, “Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.”
- NT Fulfillment: Matthew 3:16, “At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”
- Verbal Blessing/Confirmation
- OT Requirement: I struggled to find concrete Scriptural basis for this one. Even though when I did my original research on this years ago, I found something that supported the idea that someone gave a verbal blessing or affirmation about the new high priest.
- NT Fulfillment: Matthew 3:17, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Other Reasons
While I think this gives enough reason for Jesus’ baptism, I also wish to point out a couple of other simple reasons. First, in all things, Jesus related to us. Tempted in every way, experienced hunger, experienced all the emotions, etc. Therefore, it makes sense to relate to us by water baptism. After all, if He’s commanding His followers to be baptized, then He should get baptized as well. Secondly, John the Baptist came from the lineage of Aaron. And preparing sacrifices was a big part of the priestly jobs. So, one could see this encounter as the initial preparation for Jesus’ sacrifice.
What About Infant Baptism?
Some denominations practice infant baptism (more like infant sprinkling, but I digress). Is this Biblical and should it be practiced? The short answer to the first question is “No”. The Bible doesn’t say anything about infant baptism. In fact, the Bible infers in multiple places that baptism takes place after one believes in Jesus and confesses Him as Lord. Obviously, infants can’t do that. For this reason alone, I question it.
But should it be practiced? I don’t see a much of a problem with baptizing infants in the mindset that once that child makes up their own mind to follow Jesus, they’ll choose baptism in the traditional way. The problem comes from when the church in question teaches that infant baptism gives them a guaranteed ticket to Heaven. I’m aware of churches that teach that and it’s damaging. It creates false hope for people. Frankly, I lean toward avoiding it largely because of the roots in the belief of the necessity of baptism for salvation. Unless, as I mentioned earlier, the church correctly teaches that it does not save the child and is just tradition.
Multiple Baptisms?
Most people and churches see baptism as a one-time event. Just like Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred once for all time. After all, baptism symbolizes that event, so it makes sense. However, many churches these days believe that at times a second baptism makes sense. Some of those reasons I consider quite legitimate.
- Infant baptism. After infant baptism, many people choose a second baptism later after making their personal decision to follow Jesus. This makes sense since the first time the person had no choice in the matter.
- Rededication. Imagine a person chooses to follow Christ, but later strays far from God. And I mean far. Drugs, alcohol, the works. Now imagine that they repent and come back to God. And this person chooses a second baptism as a testimony to the radical life change that occurred.
- A greater understanding. Some people get baptized pretty young before they fully grasp what baptism is. They treat it very flippantly and do it because “that’s just what Christians do”. After some years, they may come to a greater understanding and want to honor the symbolism and holiness of that moment.
- Radical faith change. People who fall into this category would be those who switch denominations and feel that their previous baptism occurred out of ignorance or believing incorrect teachings of the Bible. So, they choose a second baptism to demonstrate their changes in their faith.
I believe all of these reasons stand up to the Bible. The Bible doesn’t address this subject and doesn’t infer anything against it, so it really comes down to personal conviction. I know people who fall into a couple of these categories.
Wrapping Up
By now I hope you understand what exactly baptism is and why Jesus commanded it be performed for all of His followers. As mentioned earlier, there are people who put a greater emphasis on baptism that they should. This doctrine claims that baptism is required for salvation – called Baptismal Regeneration. I aim to talk about this in one or more future posts. I already have a lot of material covering this specific topic and it might bleed into multiple posts. If that’s the case, I intend to release them quicker than what my normal release cycle has been. So, please, if you have not subscribed to my email notifications, do so. That why you’ll know for sure when my next post comes out. It may be sooner than the 25th.
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