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Baptism by the Book
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Baptism by the Book
Baptism is a Christian ceremony by which people proclaim their acceptance of Jesus’ death for their salvation. By their immersion, the form practiced in biblical times, these new Christians are proclaiming death and burial to their old, sinful way of life, and their resurrection to a new life in Christ. It’s a public ceremony, so it announces to any witnesses the recipients’ inner conviction.
Mark’s Gospel records that John, Jesus’ cousin, often baptised in the river Jordan (see Mark 1:4, 5). Although a form of ceremonial washing was practised in Judaism before the birth of Christ, the baptism that later became a Christian practice is attributed to him, as his name—John the Baptist—attests. So when John baptised Jesus and other Jews and foreigners, the ceremony was quite possibly something novel.
To prepare the way for the ministry of Jesus, Who was soon to appear, John summoned all Israel to repentance. Disregarding rabbinic law, he ordered those who had two coats to give their spare one to any who had none. He told tax collectors to collect no more than their due. He instructed soldiers to be content with their wages and desist from robbing people (see Luke 3:7–14). And he called his hearers to repent of their sins and be baptised. Alfred Edersheim, in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, states, “Never before had it been proposed that Israel should undergo a ‘baptism of repentance.’ ”
Repentance? The word means to “think differently” or to “turn around.” For some time, Israel had been travelling in the wrong direction, and reformation was essential to their future as a nation. They would survive if they accepted John’s second admonition— to believe in the coming Jesus Christ as Messiah. The Book of Acts records the apostle Paul as saying, “ ‘John baptised with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus’ ” (Acts 19:4, ESV1, emphasis added).
John the Baptist also said the Messiah would “baptise” in other ways in addition to water. “ ‘After me will come one who is more powerful than I. . . . He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire’ ” (Matthew 3:11).
As the forerunner to Christ, John forged a link between the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah and their New Testament fulfilment in Jesus. He revealed new meanings at a time when the common people had little faith in their religious leaders, or Herod or Caesar. He also transformed a simple earthly washing into a heavenly symbol, indicative of acceptance into the promised kingdom of God.