BAPTISM: HAVE YOU BEEN IMMERSED?

Today we talk about baptism, something that every Christian knows about. In my service as a Minister in the house of God, I have witnessed people being delivered from the demonic as we dipped them in water to baptise them. I have seen others receive the in-filling of the Holy Ghost as this process was being done. Others have testified of significant shifts having happened in their lives. As a child born in the Anglican faith, I was baptised by sprinkling of water. When I later got born again as a teenager, I struggled to accept baptism by immersion. I gave all kinds of excuses until one day when I was about 17 years of age I gave in and got baptised by immersion by a one Reverend Nyanzi our Patron of the Scripture Union at the time.

Perhaps it serves well at this point to get certain definitions away and done with before we delve into the deeper stuff. The word baptism comes from the Greek word "Baptizo"(Strongs: 907) which means the following: to immerse, submerge; to make whelmed (i.e. fully wet); wash; cover wholly with a fluid - clearly anything less than totally under water does not seem to align well with the Greek meaning. My personal doctrinal foundation is: I believe that all New Testament doctrine has clear shadows (precursors) in the Old testament. However in the case of baptism this eluded me until recently when I was studying about the number "FOUR" in relation to a book I am writing (more on my study of "FOUR" in a later blog).

In the bible, the book of Matthew Chapter 3, the episode opens up with a scene of a preacher called John the Baptist. He is preaching a gospel  of repentance and preparing the way of the LORD . This mans lifestyle was one of full surrender to the purposes of God. John preaches so much to that the pharisees, the Sadducees, the soldiers, the tax collectors and many of the "scum of the earth" of his day come to him to be baptised as a way of repentance from their sins and indeed respond to the gospel he preaches. Somewhere along the way, Jesus Christ of Nazareth comes to this John the Baptist, in the wilderness near the Jordan where he is baptising people as a sign of repentance. The eventual conversation between the two men proceeds as follows from verse 14 of that chapter: 

John: "Noooo Jesus! Please don't do this to me !!! I have need to be baptized by you instead; why do you come to me?  

Jesus: "John, let things be as they are. Let us not interfere with this process: I must show by example to everyone by fulfilling all righteousness!" 

[after a long begrudging, contemplative silence, and multiple exchange of looks (as if he were thinking "must I really be doing this?"):]

John: "OK, my LORD! Let’s do this!" 

Scripture says that when Jesus was baptized, He went up straightway out of the water: and, behold, the heavens were opened unto him, and John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Jesus. God in a voice audible to all present said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This was a clear endorsement of both the action of John as being right and the one of Jesus being baptised. Indeed, on the latter Jesus maintained doctrine of baptism and he ensured to pass it on to these disciples as a direct instruction for all new believers. Now, based on this and the emphasis laid on this by the disciplines from the very beginning, the New Testament church ought to align to this. But one thing kept me curious; I kept wondering where John the Baptist had gotten this doctrine from.

I discovered that the doctrine of baptism is all over the Old testament and is as well a key principle in Judaism! You will have to keep with me in order to see the origin of this key principle, which in turn will help us see things more clearly. Baptism, in the very origin is how traditional Jewish women cleanse themselves after the monthly period "When she becomes clean of her discharge, she shall count off seven days, and after that she shall be clean..."  (Leviticus 15:18). The Jews’ are so serious about it that her whole body and hair must go under the water and ensure that she is not touching the walls or floor of the cistern/baptismal (Mikvah - is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity per Old Testament Law). They were also specific about the minimum amount of water that was to be used; it was a minimum measure of 40 “seah" of water (Equivalent to 200 gallons). So, the number 40 in the bible carries some connotation to some of the inferences behind baptism, but that is discussion for another day.

In the book of Joshua 3:5, the revelation at Sinai, all Jews were commanded to Sanctify themselves (i.e. immerse themselves) in preparation for coming face to face with God. Also, Aaron and his sons were treated the same way at consecration to priesthood “…And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate [Read: immerse] them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.” (Ex 30:30). Among the Jews, On Yom Kippur, the holiest of all days, the High Priest was allowed entrance into the Holy of Holies, the innermost chamber of the Temple, into which no other mortal could enter. This was preceded by immersion in the mikvah. Mikvah is also used by men on various occasions; apart from conversion, they are all customary. The most widely practiced are immersion by a groom on his wedding day and by every man before Yom Kippur. Some Jewish men use the mikvah before each Shabbat and Jewish holiday, some even making use of mikvah each day before morning prayer. This Mikvah process is what John the Baptist was doing.

Understanding the Mikvah (Baptismal)

Jewish law states that constructing a mikvah takes precedence even over building a house of worship. They also believe that immersion in a mikvah signals a change in status — or more correctly, an elevation in status, a transformation, or metamorphosis. The water standing for the Spirit, they believe water has the power to purify: to restore and replenish life to our essential, spiritual selves.

Further still, the mikvah personifies both the womb and the grave; the portals to life and afterlife. In both, the person is stripped of all power and prowess. In both, there is a mode of total reliance, complete abdication of control. Immersion in the mikvah can be understood as a symbolic act of self-abnegation, the conscious suspension of the self as an autonomous force. In so doing, the immersing Jew signals a desire to achieve oneness with the source of all life, to return to a primeval unity with God. Immersion indicates the abandonment of one form of existence to embrace one infinitely higher. In keeping with this theme, immersion in the mikvah is described not only in terms of purification, revitalization and rejuvenation, but also, and perhaps primarily, as rebirth. In relation to this, Judaism teaches that the source of all purity, is life itself. Conversely, death is the harbinger of impurity. All types of ritual impurity, and the Torah describes many, are rooted in the absence of life or some measure—even a whisper—of death. Thus, a woman’s menses signals the death of potential life. Each month a woman’s body prepares for the possibility of conception. The uterine lining is built up—rich and replete, ready to serve as a cradle for life—in anticipation of a fertilized ovum. Menstruation is the shedding of the lining, the end of this possibility. The presence of potential life within fills a woman’s body with holiness and purity. With the departure of this potential, impurity sets in, conferring upon the woman a state of impurity. So according to the old law, only immersion in the mikvah, following the requisite preparation, has the power to change the status of the woman. Among the Jews, Mikvah immersion (baptism) was the culmination of the purification rite in every case of impurity stated in the Old testament.

Thus, the concept of baptism as a physical sign of inner purification was not a strange one to John the Baptist, and indeed to any Jew. In fact the Jews that watched John knew exactly what the act meant, thus his comments to those he baptised "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:" (Matthew 3:8) can now make sense because he was simply saying "you are now clean; keep clean." So, Jesus great commission as documented in Matthew 28:18 - 20 states:

"...And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them (repentance and turning away from sin is presumed here) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

What is clear, baptism is a tenet that transcended the Old Testament, into the New Testament to the extent that our LORD issues this as a command to His church as he leaves for Heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Have you been baptised? Have you been immersed in water as a sign of your turning away from death with true repentance, New Life and new commitment to Jesus, as well as full dependence on Jesus alone?

References:

https://www.betemunah.org/four.html

https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/1541/jewish/The-Mikvah.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikveh#Requirements_of_a_mikveh