This subject is very interesting to me because it's the one thing that Jesus commanded us to do and enabled us to do and have athority to do yet the scriptures never record Jesus baptising anyone.
His reply to John as in why John should baptise him peaks my interest also..."suffer it to be so now"
So if we baptise any one are we carring on John's ministry or Jesus ministry.
Another thing to place before us all is that John the Baptist was known throughout the land for his water baptising. Yet Jesus did not acknowledge him as the baptist but a prophet in fact the greatest one.
Might be something...or am I grasping at straws?
Your thoughts.
You are addressing a massive subject. I count at least five reason why a Believer is Baptized. But in answer to your question:
John was a prophet who came in the Spirit of Elijah and was the greatest "born to a woman". This statement is a terrible judgement on John because if we take the whole verse (Matt.11:11; Lk.7:28), John's greatness is only
in the realm if those who are NOT BORN AGAIN. To get into the Kingdom one must be born of the Spirit and out of water (Jn.3:3-5). That is, the "least" in the Kingdom was, is, and will be, greater than John Baptist BECAUSE he/she is NOT BORN of WOMAN - but the Holy Spirit. To be born again one must BELIEVE (Jn.1:12-13). John did not. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the ONE.
John was a great servant of the Lord. He did his job. But in the final test it was shown that he did not believe Who Jesus was. Yes, he believed that Jesus was son of David and he believed that Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb of God, but he did not believe that Jesus was the son of God (like Peter - Matt.16). Some theologians have coined a sad but true idiom. "
John did not recognize Who his Head was - so he lost his head". In case some are very new Christians, Christ is the Head of the Church. If John had believed he would have told his DISCIPLES to follow Jesus. But he stayed "head" of
his disciples, as we learn in Matthew 9:14 and 11:2.
Leaving that shocking state of affairs, we turn to the second reason one should be IMMERSED. The first has been discussed. It is a SIGN of a Christian joining the Covenant with Abraham (not any other Covenant). The second reason is that the old is not worthy of the new. Immediately after Adam had eaten of the forbidden Tree, a barrier was put between him (and all men to come) and the Tree of Life. The reason given in Genesis 3:22 is that if he "also" ate from the Tree of Life, he would not die. Why did God allow Adam to die? Because his polluted and corrupted body was not fit for the future Kingdom of God. 1st Corinthians 15:50-53 tells us this and that that we must either ne resurrected or "changed". That is, physical death is God's way of dealing with the old and unworthy.
Now, the earth was IMMERSED in water TWICE and will IMMERSED in FIRE ONCE (i) before Adam, at (ii) Noah's time and (iii) at the Great White Throne. All three IMMERSIONS are an ending of the old system and preparing the way for the new. Both Adam and Noah saw a "pristine earth" after the immersion was over. Turning to individual men, Abraham, an idol-worshiper (Josh.24:2), to reach the promised Land, must pass through "a flood" - no doubt, the Euphrates River. And Israel, on their journey to the Good Land, must pass through the Red Sea and the Jordan in "flood" (Josh.24:14). The old way is unacceptable to God for His recovery. He lets the old die and raises up, out of the death waters of IMMERSION, a New Man. The old must be "buried" and the new come out of the death waters. So when Israel reached Jordan and were on the cusp of the Kingdom of Israel, the were to take 12 stones into the Jordan, place them on the river floor, and take twelve stones from out of the river and place them in a monument on the bank of Jordan. Anybody God uses for His plan and/or purpose MUST BE SYMBOLICALLY IMMERSED.
To inherit the Promise, the OLD must be dead and buried. And out of this death must come the new. And this is why our Lord Jesus insisted on His Baptism. Not because He was a sinner, but, as son of Mary, He belonged to the old. Mary came form Adam and so our Lord Jesus, though He was sinless, was, in His intrinsic human nature - Adamic (Luke's genealogy confirms this). Because He was not the son of a man (Joseph), He did not have the fallen nature of all other men, but He was still 100% man because He came from Mary - and Mary belonged to the old.
Turning to Romans 6 we see the old buried and the new coming forth (vs.1-8). In 1st Corinthians 10 we see that we are to make the same journey as Israel - which includes IMMERSION. The SECOND REASON for Baptism is that you show a SIGN that you abhor the old creation and declare it unfit for the NEW. By REFUSING IMMERSION YOU SHOW THAT YOU ARE WORTHY OF THE KINGDOM IN YOUR POLLUTED AND CORRUPTED STATE AND THEREBY CONTRADICT GOD. If any Christian has doubts about whether he/she should be Baptized just COPY your Lord. Is the servant greater than the Master???
