GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
LUKE 3:3 part 2
3 … a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
The word “baptize.”
“Baptize” means to wash or to apply water. We have no reason or right to use anything else in place of water. We also remember that water is the most abundant substance on earth. If Jesus had commanded us to baptize with sand or dirt or garbage, there would still be people who would complain that there isn’t enough of them and that we need to substitute something else. Water is plentiful enough to be used in all cases. In the case of any and every exception I’ve ever been asked about, I have always been able to answer: Would a woman be giving birth in such a place or such a situation? There is water enough to baptize.
The purpose of baptism.
Luther used a single verse, Mark 16:16, to present all the blessings of baptism: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Luther said, “Baptism works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare” (Small Catechism). It is one of the ways with which God offers to us the forgiveness of our sins and through which he creates faith in our hearts.
The manner of baptism.
“Baptize” means to wash, but it doesn’t demand any certain manner of the washing. If something thinks that the example we have in the Bible is always immersing under water, this is just not so. It was probably the method of John in the Jordan, but what about the Jailer at Philippi, who could not, under pain of death, leave his jail, especially when an earthquake had opened all of the cells at night? He was certainly baptized in his house, probably in the kitchen (Acts 16:33). In Mark 7:4, baptize (βαπτίζω) is translated “wash,” and refers to washing dishes such as cups, pitchers and kettles. “Kettle” is the chalkion (χαλκίων), a copper or brass cauldron used for boiling large amounts of water or food (1 Esdras 1:12; 1 Samuel 2:14). This is not the sort of pot one washes by immersing, but by wetting it and wiping it with a cloth, turning it over and over in a large enough sink, if possible. But immersion is not the preferred translation of baptizo in any case. To baptize is to wash. When I was a vicar—my practice or apprentice year of ministry—a woman from Nazareth (yes, that Nazareth) who was staying in Milwaukee gave birth to premature twins. They were so tiny! The doctor would not permit me to baptize them by applying water to their heads in the incubator, and immersing them would have been completely out of the question. However, when I asked whether I could baptize their feet, he was agreeable. To baptize is to apply water. Period. Generally, Lutherans do not immerse when we baptize. Why? Because some Christians insist that if we do not, there is no baptism. This is not true, and to show that baptism is not a law to be obeyed but rather a gospel invitation to be carried out, we baptize by pouring water in almost all cases. I myself have performed one immersion, earlier this year (March 26, 2017). The girl was a native of Angola, Africa, and everyone in her family and city had been baptized by immersion. She understood our doctrine and agreed with it, but she wanted to be baptized in the same way her brother and the rest of her family was baptized. For the sake of her conscience and because she did not insist but only requested it, I agreed, and baptized her by immersing.
Baptisms of other religions.
“Baptize” in the Christian sense means to apply water together with the word of God for the forgiveness of sins. That word of God is the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Any religion that rejects Christ as Savior rejects what baptism is for, and therefore any religious action they might call ‘baptism’ is not truly baptism. Therefore, such a person is not baptized. That is why we would “rebaptize” them, although there’s really no such thing as a second baptism. It’s simply that they never had a first baptism.
Old Testament examples of baptism.
There were ritual baptisms or ceremonial washings in the Old Testament. Some of these are a full bath (Num. 19:7-8, 10), and some were just a sprinkling with water (Num. 19:18-19). Sometimes they involved washing one’s clothes as well as one’s body (Leviticus 14:8-9; 15:5-6). Sometimes it meant washing clothes and body and also remaining away from the community until sundown (Lev. 17:15). All these baptisms were to cleanse people from uncleanness—the stain of sin. The baptism Jesus has given to us does not depend on the way the water is applied, but it depends on the word and promise of Christ for its power. It gives the forgiveness of sins, it delivers us from the power of death and the power of the devil, and brings us into the family of God.
What does our baptism mean for us?
Since we were baptized, we were connected to Jesus through his baptism, and also through his death and resurrection. “We were…buried with Christ 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 6:4). We want to obey God’s will and serve him, and so “the old Adam in us should be drowned by daily contrition and repentance, and all its evil deeds and desires should be put to death. A new person should daily arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever” (Luther, Small Catechism). We want to do this because Christ has earned our place in heaven, and we are grateful to him for it. We want to remember our baptism because through baptism we were given faith in Christ, and we received our place with him forever.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota