What is Baptism and why do we do it? (Matthew 28:16-20)

Undergoing baptism is a sign of being a committed follower of Jesus. Baptism is an outward witness to the community that a person is standing up and standing out as a follower of Jesus. Baptism in its imagery represents the death of a person’s old life and the beginning of a new life. When a person goes under the water, this represents the drowning death and burial of the way one used to live (and who one used to serve). Then as the person comes up out of the water, this represents the entering of a new life in solidarity with the resurrected Jesus. This also signifies the purification of a life (given back to God).

Here is a demonstration that the death and resurrection of Jesus has been applied in a personal way to a particular human’s life. We are saying that ... “Yes” – Jesus’ death on the cross was for me, and I too am being raised into new life! We are saying that ... “I am heading out on a new track now”. I belong to God, and am united with Christ Jesus in his body. Baptism is thus also seen as an initiation toward full involvement in church community (Christ’s body on earth), as one publically aligns themselves with a cause as other like-minded people have already done. This leads to a common and shared discipleship.

Even though our baptism can be so memorable, the act of baptism itself actually has no magic attached to it, nor is effective in itself – it rather points to something else (that has [or should have] already happened). Whereas it might provide a bit of a physical wash, baptism is representative of something that has already happened spiritually, i.e. accepting the gift of forgiveness offered from the cross, and receiving Jesus as one’s personal Saviour and Lord – the one to be followed from this day on. Baptism is a physical and public demonstration of this spiritual and internal change.

Thus baptism follows on from committing one’s life to Jesus. In the book of Acts (in the Bible), it seems that new converts to ‘the Jesus way’ were baptised quickly, and why not with all the enthusiasm surrounding this! But I think it’s alright today to spend a little time in preparation before baptism to make sure one fully understands what they are undertaking. However it would be a misconception to try to wait until one was good enough, because with this mindset, that may never happen. Baptism is usually a very early stage in a long process of growth.

Now I’ll mention a bit of the biblical background for baptism. Leviticus in the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) has various references to people washing or bathing in water for spiritual purposes – cleansing or ministry. Then in the New Testament, (just before Jesus came on the scene) John the Baptist adopted such a practice in the sense of a one-off baptism, so that people could have a physical way of expressing or demonstrating their repentance and desire to change (following the actual confession of their sins). John the Baptist called on people to leave their selfish and evil ways and turn back to God; then invited people to witness to this reality by entering the waters of baptism. This was all in preparation for the one who would follow, and not just offer forgiveness, but life transformation as well.

When Jesus arrived on the scene, he actually wanted to be baptised by John. John, already knowing the real identity of Jesus, understandably resisted this – for what would Jesus have to repent of!?! Yet Jesus wanted to be baptised to complete his total identification with humanity, he would stand here in service of the sinner, like he would later do again on the cross. Jesus here would also provide an example of the ultimate need of baptism to confirm that an active relationship with God exists. Such being the case is confirmed by the entry of the Holy Spirit into the scene of Jesus’ baptism.

The person who commits themselves to Jesus (as confirmed in baptism) will then walk through life in the presence and power of God’s Holy Spirit (bearing fruit worthy of their repentance). In Matthew 28, in Jesus’ closing remarks on earth, Jesus charges his disciples with the responsibility of baptising those who become ‘Jesus followers’. And this is exactly what the disciples did. Following Peter’s preaching on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), many thousands received the good news and were baptised. We read of more wonderful baptisms in Acts 8; and can also read there the well known incident of Philip baptising the Ethiopian eunuch following that person’s coming to faith.

As commitment to Jesus is a voluntary step of the mature mind, then baptism needs to also be a conscious decision taken by the person who is to be baptised. Arguing this way means, with the greatest respect to other traditions, that the baptism of babies does not make a lot of sense! The baptism of children, as practiced by other Christian churches, may at times genuinely represent in the parents a desire to bring up a child in the Christian tradition, however it bears no relation to the biblical record of baptism (showing as it does that baptism follows personal commitment to Jesus).

So infant baptism must draw on different or broader thinking! The proponents of infant baptism would see this in terms of the sharing of a broader community faith with the child being baptised, this faith being something that the child can grow into, and indeed would be more likely to grow into because of the formalised support of the church. The advocates of infant baptism would argue that faith is really more about what God does than what we can do, so therefore baptism is more the setting forth of a pattern of life whereby faith is known to be available whenever called upon.

One can understand how we would want to pre-empt the decision a young person should make for themselves later by organising a premature baptism for them. But would this not tend to build spiritual apathy, rather than understanding the urgent need to discover God for oneself. In some circles, the prevalent thought is that baptism is necessary to protect a child from hell if he or she dies in infancy, but this of course is a nonsense (as each child is born and lives under God’s blessing until they consciously rebel).

As we have said, in the bible, baptism follows a personal decision to follow Jesus. Infant baptism pre-empts a person’s own freewill to decide, by seeking to impose a particular style of faith on them. Therefore Baptists (and other denominations like Churches of Christ and Pentecostals) only baptise ‘believers’ ... hence the term “believers’ baptism”. Yet, as infant baptism has been practiced since the 3rd century, it is still a very common Christian practice, and must be respected for what each individual family and church community brings to it. Also there is often a journey towards confirmation that is taken (as the second part of a baptism process), which is far more connected to the necessary personal response to Jesus. So where such a confirmation of an earlier baptism has taken place, this could be seen to be like the biblical intent of baptism.

We’ll have a look at a clip from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. What was wrong with this baptism??? One good thing was the possibility of an adult being baptised. However the reasons for this baptism were all wrong. As beautiful as this ceremony may have been, especially with the love expressed for his intended bride, this did not reflect baptism in a biblical way. It was for the sake of a marriage, not a faith commitment. It was to do with accepting a national culture, rather than a spiritual regeneration.

As we gather around texts like Matthew 28:16-20, we need to acknowledge our role in society. We should be inviting and welcoming a wide range of people into our worshipping community, and to be doing so without pressure or implied expectations; and let us continue to do that. Yet to be true to who we are meant to be, we need to also present the gospel message of accepting Jesus and being baptised. We want to help people reach their potential and not miss out on all that God has for them. We want to help people to jump off the fence and find their fullness in God.

Baptism helps people make definitive decisions about their lives and what direction that are going to take – and that’s why we do baptism! Baptism is such a powerful symbol of commitment to a bigger bolder better story, in a world where people want to narrow the boundary lines around their own individual desires – which left unchallenged only leads to social dislocation and personal disappointment. Following Jesus through baptism leads to a shared and purposeful journey toward eternity.