Baptism: Jesus’ and Ours Ps 29; Isa 43:1-7; Acts 19:1-7; Luke 3:15-22
Introduction[1] https://youtu.be/k0BMPWzPfFs
Julian asked me the other day if I’d ever done an infant baptism and an adult baptism on the same day, “No.” is the answer, so today provides an interesting opportunity to teach on what ties the two forms of baptism together. There is a huge amount of variety in how baptisms can be conducted. About 12 months ago I was involved in a backyard swimming pool baptism of a husband and wife who had converted from Hinduism, last Sunday I enjoyed being at the baptism of a new follower of Jesus in a spa, when I first came to Perth, we used to do quite a few baptisms in Matilda Bay on the Swan River. In the eyes of most people pouring water over a baby’s head or immersing an adult in water[2] looks quite strange. The only way to make sense of all of this is to talk about Jesus. Our Bible readings today focussed on Jesus’ own baptism[3], but how is this ancient and unique event connected to what is going on for Hunter and Julian today? The key point of my message today is that faith, best understood as personal “trust”[4], holds thee three baptisms, Jesus[5], Hunter and Julian, together. Given that lots of churchgoing people find infant baptism controversial let me say a few words about we are happy to baptise Hunter. And it’s not because he happens to be cute and lovable[6].
Basic Trust
In the Bible, the inspired psalmist tells us that, “you [God]formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I have been remarkably and wonderfully made.” (Ps 139:13-14 cf. Deut 32:6; Job 10:11). From our conception onwards God was intimately involved in our development and we were made to be sensitive to the Spirit of our Creator from the very beginning of life.[7] It is a well-established scientific fact that babies recognise their mothers voice as distinct from other voices even before birth. What do you think, has Hunter been recognising the voice of Emma as his mum and Julian as his dad throughout his days and, this is my main point, trusting their voices….? “Yes”![8] Surely it’s not hard to believe that innocent infants[9] are more available to God their Creator than adult human beings who have become practiced in sinning[10]. If Hunter is raised in a home where he hears his parents pray and he listens to the reading of the Bible, if the family attends church together and Emma and Julian live consistent Christ-centred lives we can be confident he will always have a sense of being loved by a heavenly Father[11]. Baptized children should be consistently reminded, by parents, and godparents, of their baptism and its implications, so that they will in time come to a fully mature understanding and faith.
Given this was not my personal experience growing up am I being overoptimistic here? To test this out, though I already knew the answer, I said to my wife Donna the other day, “Can you ever remember a time when you did not feel loved by Jesus?” No matter how far she goes back in her memory, and I am sure some others here could say the same…., Donna has always felt loved by God and always trusted[12] Jesus[13]. If there’s nothing silly in mums and dads talking to babies before they have a vocabulary of their own why should we think it strange to believe that God will speak in his Spirit to Hunter before he can speak for himself[14]. Before I say a few things about adult baptism I need to try and explain something of what the baptism of Jesus meant to him.
The Baptism of Jesus
Since Jesus himself never sinned he never needed to come for the forgiveness that was offered by John the Baptist (Luke 3:3)[15]. Two things stand out as wonderfully unique in what happened to Jesus as his baptism[16]. The first is the voice of God the Father and second is the gift to Christ of the Holy Spirit. The words from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22) flooded Jesus’ heart with a sense of being loved by God greater than anything he had ever felt before[17]. However, he knew that his Father was actually quoting to him part of the Old Testament[18]. When God tested Abraham by saying, ““Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains” (Gen 22:2). Abraham obeyed God, but at the point of plunging a knife into the boy God stopped things and provided a ram. It is the love of his Father that will empower Jesus to take the long road of the next 3 years of ministry and die upon the cross to deal with the sins of the world. By submitting to baptism which symbolised a death he never deserved Jesus did the “right thing” by his Father in a way no-one else ever could[19]. I remember Julian getting emotional near the end of a Bible study and saying that if God asked him to sacrifice his only son (Hunter) he wouldn’t be able to do it. But God did it.
We should not however think that Jesus went all the way from the Jordan River to get crucified through gritting his teeth in grim determination, when the heavenly Father says he is “well pleased” with Jesus, Jesus is filled with an immeasurable joy that can only be communicated by his Spirit (John 3:34; 10:17; Luke 10:21). This is the second unique thing about Christ’s baptism, he is immersed in the Holy Spirit who descended on him in the form of a dove[20]. All of God’s unconditional unselfish love for lost rebellious people is concentrated in the Holy Spirit[21]. Jesus’ teaching, preaching, miracles, casting evil spirits out of people and offering himself up on the cross[22] for our full forgiveness was done in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The total obedience of Jesus depended upon his relying of God’s Spirit[23]. If Hunter and Julian are to grow in their obedience to God as disciples of Christ they too will need to hear the loving voice of the Father and totally depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 1:4; 1 Pet 3:8) we need his supernatural power to live consistent Christian lives.
Meeting Jesus
The apostle Paul sums up what happens when a person turns and puts their trust in Christ, “when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.” (Rom 6:3-5). There are two dynamic symbolic movements in baptism, going into the water[24] and coming out of the water.[25] By going underwater as a sort of burial we testify to God and human witnesses that our old way of life is ended, in rising out of the water as Jesus rose[26] from the grave[27] we look forward in faith to living in the resurrection power of Jesus forever. The powerful Spirit is with all those who are baptised plunging us into the sphere of God’s blessings of forgiveness and eternal life. By faith Julian has asked for baptism because he has been overcome by the love of Christ and wants to identify with his Lord’s dead and resurrection life. Baptism preaches the gospel of a once for all death to an old and terminal way or life and a going forward to the resurrection “power of an indestructible life”[28].
Conclusion
Faith as heartfelt “trust” ties everything to do with the baptism of Jesus, infants and adults and it is the one God-appointed way which pleases him (Heb 11:6. Who do you trust most for the outcome of your life? When you come to the end of your life and you have trusted yourself all you will see in front of you is an empty blackness[29], if you have trusted Jesus you will have a wonderful sense of peace and joy and entering into eternal life (2 Tim 1:10)[30]. What is your heart saying to you today[31], a man who was later to be killed as a missionary wisely said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot). Stop trusting in yourself, trust in Jesus’ and his gospel, “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Everyone who trusts in him is made right with God…” (Acts 13:38-39).
[1] Foundational to this teaching is the recognition that baptism, in and of itself, infant or adult, even as an act of the Church “does nothing” (Berkouwer). Whatever happens in baptism that is effective for the spiritual growth of a person is an initiative and act of God that graciously shares with the subjects of baptism something of the saving life of Christ.
[2] It is commonly argued that the Greek word baptidzo simply means to dip, plunge to immerse. And that there are other words that imply sprinkling or pouring. These are fair points but tend to ignore that the two most significant “baptisms” for Christians, that of “baptism in the Spirit” (Mark 1:8 etc.) and the baptismal suffering of Jesus (Mark 10:38-39 etc) have nothing to do with water but are metaphors charged with more than literal meaning.
[3] To focus on the age of the candidate for baptism takes our attention away from the baptism of Jesus. In the wise plan of God, in his earthly life Jesus represents all humanity, of whatever age, before the Father. If God chose us in Christ from before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4), he chose each of us in our total existence from conception onwards. This is what parents who bring their children for baptism believe by faith.
[4] I was long ago taught the important distinction between 2 forms of faith traditionally summed up in Latin. Fides qua indicates the personal act of faith or trust, the faith with which I believe/we believe. Fides quae indicates the doctrinal content that I believe/we believe. The saving faith of John 3:16 represents the former, the “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19) is an example of the latter.
[5] Hebrews 12:1, which calls Jesus “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” is the clearest text showing that our faith is a share in his perfect saving trust in God.
[6] Notice how Jesus laid hands on little children and “blessed them” (Matt 10:13-16). Since such blessings always invoke the name of God, this must be seen as essentially what is later imparted in “baptising in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19).
[7] Note, for example, how God calls prophets and apostles pre-birth and how John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15, 41; cf. Isa 49:1, 5; Jer 1:5; Gal 1:15).
[8] Children who have secure attachments with their parents have a general sense that the world is predictable and reliable, this is what psychologists call “basic trust”. This basic trust is formed by loving, sensitive, care givers and not from genetic makeup or in an always unbroken positive environment.
[9] “Innocent” doesn’t mean free from original sin, which scripture does teach (Ps 51:5; Eph 2:3)
[10] The great Reformers Luther and Calvin used the notion of “infant faith” to justify the baptism of children of believers. Obviously, infant faith isn’t merely a small scale adult faith, but has to me a very different form of faith as trust. What we know today about the psychology of babies justifies their intuition.
[11] Remember what Jesus said in comparing the disposition of his Father to our fathering/mothering, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”” (Luke 11:13).
[12] The old saying that “grace is always prevenient” means that God’s grace to enable us to move towards him always precedes any initiative of ours. If anything, infant baptism symbolises this more strongly than adult baptism.
[13] This underlies the point made by the theologian James B Jordan, who when he says, “all baptism is infant baptism”. Jordan means that the validity of baptism, whatever the age of its subjects, is dependent upon childlike faith. This is why we should take this text seriously, “Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”” (Luke 18:15-17). The translation “infants”, brephos: βρέφος, is preferable to “little children”. Its use in 1 Pet 2:2, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—”, is possibly a reference to newly baptised Christians.
[14] We might see a difference here, in that we know that Hunter can hear what Emma and Julian are saying to him, but we can’t hear what God is saying to him. This doesn’t invalidate infant baptism, but simply call us by faith to believe that the Spirit of the Lord is communicating to this child.
[15] Jesus’ response to John the Baptiser, ““Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”” (Matt 3:15), testifies to Christ’s identification with Israel confessing her sin in anticipation of the coming kingdom of God. In Jesus baptism Israel is being brought to her appointed destiny. Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophesied righteous Servant of the Lord, “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:11).
[16] These should be seen in reference to his “vicarious humanity”, that is, God made flesh for sinners.
[17] “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5), is derivative from what happened first to Jesus, for us.
[18] The other echo comes from the words of God to the prophet Isaiah about a Servant who will bring joy to the Lord at the cost of his own life (Isa 42:1; 52:13-53:12)
[19] The resurrected Jesus commanded his apostles to “teach (disciples) to obey everything I have commanded” (Matt 28:20). Jesus alone has been such a perfect disciple.
[20] John’s account makes it clear that the Spirit “remained” on Jesus (1:33), marking him out as the final Prophet, Priest and King sent by God. The dove symbolism connects with “grace beyond a coming flood of judgment” first revealed through deliverance from Noah’s flood (Gen 8).
[21] The profound truth, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:8), was first true for Jesus.
[22] “through the eternal Spirit (Jesus) offered himself without blemish to God” (Heb 9:14)
[23] Jesus, though never a rebel like us, needed to “grow in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and all the people” (Luke 2:52) all the way to the cross.
[24] As Jesus was voluntarily flooded by our sin on the cross (1 Pet 3:20-21; 2 Pet 3:6).
[25] Deliverance from drowning is a metaphor used in Ps 69:1ff for redemption from afflictions, in the New Testament this psalm is applied to Jesus (Matt 27:34; John 2:17; 15:25; Rom 15:3).
[26] And forever passed beyond the power of death (Rom 6:9).
[27] Arguably, the waters of baptism are both waters of cleansing and of judgement, Jesus endured the waters of judgement into death for us. Baptism can be called a “pledge” (1 Pet 3:21 NIV etc.) because it involves believers’ agreement with God’s judgement on their sin, in Christ. Jesus has tamed the waters of the flood.
[28] Heb 7:16 1 Pet 1:3-5
[29] Which the Bible refers to as “the second death” (Rev 20:14; 21:8).
[30] “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Rom 14:8).
[31] Within the witness of the Holy Spirit (Rom 9:1; 1 Pet 3:21; cf. Rom 2:15).