9. Pure and Clean: The Baptismal Waters

9. Pure and Clean: The Baptismal Waters.

“We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation; through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage to Egypt into the land of promise; in it your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ… Now sanctify this water, Father, by the power of your Holy Spirit, that those who here are cleansed from sin and born again may continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our  Savior… Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon these your servants the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit.” (Anglican Book of Common Prayer, ps. 306-308).

Down To The River To Pray – Alison Krauss

Jewish Roots to Baptism:

1. The Water of Purification in the Red Heifer Ritual. There appeared to be no logical reason for the red heifer ritual as God explained it (Numbers 19). A perfect, unblemished red heifer, one who hasn’t been yoked, was to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered. This heifer has to be completely red, and it had to be a young female cow that had not borne a calf. After the butchering of the heifer, the attending priest was required to sprinkle some of the cow’s blood seven times directly in front of the Tabernacle. The dead heifer was then to be completely burned, including its hide, its flesh, everything. Into this fire the priest was to place some cedar wood, a branch of hyssop, and a scarlet woolen thread. Both the man who burned the heifer and the eye-witness priest were then required to clean their clothes, take a bath, and be considered unclean till the evening. The priest was then instructed to gather the ashes and make a thin paste as they mixed the ashes with clean “living” water from a nearby stream. This mixture is called the “water of purification” by the Lord. “It is for purifying from sin,” says Yahweh (Nu. 19:9). If someone is deemed unclean, then a branch of hyssop is dipped into the watered-down paste and is applied to the person’s tent, his vessels, and his body. The mixture of ash and water will purify the unclean person in the sight of God.
2. The Water of the Mikvah Bath. By the time of John the Baptist, baptism was nothing new to the faithful Jews. Ritual immersion was an important means of purification according to Biblical law, especially before Temple worship, a wedding, a conversion, during a mother’s pregnancy, and whenever entering a sacred space. The believer undergoing the ritual bath had to be completely naked, must fully soak every inch of the body by immersing him/herself under water, and the pool of water was required to be “living” water from a stream, river, or rainwater. Yahweh left an indelible impression on his chosen people that they needed to be officially set apart in dedication to their holy God by submitting to an outer cleansing that represented an intentional inner purification.

The water of cleansing was noted in Leviticus 14:8 and Exodus 19:20 in Mosaic tradition. And water cleansing came to symbolize moral purification and repentance all through Hebrew Scriptures:

• “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Ps. 51:2);
• “Wash and make yourselves clean, take your evil deeds out of my sight!” (Isaiah 1:16);
• “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities.” (Ezekiel 36:25).
• ‘O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?” (Jeremiah 4:14);
• “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” (Zechariah 13:1).

John the Baptist’s Version of the Mikveh. These scriptures about cleansing and being made clean were taken seriously and literally by faithful Jews, hence the myriads of ritual baths outside the Temple. The “proselyte baptism” was also very common, experienced by all those who converted to Judaism. So, it was not a novel idea for John to come baptizing and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:4). Each person John baptized in the Jordan most probably followed Jewish tradition by undergoing a self-immersion. John was there to manage things. It’s interesting that Jesus most likely baptized Himself, with John there as a witness. John’s baptisms were distinctive, though, because he was full of the Holy Spirit, he was not associated with the Temple system and all its regulations, and he preached the idea that his baptism is merely a pledge, a promise that the baptized person will perform a radical change to his life. Repent, change your mind, turn around, John repeated. John’s baptism was more like an initiation rite into a brotherhood, a fellowship of penitents awaiting the coming of God in a new, special way. So John insisted that those baptized would “bear fruit that befit repentance,” a changed moral and spiritual life. John continued to preach that the mere washing with water was not enough. The baptized had to prepare the way for the Messiah by making an about-face in their lives.

The End of an Era. John the Baptist was chosen before birth to be the forerunner of the Messiah, the one who would prepare the way for the appearance of the Anointed One in this world. He was the last and greatest prophet in the Old Testament tradition. John would not go into this crucial mission empty-handed – he was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. Despite his lineage, John was not raised in a priestly home. From childhood he lived out in the desert, probably with an ascetic community that were strict members of Judaism. In this wilderness, he grew physically strong, mentally disciplined, and spiritually focused, and well-versed in the Hebrew Scriptures. Much of his childhood was spent in solitude with God, away from the Temple and all its rules, and from society in general. As it turned out, John was well-prepared to have a holy stubbornness as to his calling. He was tough and single-minded and well able to live off locusts and wild honey in a simple existence. Some scholars estimated that John’s ministry was only for a space of six months, but evidently that was all the time that Jesus needed to enter His part in the story of salvation.

Matthew 28:19: “Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into (eis) the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  In baptism we walk through the door into His reality and all the blessings that come under His holy Name. In baptism, we submit to God’s ownership and identity, we reclaim our true self inside the life of Him, and we have come under the possession of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have passed into His spiritual realm, and we have penetrated into His community within the Trinity. Jesus’ last words here didn’t leave any doubt about the central importance of baptism in initiating the Christian life and restoring God’s image in us.

Jesus the Pioneer. “One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized Him in the Jordan River. As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a Voice from heaven said, “You are My dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy!” (Mark 1:9-11; also refer to Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:21-22; and John 1:29-34). One wonders if the baptism of Jesus is a picture of what happens at every Trinitarian baptism, whether in a lake or the back of a pickup truck, in a swimming pool or in a worshipping church, in a jail cell or at an anointed altar. Whether sprinkled, poured, or fully submerged. Whether an infant being represented by the parents or an elderly person on his death bed. Is this what happens in the spiritual world whenever a person is baptized? Is all that spiritual activity witnessed at Christ’s baptism duplicated at our humble baptisms when baptized into the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? One can easily get the sense that each baptismal candidate is a participant in the life of Jesus, that a spiritual union is activated with the Godhead. Is this potent, mysterious sacrament that we experience somehow united with Christ into one event? Can this be true, that the baptism of Christ and my/our baptism is somehow one shared event in Him? Before the baptismal waters, we have one identity, and we choose to die to that identity. And when we rise up out of the waters, we have adopted a whole new identity, we have “put on” Christ. It makes perfectly logical sense that whenever someone is baptized in the name of the Trinity and puts on Christ, then certainly in the unseen world the sky is torn apart, the Spirit descends, the angels rejoice, and the voice of the Father reverberates in our spirit with His divine approval.

Baptized in Water (Sealed by the Spirit) | Christian Hymn | Baptism of Jesus | Choir w/Lyrics

 The Sacrament of Baptism. Whether the water of baptism, or the bread and wine of Communion, or the oil of anointing, these physical elements are the raw materials used in the Christian Church by the Holy Spirit to bring God’s very presence to us on earth. There are varying views of what a sacrament in the Church is, and how many of them there are. The actual word “Sacrament” is a legal term, “sacramentum,” which in Latin means “sacred vow.” It referred to the solemn vow a man would make when entering the Roman military, as well as the oath of honesty one would declare in the Roman courts. The early Christians adopted the term to designate the vows a person would take when being baptized into the Faith in a faith community. Soon other aspects of this commitment to Jesus would be called sacraments as well, such as foot washing, the Lord’s Supper, a special blessing on someone, and even marriage. The Latin Bible translated the Greek word “mysterion”, or mystery, for the Latin word “sacramentum” in various passages in the epistles. The Church then identified  many special acts of commitment and discipleship as sacred mysteries of the Faith, or sacraments.

The Grace of Baptism. A grace in the Christian faith is the undeserved gift to us of being allowed to participate in the life of God. We have no right to think God owes us anything. We don’t have a leg to stand on if we start thinking we have somehow earned the right to know Him in any way. He is the eternal, almighty God of the universe. God doesn’t owe us anything. But grace is God’s profound gift of accepting us as worthy, granting us the privilege of actually participating in His life. This gift of God’s love for us is beyond imagining. Grace is the eternal fact of Creator God desiring that we approach Him and develop a relationship with Him. Grace is God’s love offering to us which He initiated and to which we simply need to respond. Any gift of God’s grace that enables us to develop this life-saving relationship with Him is a sacred mystery. So sacraments in the Church involve material elements like bread, oil, water and wine to bring God’s presence into and onto our lives. The physical elements of the sacraments are the means that God has provided for us, through the working of the Holy Spirit, to grow in our faith and become more like Jesus.

A Mystery Described. Sacrament has been described in literally hundreds of ways. Because there is a mystery involved, there may be no perfect definition to sacrament, but perhaps these descriptions will help us get a handle on what a sacrament is in the life and ministry of the Christian church:

• Outward signs of inner grace;
• Sacred mysteries to convey grace to our souls;
• Material forms of grace for our spiritual benefit;
• Visible symbols of the reality of God;
• Vehicles of God’s grace to enable believers to grow in being sanctified;
• Earthly materials by which divine life is given to us;
• A physical sign of a spiritual reality;
• The material elements that unite us into a spiritual union with Christ;
• God’s gifts of Himself in created matter for our transformation;
• When God’s grace elevates nature into being vehicles of God’s presence;
• When God’s gift of the Holy Spirit transforms matter for our own transformation;
• When God’s Spirit brings divine life to tangible elements for our benefit;
• The physical elements that are inspired by the Spirit to bring God’s influence upon us.
• Material objects that are channels of God’s energy and power to believers in the Church;
• Tangible elements that bring sanctifying grace to believers;
• Created elements that usher us into participation in the divine life;
• Signs of grace entrusted to the Christian Church by which spiritual life is strengthened and empowered.

The sacraments being celebrated in the Christian Church depends on the actual church. Many Protestants do not recognize any sacraments at all, and others tend to recognize two sacraments… Baptism and Communion, because Jesus in the Gospels was abundantly clear about instituting those acts of discipleship. The traditional, historical faith communities, though, namely the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, have adopted seven sacraments in its ministry of discipleship… Baptism, by which a person is born into the new life in Christ and brought into the household  of faith, the Body of Christ; Confirmation, by which a baptized person is personally affirming his faith and vowing a life of commitment to Christ;  Eucharist, by which a believer partakes of divine life by digesting the spiritual food of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, and which strengthens the unity of those believers who share in this Communion; Confession, by which a believer participates in spiritual reconciliation by confessing one’s wrongdoings to a priest and receiving forgiveness from God; Healing, by which a person who is suffering with sickness of any kind receives prayers for healing and for restoration to full health; Ordination, by which a man receives his holy orders of serving others in the name of Christ; Matrimony, by which a man and a woman reflect the union between believer and God by committing themselves to a communion of life and faith with each other.

We The Kingdom & Tasha Cobbs Leonard – Holy Water (Church Sessions)

A Traditional View of Baptism. “In the Orthodox Church, baptism is believed to be a sacrament that washes away original sin, unites the individual with Christ and the Church, and initiates the process of salvation. It’s understood as a mystical rebirth, a dying to the old self and rising to new life in Christ. While baptism is seen as a crucial step, salvation is an ongoing process that requires ongoing faith and participation in the Church’s life. Baptism is seen as a transformative experience, a spiritual rebirth where the individual is mystically united with Christ’s death and resurrection, symbolized by full immersion in water.”

Kept Clean. When Jesus washed His disciples’ feet in John 13, Jesus made a striking remark, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” (13:8). Jesus is making a spiritual statement here, pointing to Holy Baptism, and that unless He has totally cleansed us, we are neither a follower of Him nor a part of what He is doing. Through accepting the Anointed One into one’s life, and believing in His death and resurrection, Jesus has fully cleansed His followers. They have taken the ritual bath. As the Message translation puts it, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene.” (MSG).  So those of us who have been purified through our Baptism in Jesus and anointing in the Spirit, need for Him to keep washing our feet. We need to keep ourselves set apart for Him, to remain sacred and holy and pure as we live into Him. We need to keep ourselves clean, dedicated to God, set apart for Him through His foot washings of repentance, confession and living into the fullness of His Holy Spirit. We need to grow in becoming “slaves to righteous living in order to become holy and sacred.” (Romans 6:19). For “God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.” (1 Thess. 4:7). When believers repent of our sins, humbly confess allegiance to the Anointed One, and surrender to the Holy Spirit, God is in effect washing our feet and keeping us sacred, holy and pure. Unless He continues to wash us, we will not grow in holiness.

One Vote for Infant Baptism. It makes perfect sense to me that Christ-following parents can spiritually represent their infant child in baptism. Many scenes in the Book of Acts have entire families baptized, children and adults. And don’t forget how, in Capernaum, Jesus accepted the faith of a crippled man’s friends as adequate to stand in for that man who couldn’t speak for himself, in order for healing to occur. These are memorable words of Christ the Healer… “Seeing their faith…” (Mark 2:1-12). In His mercy, Jesus welcomes stand-ins and faith by proxy. Jesus must think parents are good for it, they are worthy to offer their faith as a substitute faith for their child. After all, infants are part of the covenant relationship with God, are legitimate and cherished members of the Body of Christ, and the parents, godparents and faith community are responsible for raising and supporting the baptized infant in the Faith.

Revival. It seems that whenever a revival of the Faith begins, whenever the Holy Spirit is moving, there is a surge of interest in baptisms. It’s like a spiritual reflex and second nature to the Spirit of revival, that someone who wants to follow Jesus will literally follow in His steps by participating in His baptism. And sure enough, now in our increasingly secular society, tens of thousands of baptisms are occurring seemingly everywhere (the USA). Just as Creator God moved over the waters at creation, Sustainer God is moving through the waters again right now. Keep it coming, Lord! Flood this land with your baptismal waters!

Down in the River to Pray | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | TUNE