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jn_en_2012_10_31

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Baptism as Cleaning ...

Wednesday, Oct 31, 2012. Baptism is an old ritual, which has been used by many religions. It is a ritual which has its origin much before Christianity. Even in the Old Testament, baptism was known - when Jesus lived he was baptized by John, the Baptist, himself.

Baptism is like complete cleaning …

Baptism is a ritual of cleaning, of washing. In fact, baptism shows the full cleaning - the whole body is immersed into water. It is an image: the whole body, the whole existence is cleaned. Something new comes from this process!

In the New Testament we hear about the baptism of John, which is pointing towards a process which is carried out by Jesus. The main driving force is “sin” - separation from the holy God and all the actions, thoughts and words which come from a world separated from what is good and pure. Thus, baptism has to do with the basic setup of our existence and our world. It has to do with evil - in and around us.

We hear about the baptism of John, which is (see Acts 19) a baptism of repentence pointing towards Jesus. But then, we also hear about the baptism in the spirit of Jesus, the ONE baptism (Ephesians 4:5), which is the baptism into the new existence which Jesus brings with his death and resurrection. Here, Baptism is a sign of the transformation, which is brought to us by Jesus.

The basis of baptism …

The basis of the New Testament baptism is what God did through Jesus at the cross of Calvary. He died because of our sin, he died and was resurrected, to establish new life. The apostle Paul (Collosians 2:12) compares baptism with “being buried and resurrected”. This points to a deeper process, which is going on when someone comes to faith. The bible also makes clear that it is faith, which is important. Baptism is a ritual which shows what is going on, but it is not the ritual which is needed and crucial, but the process below it (Mark 16:16).

Baptism has an element of publicity. It shows what is going on below. It is part of the process of faith. You cannot believe without making it public. It is of faith to commit to Jesus, and to tell others that you do. Baptism is usually celebrated publicly, the church comes together and someone puts on white cloth and is immersed into water. In ancient days this happened at some lake or river, today we have modern baptistries, which are part of the church equipment.

Baptism is a somewhat unusual, but at the same time ingenious sign. It points to purity - the purity of heart, the purity of the mind, the purity of the past. It points towards forgiveness, which is the basis of any sustainable life. We can learn a lot from this sacrament, learn for us to take part in the faith and life of Jesus. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts

jn_en_2012_10_31.txt · Last modified: 2017/06/18 16:48 by 127.0.0.1