The Baptism of Disciples (Matt. 28:18-20)

This sermon was preached on 9/10/2011

Today we are privileged to have four baptisms and we are grateful to God that we can perform them. Yet we know that it is important that each of us knows what we are doing. None of us is here today as a mere spectator; instead we are all here as participators and God expects us to be determined to fulfil our responsibilities. And we cannot fulfil them if we don’t know what we are doing.

As we are aware, there are several views of baptism found within the Christian church. Perhaps the views with which we are familiar, apart from our own, include the superstitious view that the actual ritual saves the person from the sin, the society view that every child needs to be baptised in order to get on in life, and the public testimony view in which the baptised person claims to have undergone a saving change. Our view differs from each of those suggestions and hopefully some aspects of our interpretation will become clear.

Baptism means union

The first point we should note concerns the word baptism. It is not originally an English word but it is one that has come straight into our language from Greek. Sometimes you will meet a person who says that the meaning of the word is always to do with water, usually full immersion. A quick reading of New Testament references will show that is not the case. I will briefly mention four in which no water is used.

First, in Mark 1:8, John the Baptist says this when he is contrasting his ministry with that of Jesus: ‘I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’ It is clear from that verse that there is a baptism with water and there is a baptism that is not with water, that is, the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Second, Paul asks this question in Romans 6:3: ‘Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?’ That verse says that two things happened to Paul and his readers – they had been baptised into Christ and baptised into his death. The verse does not say anything about baptism with water. What is clear is that the verb ‘baptise’ is used to describe union, whether union with Christ himself or union with his death. But neither of these realities is connected to an actual baptism with water. An obvious example of an individual who experienced those unions is the penitent criminal beside the cross of Jesus, and he was not touched by water of any degree.

Third, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, Paul writes: ‘For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.’ That is a reference to what happened when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. Paul says that they were baptised into Moses then, but the method did not involve water or immersion. Instead they were connected to Moses in some way, probably as their Leader who would provide miraculous help for them on their journey. In this, Moses was both a parallel of Christ and a representative of Christ.

Fourth, in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Paul writes, ‘For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.’ Paul says there that through the work of the Spirit they were ‘baptised’ into the body of Christ, that is, those who are united to him when they believed in him. They were not baptised into the body on a subsequent occasion, but simultaneously to their believing in Jesus. This baptism did not involve water.

The point I am making is that whenever we see the words ‘baptise’ and ‘baptism’, we should not assume that it only means immersion in water or sprinkling with water. Instead it can refer to lots of situations in which a person or group is united to someone or something. I would suggest that ‘union’ is basic to the meaning of the term ‘baptism’, and even although our baptism does include water I would suggest that it stresses union, and does so in different ways.

Baptism in the Great Commission

The passage we are looking at today is called the Great Commission of the Church, although I would personally regard it as a particular commission given by Jesus to his apostles – every Christian is not called to go into all the world, but the apostles were. Part of his requirement was the matter of baptism. Hopefully the features of how we engage in this ritual agree with the details commanded by Jesus. So what are they?

First, baptism can only be performed by those whom Jesus appoints to the role. We can see that he commissioned the apostles to baptise. This does not mean that only apostles could baptise; after all Philip the evangelist baptised individuals in Samaria and the Ethiopian eunuch in the desert (Acts 8). Paul also reminded the Corinthians that although he was the founder of the church in Corinth he had not baptised most of them, which suggests that he had delegated this task to others. But his actions do indicate that baptism should be performed by those whom the church has authorised to do it, and fits in with the instructions given by Jesus in the Great Commission.

Second, the people who are to be baptised are called disciples. What is a disciple? A disciple is an individual who learns from a teacher, and a baptised disciple is a person who learns the teaching of Jesus. Of course, the learning is not merely intellectual, but also includes imitation. Learning from Jesus is not the same as going to a theological seminary. For example, a disciple learns from Jesus various matters about prayer. He does not learn it as a theory only, because he is also shown how to practice it. So whenever we read an instruction from Jesus about prayer, we should assume that is how Jesus did it. He taught his disciples not to use pointless repetitions or complicated terminology, and he taught it by action as well as word.

Perhaps the best known incident of Jesus functioning as a model instructor of his disciples was when he washed their feet in the Upper Room. He verbally taught them to lives as servants and he showed them how they should live as servants. ‘You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them’ (John 13:13-17). After seeing Jesus in action, the disciples did not have to ask about the limits of service. The basic rule is, don’t wait to imitate Jesus, but look for opportunities of service. Be ready to do even what others are not willing to do, as he was when he humbled himself and washed the grimy feet of his disciples.

Third, the disciples were to come from all over the world. The new gathering of people had no limits geographically and no limits historically. There were to whites, blacks, yellows, browns and reds, and each of them had the same interest, which was to learn about Jesus and his requirements. When they would be baptised, they would not be baptised into a local group of disciples nor into a national group of disciples. Instead they would be baptised into the universal group of disciples. Those who are being baptised today are not being baptised into a local congregation or a national denomination. Their baptism does not require to be repeated, should they move to another locality and join another denomination.

Fourth, the disciples would be given a shared identity. This identity is seen in that they have the name of the Triune God put on them. In a very real sense, when a person gets baptised, he is no longer the same as before his baptism. The children who are going to be baptised have a surname and it identifies them wherever they go. After their baptism, they have God’s name on them and they cannot reverse it. The only one that can take the name away is God.

To have God’s name upon us opens for us a door to all the privileges of the gospel. It is not the only door for hearing about those privileges, but it is one that historically has led many to hear about Jesus and what he did for sinners on the cross and also what he can do for them now that he has ascended to heaven. As baptised persons, such can hear God speaking to them from his Word about their needs and his remedy. They took baptism because they wanted to hear about that information. And so are privileged.

Yet it is also the case that receiving baptism will result in greater responsibility. Most of us, if not all of us, will appear before the judgement seat of Christ as baptised persons. What will be said to us if we have not made a proper use of all the teachings and examples that Jesus informs us about from his Word? Our sins are not washed away by baptism, but only by what baptism signifies – cleansing from our sins in the blood of Christ.

Fifth, the words that Jesus uses indicate that he will be present at every baptism. We usually take the words, ‘I am with you always,’ as words of comfort to the apostles as they embark on their worldwide mission. No doubt they are, but they are also a reminder of the interest Jesus has in the activities of his servants. I wonder how many baptisms Jesus, in this sense, has attended. Most of us can say, ‘I’m not sure who watched my baptism, but this verse tells me that Jesus was present.’ He was glad to be there, just as he is delighted to be present with us today.

Earlier I mentioned that baptism signifies union. Having thought about it, what kind of union can we say will take place today? We have seen four aspects of the union: we are united to the apostolic message, we are united to disciples all over the world, we are united to God’s name, and we are united to Jesus as our teacher. There is a lot more to baptism that these features, but they are basic to it. Hopefully the baptisms today will result not only in learners about Jesus but that they will develop into lovers of Jesus.