Second Sunday after Epiphany, 2002

A while back my brother and sister-in-law decided to surprise my father. As a Christmas present they paid to fly my aunt from Minnesota to California. My dad hadn't seen his sister in nearly ten years. On Christmas day my sister-in-law drove to the airport, picked up my aunt, and brought her home. Aunt Inez knocked on the door. My father opened it and saw his sister. She greeted him: "Merry Christmas, Ira!" My dad was always a wordy man. However, at that moment he could say nothing. He just looked at her. Finally, tears rolled down his cheeks, and they hugged. It was a great moment.

My aunt's unannounced visit resembled the encounter of Jesus with his relative John the Baptist. One day Jesus just appeared on the bank of the Jordan River. John looked at him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." Jesus was baptized.

We will now scrutinize why and how Jesus was baptized. Then we will examine other aspects of the sacrament of baptism, including baptismal regeneration.

Why was Jesus baptized by John? The passage from Mark chapter one tells us that John was baptizing the Jews for repentance. His was a water baptism alone. However, he predicted that the Messiah would soon arrive to introduce a baptism of water and the Holy Spirit. One day Jesus appeared. The first thing he wanted John to do was baptize him. Reluctantly, John complied. When Jesus came up from the water, the three persons of the Trinity manifested themselves to all the spectators: Jesus standing in the water, the Holy Spirit hovering over him as a dove, and the voice of God the Father thundering from Heaven.

Why was this necessary? What did it mean? Most Bible students remark that Jesus' baptism was a way to identify with the sinful humanity that he came to redeem. Though Jesus never committed a sin, he came down to our level and identified with us.

The baptismal liturgy of the Prayer Book spells out another reason for Jesus' baptism. Thomas Cranmer put a prayer in that liturgy that says: "by the baptism of thy well-beloved son Jesus Christ, [who] in the river Jordan, didst sanctify water to the mystical washing away of sin" Being sinless, Jesus did not need to be washed of sin or sanctified, but rather, he was the one who sanctified the water that would wash us. By his baptism in the Jordan he consecrated water as the proper sacramental element.

What more can be said about Jesus' baptism? The words of John the Baptist are interesting (John 1:29). "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" The "Lamb of God" title should not be overlooked. What role did the lamb play in Jewish life? The lamb was one of the primary sacrificial animals, along with young bulls, goats, and birds. In the preparation of a sacrifice the Jews held to the principle of "the best for God." What kind of lamb was chosen for sacrificing? A male lamb without blemish was picked; one in the prime of life, a lamb of physical perfection and beautiful color. Extra-biblical sources tell us that in order to make the sacrifice glisten snowy white, the lamb was sprinkled and washed clean with water. Could this detail help account for the baptism of Jesus? We shouldn't rule it out. John the Baptist trumpeted: "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Jesus responded by washing himself in the Jordan. As the Lamb of God, he would fulfill all sacrifices, and bear the sins of the world.

[I am indebted to Dr. Ray Sutton for many if not most of these insights. His book Signed, Sealed and Delivered: A Study of Holy Baptism is uneven in places but nonetheless a magnificent historical and theological examination of baptism. Signed, Sealed and Delivered is published by Classical Anglican Press, the publishing arm of the Reformed Episcopal Church and can be ordered from the Publication Society at (215) 956-0655.]

How was Jesus baptized? Here we enter into controversy. The proper mode of baptism, whether it is immersion or pouring, has been a hot topic in the church. With the baptism of Jesus it seems clear that Jesus was immersed. Mark 1:10 says, he "came up" from the water, or "came out" of the water. A submersion under the surface of the Jordan seems the most obvious interpretation.

Are there other passages that suggest a different mode for baptism? Yes, the baptism of the apostle Paul should be taken into account. After his blinding encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus he stayed at a home for three days. Then the Lord told Ananias to restore Paul's sight and baptize him. Ananias reluctantly went and did as he was told. Acts 9:18 says, "Immediately there fell from [Paul's] eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized." That last phrase "he arose and was baptized" could be more accurately rendered, "Standing up, he was baptized." In other words, Paul was standing up while he was being baptized. And how do you immerse a man who is standing up? Another verse that supports sprinkling is Ezekiel 36:25. In that passage the Lord inspired the prophet Ezekiel to foretell New Testament baptism and the renewal of the church. The prophet declared: "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" Thus, a biblical case can be made for both sides of the argument: effusion and immersion. What is the solution?

Some pieces of the puzzle can be discovered in church history. Evidence indicates that in ancient times the early church baptized members employing both modes. The candidates for baptism would wade naked into the baptismal pool and immerse themselves three times. Next, the minister would do his part. Using a shell to scoop up water, the priest would pour three splashes of water over the head of the standing adult. Babies were dipped three times. What were the advantages of practicing both modes of baptism? A combination of pouring and immersion nicely covered the full gamut of baptism's theological meanings. It is important to realize that baptism pictures more than one truth.

Immersion illustrates several realities: our burial to sin and rising to new life in Christ; our salvation from drowning in the floods of this world by entering the ship of the church; our crossing the Red Sea from bondage of sin in Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land; immersion portrays the presence of Christ enveloping us through the Spirit. We sing of that enveloping presence in the hymn of St. Patrick: "Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger" [Page 268 of the 1940 hymnal.] These are powerful images that immersion brings to the fore. But let us not neglect other baptismal principles.

Pouring or sprinkling brings out important truths as well: when water is poured over the baptismal candidates, grace is pictured. Pouring on the head points to salvation from above, from the Lord. Moreover, the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is pictured. As the Holy Spirit descended like a dove onto Jesus, and as he descended upon the apostles at Pentecost, so the water and the Spirit come down over those being baptized. We can also say that sprinkling more effectively symbolizes the washing from sin and uncleanness that the prophet Ezekiel spoke of (Ez. 36:25). Lastly, sprinkling cleanses us for sacrifice. As the lambs of the Old Covenant were washed before their temple use, and as Jesus was washed for his mission, so the purifying waters of baptism prepare us to present our souls and bodies a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto the Lord.

The imagery of baptism is indeed rich and varied. Why was the earlier practice of using both immersion and pouring abandoned? Temperature was one factor. The mild climates of the Middle East were ideal for immersion and pouring, but once Christianity arrived in the colder regions of Northern Europe only polar bears could bear it. Gradually fonts were added. These baptismal fonts stood at the entry way and were big enough to dip babies. Then the Puritans of the seventeenth century changed things. "The Puritans reacted against the huge fonts at the doors of the church, symbolizing entrance into the church, and they substituted little basins on stands at other places in the church" (Sutton, p. 201). Little bowls and basins became the norm and ministers applied only a few drops. Of course, a few drops don't invalidate baptism. They are enough. When rightly administered in the name of the Trinity, God does everything for us that he promised to do. But it is unfortunate that we have strayed from the more dramatic practice of the early church.

What about our own baptism? What does the sacrament accomplish? How does baptism relate to regeneration? We ought to sidestep a couple of positions. On the one hand, the medieval church eventually came to understand that baptism automatically conveys saving and spiritual grace. "Certain scholars had begun to teach that this sacrament was the infusion of the habit of grace, and that somehow, grace was transferred from the priest to the waters and then to the person baptized by the waters of grace. The belief was that the priest was infused with the Being of God and that this Being of God was inserted into the waters of baptism when they were blessed" (Sutton p. 45). This theology gave the impression that the priests could superstitiously control salvation, and that faith was unnecessary to baptism. The water itself did the job and that was it.

On the other end of the spectrum we encounter an equally dangerous error. The Protestant revivalists came to minimize baptism. As Christians we long for true revival, and the Holy Spirit has produced positive outcomes in some revivals. But revivalism as a movement degenerated. The revivalists sought fast results through manipulation, emotionalism, and gimmicks. Revivalists have forged a new kind of evangelism. The new evangelism urges new birth apart from baptism. For them, Christianity is at its best independent of the church and her sacraments. This runs counter to Scripture. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5 that he must be born again, and when Nicodemus asked how that could be possible, Jesus responded: "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." The water mentioned by Jesus refers to baptism. Thus, Jesus connected the sacrament and new birth; he linked baptism and regeneration. Such a view makes the most sense, and that is how the historic church has interpreted it.

Moreover, Titus 3:5 states that God saves us "through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." That word "washing" is more than a mere metaphor. It means "bath" and must refer to the sacrament of baptism. Again this interpretation enjoys the overwhelming consent of the historic church. Regeneration normally occurs at baptism. The Bible unites the two. Baptismal regeneration is the ordinary way for men and women to enter the Kingdom of God. Baptism is huge. It is mentioned 80 times in the New Testament. How did we ever get a low view of it? Why do we focus on walking the aisle, saying the sinner's prayer, raising a hand, and signing a decision card when God adopts us into the household of faith through baptism. We enter into a covenant relationship with the Holy Almighty through faith in Jesus Christ manifested in baptism. We are grafted into Christ, the true vine and given new life through the sacrament of baptism. Galatians 3:27 says, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

Obviously there are qualifications to baptismal regeneration; qualifications that Scripture itself lays down. St. Paul teaches in Romans 2:25: "For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision." Paul speaks to Jews about their circumcision but the same principle holds for Christians regarding their baptism. Baptism is the covenantal continuation of circumcision (Colossians 2:11-12). Consequently, we can read the verse: "[Baptism] is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your [baptism] has become [unbaptism]." Paul is saying that baptism requires obedience and faith. The sacrament is indeed profitable "if a life of faithfulness follows" (Sutton p. 121). If no faith or obedience follows, the baptism was not efficacious; there was no true regeneration. It is in this sense that the Declaration of Principles of the Reformed Episcopal Church is on the mark when it denies that regeneration is inseparably connected with baptism. But under normal conditions baptism is the sign of new birth, the seal of new birth, and the rite of initiation into the life of Christ.

What are the ramifications of baptismal regeneration? There are many. First, "a baptized person should be treated as and counted as a true believer" (Sutton p. 124). Pastors, missionaries, and evangelists charitably assume that a person baptized in the name of the Trinity is already a born again Christian. We can ask for renewed commitment, and fresh zeal for service in the kingdom of God, but our evangelism ought to lead people to the sacrament of baptism and the life of Christ in the church. If we encounter backslidden or disobedient baptized folk, we call them back to their baptismal vows and standing.

Next, infants are baptized. Just as newborn babies of believing parents were circumcised into the old covenant church, Christian parents today bring their babies to be baptized into the new covenant church. From the earliest moment, we raise our baptized children as full-blown Christians; they learn to pray, participate in worship, and receive Holy Communion. Some type of renewal or conversion may take place in later years, but those commitments should be viewed as milestones along the path of sanctification.

Lastly, consider the sad and anemic condition of the church in our day. Such impotence makes baptismal regeneration all the more important. On this Second Sunday after Epiphany the church calls us to follow the example of Christ. He himself was baptized. He taught that "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." He set up his church with sacraments and empowered her to baptize the nations in the name of the Trinity. Our Lord's baptism in the Jordan River calls us to treasure our own baptism, to rediscover the centrality of the church's sacraments, and to work for the baptism of the nations.

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