What baptism meant to Jesus

"Mikvah and the ancient ritual of baptism”

In some of His final words to His followers, Jesus Christ told us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) His command was to make disciples. And His assumption was that baptism was part of the disciple making process. The Apostles followed through with this teaching. In Acts 2:38 we find the Apostle Peter preaching to a crowd. They were feeling convicted and moved to action. They asked Peter what they must do to be saved. Peter’s response was, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

So what is the big deal about baptism? Why do we make an emphasis on it in our annual membership covenant?

To understand it, let’s go back into the history of “baptism”. Baptism is something that existed long before John the Baptist or Jesus walked the earth. It dates as far back as Moses in the laws that he gave to the people of . (Leviticus 11:36, 16:26, Zechariah 13:1)

The Hebrew people called it “Mikvah” which was a ritual bath. The Mikvah was a reference to the actual pool and the act of taking the ritual bath. This bathing was not to make one physically clean. In fact, the Mishnah (Jewish oral traditions) makes clear stipulations that a person needed to come into the Mikvah having been already clean. The Mikvah was meant to be ceremonial only. (You take your shower at home!)

In the Mikvah, a person would become immersed in the water. (In Hebrew this immersion is called “Tevilah”.) This meant that they were completely immersed in the bath water. The devotee would outstretch his/her arms, flex all ten fingers and batting their eyelids would dip under water three times to ensure that their entire body became wet.

The Mikvah was so important to the Jewish community that it was understood if they could only afford to build either a synagogue or a mikvah, they were to build the mikvah first. If you read through Leviticus you will discover that there were many things which made a Jewish person unclean and unable to worship in the tabernacle. For example, women were unclean during their monthly cycle, sexual relations made a couple unclean, touching a dead body, caring for a sick person, cleaning mold from your tent, and many other things would make a person “unclean”. A person would have to make use of the Mikvah before they could enter the tabernacle to worship God. In fact, when the Temple was built in Jerusalem , it contained many Mikvot so that worshippers would have greater access.

The Mikvah was also necessary for someone who converted into Judaism. All Jewish converts had to go through the Mikvah. As well, males had to be circumcised. According to Mishnaic and Talmudic teachings, a person’s conversion was not valid until they had completed Mikvah.

Of the references to Mikvah in the Old Testament, one of my favorites is Jeremiah 17:12-13. In verse 12, Jeremiah writes: “O Lord the Hope of . All who forsake you will be put to shame…” The word translated “hope” here is actually the Hebrew word “Mikvah”. So literally, Jeremiah is saying that the Messiah is the “Mikvah of Israel”. He is the cleansing water to wash away her sins. Prophesying many years before Jesus, Jeremiah declares that He will be the cleansing for our sins. What better hope than that? Jesus will wash away our sins and make us right with God!

And perhaps this then, provides the strongest argument for why it is essential to be baptized in the name of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. Our forgiveness of sin comes through Jesus and His sacrifice. Our baptism identifies us with Him. When we go under the water, we symbolically are dying. When we rise out of the water, we are symbolically being risen to live a new life in Christ.

When John the Baptizer came on the scene, he followed in this long standing tradition of the Mikvah. He asked people to come into the water as a sign of repentance from their sin. The Bible tells us that John’s baptism was one of repentance. (Acts 19:4) This means that it was a symbolic, ritualistic act in which a devotee would demonstrate their desire to follow God’s ways and leave their old ways behind.

So why was John called “The Baptizer” and not the “Mikvah guy”? Because by the time John and Jesus came on the scene, Koine Greek was the language of the day. In the Greek language they used the word “baptizo”. This word came from the textile industry. When dying a piece of cloth, they would dip it or “baptizo” it in the dye, thus changing its color. It is pretty appropriate if you think about it. When someone goes into the waters of baptism they are demonstrating a “change of color”. They are testifying to a changed life.

A few years after John began his ministry, Jesus approached him one day seeking to be baptized. John recognized Jesus and insisted that he was not worthy to perform the ceremony. Jesus reminded him, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) Had Jesus somehow sullied Himself and come in need of a ritual bath? No. Jesus was baptized for two reasons.

#1 To identify Himself fully with those of us who are in need of cleansing. He has led the way into the waters of baptism and urges us to follow His example.

#2 It was how a priest began his public ministry. Jesus was 30 years old when He was baptized. This was the legal age at which a priest could begin his life’s work. The first act of initiation? The Mikvah!

The bottom line is that Mikvah (ritual baptism) was an important practice for Jesus and His early followers. They would have never given thought to the notion of an unbaptized believer. It just did not compute in their minds. The Mikvah was such a central part of their worship that they simply carried it over into the practices of Christianity.

In fact, the Apostle Paul in Colossians 2:11-12 even goes so far as to compare baptism with the rite of circumcision. Here he says: “In Him (Christ) you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God…”

Many commentators believe that Paul is saying the sign of the old covenant was circumcision, but the sign of the new covenant is baptism. In the same way that ancient converts to Judaism needed to go through circumcision and the waters of Mikvah, we who claim to follow Christ are to walk with Him through the waters of baptism.

We continue the practice as a church not because it is some religious thing to do. Rather, we practice it for several reasons:

#1 Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:19 to make disciples and baptize them. We simply are doing what He told us to do.

#2 It is a powerful symbol of our connection with Jesus’ death and resurrection.

#3 When we become baptized we also become connected with all of the Christians before us who have identified themselves with Jesus in the same way.

#4 There are only a few specific commands that Jesus left us with. One is to love one another. Another is to make disciples. Another is the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. And finally He commanded us to baptize disciples. I do not know about you, but I would hate to stand before Him in Heaven and say I only got 2 out of 4 accomplished!

Following Jesus is a faith walk of obedience to His commands. Baptism is only the first of many commands which we must obey. It is the initiation into this life of obedience. It does not save a person. But it certainly is something that a saved person ought to do.

Doug Rowse, 1/10/2008