“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.”
~ Matthew 3:16
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you want to be baptized someday by immersion? Your grandmaa, grandpaa, dad and Aunt Lynn were all baptized by sprinkling when they were babies. After your grandmaa and grandpaa began to attend regularly the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church in Aberdeen, South Dakota, your grandmaa and grandpaa – after seeing what the Bible says about being baptized by immersion, determined that it was their decision to make on how to be baptized. Pastor Jensen – who was the pastor of the Aberdeen Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, baptized your grandmaa and grandpaa by immersion in the Aberdeen Christian & Missionary Alliance Church’s baptistry. Your grandmaa and grandpaa – before they were baptized by immersion, were totally confident that because of the decisions of faith that they had made to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that God – as God the Spirit, had already led them through the grace/faith door and that God – as God the Father, before He created planet Earth had adopted them to be His kids – that their lives had been sealed by God to always be His kids. Your grandmaa and grandpaa did not ask to be baptized by immersion because they believed that being baptized by immersion would lead them through the faith/grace door; your grandmaa and grandpaa asked to be baptized by immersion so that they could identify with God – as God the Son – Jesus, when John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordon River by immersion. Your grandmaa and grandpaa also asked to be baptized by immersion because they believed that being baptized by immersion was a way that they could in front of other Christ-follower guys and gals and in a very public way, symbolically demonstrate their desire to be figuratively washed completely clean from all evil yuk.
When a guy, gal or kid is baptized by immersion – like when your dad asked your grandpaa to baptize him in a wannabe river near Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez – in Bolivia, and like when your Aunt Lynn asked you grandpaa to baptize her in the church baptistry in a Michigan church, the guy, gal or kid is not salvation guaranteed by his or her public act of being totally dunked under water. Being totally dunked under water is proactively identifying with the public and personal act that God – as God the Son – Jesus, did when He asked an extended relative – who was John the Baptist, to baptize Him in the Jordon River. At the time that God – as God the Son – Jesus, was baptized in the Jordon River, the Israelite people group of guys and gals – Jesus’ people group of guys and gals, were caught up in a political, social and religious turmoil in their country of Israel. Rome’s army had conquered the guys and gals who were living in the land of Israel. The Israelite people group guys and gals were put under harsh Roman military rule. Herods – who were Jewish guys – Israelite people group guys, were assigned to rule as kings. The Herod who was king when John the Baptist was alive was rapaciously greedy and extravagantly wasteful. When the Jewish or the Israelite people group guys and gals heard that a new prophet – who was John the Baptist, was baptizing guys in the Jordon River, they thought that this new prophet just might be a solution to their political misfortunes and that he could be the one to give them a new religious impetus or focus. All kinds of guys – from guys who were Pharisees to guys who were Sadducees to . . . from the city of Jerusalem and from places that were located all around the land area of Israel, headed to the Desert of Judea to be baptized in the Jordon River by John the Baptist. John the Baptist lived a very austere, ascetic and frugal life. John the Baptist’s home was the wasteland. John the Baptist’s diet was made up of locusts and wild honey. John the Baptist bound the camel hair clothes that he wore with a leather belt. John the Baptist was not self-indulgent. John the Baptist was outspoken. John the Baptist did not hesitate to call out guys who were Pharisees or Sadducees – who wanted to be baptized by him, as being a brood of vipers or a nest of snakes. John the Baptist knew that no guy, gal or kid could live with hope without a repentant spirit. John the Baptist would not baptize a guy or gal who had not confessed his or her sins and who had not shown a repentant spirit.
John the Baptist knew that his one call in life was to announce the pending arrival of a guy Who he knew would be more powerful than who he was. When that moment arrived – which Matthew documents in Matthew 3, when God – a God the Son – Jesus, went to the Jordon River to have John the Baptist baptize him, John the Baptist deferred to Jesus – telling Jesus that He – Jesus, should baptize him instead. God – as God the Son – Jesus, affirmed John the Baptist – telling John the Baptist that it was okay for him to go ahead and baptize Him in the Jordan River. When John the Baptist did what Jesus asked him to do, verse 16 says, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.” God – as God the Son – Jesus, did not have to be baptized at all by immersion but as He was being baptized by John the Baptist, God – as God the Father, audibly voiced His love for His Son – God the Son – Jesus, and how really pleased that He was with His Son. This public act of baptism by water immersion that Jesus asked John the Baptist to do to Him was a symbolic act on Jesus’ part of recognizing all the sins of the guys, gals and kids who would follow Him and of one day washing with His blood all those sins away, of communicating to the guys, gals and kids who would follow Him that He was substituting Himself for them in their battle against sins and that He was modeling an example for the guys, gals and kids who would follow Him to do. To be publicly dunked to your grandpaa as a testimony of his Christ-follower faith was set by Jesus when He had John the Baptist dunk Him.
Matthew 3 (682)