Baptism, an Exploration: Part 5 (Baptism by Jesus; Baptism in the Synoptic Gospels)

Pre-Pentecost baptisms by the apostles

(John 3:22-26 ESV) 22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison). 25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness — look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”

(John 4:1-3 ESV) Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.

Jesus spent some time early in his ministry baptizing, through his disciples. We are told next to nothing about the nature of these rites, except he was very successful, even more successful than the prophet John. Evidently, some of John’s disciples saw the two men as in competition, and so it seems likely that Jesus’ preaching wasn’t greatly different from John’s. That is, he surely baptized for repentance into the remission of sins — as did John — in anticipation of the coming Kingdom.

Jesus’ ministry soon moved into a ministry of preaching and healing, and we are forced to wonder: why begin with baptisms in Aenon, only to later give up the practice? Why not baptize in the mikvehs, pools, and waddis in other areas of Israel? And this tends to confirm the symbolic importance of the Jordan, which is overlooked by nearly all commentators (but not Ray Vander Laan). (Aenon is an area of springs feeding into the Jordan.) Jesus was announcing the Kingdom through a symbolic re-enactment of the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land by passing through the Jordan. The time of wandering had ended, and now is the time of mission, of conquest, and of building the Kingdom!

Baptism in the Synoptics

First, a note on prepositions. English translations tend to use unorthodox translations of the Greek prepositions when baptism is in view. Thus eis, meaning “into,” is routinely translated “in” or “for.” And en, meaning “in,” is often translated “with.” I’ll correct these as we go.

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) have surprisingly little to say about baptism other than John’s baptism. In Matthew, after the accounts of John’s baptism, we only have —

(Mat 28:19-20 ESV) 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them [into] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Obviously, the Great Commission is no trivial passage! But there is no discussion or description of Christian baptism anywhere in the book. Indeed, if your only New Testament book were Matthew, you’d only know what “baptism” is from the work of John the Baptist — a baptism of repentance — with the changes being that Christian baptism is now “into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” and a baptism in Spirit in contrast to water (3:11).

In Mark, other than references to John’s baptism, we only have —

(Mar 10:38-40 ESV) 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

39 And they said to him, “We are able.”

And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

(Mar 16:15-16 ESV) 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Mark 10:38-39 is clearly metaphorical. It’s an interesting metaphor as the use of “baptize” to refer to suffering or death is not anticipated in the Old Testament other than in the Septuagint for Isaiah 21:4 —

(Isa 21:4 BGT) ? ?????? ??? ???????? ??? ? ?????? ?? ???????? ? ???? ??? ????????? ??? ?????

My heart is led astray and my iniquity baptizes; my soul has come into fear.

That’s a very clumsy translation, as far too literal. “Baptizes” is used to mean something like “overwhelms.” And in Mark 10:38-40, Jesus uses “baptism” in the same sense, to mean something like “to be overwhelmed with the overwhelming with which I am overwhelmed.” He is, of course, not speaking of a literal immersion but of being overcome.

The authenticity of the end of Mark 16 is disputed, of course, but it’s certainly a very ancient text and a reference to Christian baptism — but with no real antecedent in Mark. On the other hand, Mark describes John’s baptism as “a baptism of repentance [into] the forgiveness of sins” (Mar 1:4 ESV). He later declares that Jesus’ baptism will be “[in] the Spirit” in contrast to baptism “[in] water” (Mar 1:8). Therefore, a reader of Mark would naturally conclude that the baptism of Mark 16:16 is an overwhelming baptism of repentance into the forgiveness of sins, in the Spirit (in contrast to baptism in water).

Luke says nothing of Christian baptism, referring only to John’s baptism and to ceremonial washing —

(Luk 11:37-38 ESV) 37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.

“Wash” translates “was baptized.” But the practice of the Pharisees wasn’t to be immersed in a mikveh before eating; it was to wash the hands in an elaborate ritual involving pouring water over the hands. Here “baptize” refers to the pouring of water in order to wash.

Now, Luke more than makes up for the lack of references to Christian baptism in Acts! But his Gospel says nothing on the subject.

As you can see, if you were to read just the Synoptic Gospels, you’d not even be sure that Christian baptism is in water, and in reading Luke, you’d not even know that there is such a thing. It is true, of course, that the rest of the New Testament matters. Absolutely! It’s just that we have to read each book in its own context, and the early readers of Matthew weren’t likely to have Acts or Romans in their pockets to fill in the blanks. The authors wrote self-contained works. And it’s astonishing how little the Synoptic Gospels say about Christian baptism, especially given how much they say about John’s baptism.

The natural conclusion as to Matthew and Mark is that they considered John’s baptism to be descriptive of Christian baptism, except for the changes noted in the Gospels themselves, the primary change being that —

(Mar 1:8 ESV) 8 “I have baptized you [in] water, but he will baptize you [in] the Holy Spirit.”