[This post is from an edited version of the Otter.ai transcript of John Valade’s message at Wascana Fellowship on May 25 2024. I’m still experimenting with the technology. 🙂 ]
In Mark chapter 11, verse 28, the elders are asking, “‘By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you the authority to do this?’ Jesus replied, ‘I’ll ask you one question. Answer me and I’ll tell you by what authority I’m doing these things. John’s baptism was it from heaven or human origin?’ They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t know.’ Jesus said, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’
Obviously, they did not really want to hear that Jesus was their God in the flesh.
Seldom does it occur to us as we’re reading that passage to wonder how we would know that this baptism by John the Baptist was from God. If I were in those shoes, would I have known that this baptism is from God? Was it legitimately from God? Jesus doesn’t even answer that question himself, though we suspect that it is, “yes.”
So is there a direct reference to baptism in the Old Testament? No.
There are clues in the New Testament about events that prefigure baptism. If we go back to chapter one of Mark, we read, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you to prepare your way, a voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. So, the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went up to him, confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. He wore clothing made of camel hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts. and wild honey.”
“And this was his message, “After me comes one more powerful than I, the straps of who sandals I’m not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
“At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven. ‘You are my son whom I love. With you, I am well pleased.’”
So what’s what’s the clue about baptism? The clue comes from where he’s being baptized. The Jordan River. Does anybody remember what happened? They had to go across the Jordan River to get into the promised land.
So let’s let’s go to Joshua chapter three, verse 14, just to get a running start on the story there. “So when the people broke up to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Jordan is at its flood stage during harvest.”
Of course, God chooses that time to bring them across the river. [Sarcasm] Let’s make it as easy as we can. Get the priests to carry the ark into the Jordan at the height of flood season.
“When their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing and piled up in a heap a great distance away at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”
So the poor guys, I mean, they’re there, carrying the Ark of the Covenant and they have to stand there until everybody goes through.
Joshua chapter four verse one. “When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Choose 12 men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.’ … [Verse 8] So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua and they carried them over with him to their camp where they put them down. Joshua set up the 12 stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.”
“So Joshua commanded the priests to come up out of the Jordan, and the priests came up out of the river carrying the Ark of the Covenant the Lord. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.”
So they went from dry ground to dry ground. Sorry.
“On the 10th day, of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and Camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.”
Joshua set up at Gilgal the 12 stones as a memorial or a marker. So the crossing of the Jordan River is symbolic of entering the Promised Land, even though some tribes settled on the east side of the Jordan. Crossing the Jordan was the official entry into the promised land for the rest of the tribes.
So why is John the Baptist baptizing in the wilderness along the Jordan River? It is to symbolize crossing over from sin and to repentance. It was a baptism of repentance. It’s like crossing into the promised land only with sin and away from sin. It completes the journey.
You left Egypt. So there’s the intent. Baptism in the Jordan symbolizes reentry into the promised land for those who repent. You might call it a symbolic reboot of Israel.
If repentance is what’s being asked for when there’s got to be a looking forward to redemption. So let’s go to First Corinthians 10.
Starting in verse one” “I do not want you to be ignorant of the facts, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and that they all pass through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the same spiritual rock, and that rock was Christ.”
So Paul is talking about a baptism into Moses. If they were baptized into Moses, we Christians are baptized into Jesus.
As the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea, there was water all around them and God’s cloud overhead, suggesting a kind of immersion or baptism. The Egyptians tried the same route and it didn’t go so well for them.
But Paul does go on later in this chapter to talk about how that didn’t last. It didn’t do them any good, this baptism, because they disobeyed. And he’s saying to the Christians, well, let’s read what he says to the Christians in verse five.
“Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did to not be idolatry. So some of them were, as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to the Belgian revelry.”
“We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did. And in one day, 23,000 of them died. We should not test Christ as some of them did. And they were killed by snakes. And do not grumble as some of them did. They were killed by the destroying angel.”
Okay, here’s a warning to grumblers. Don’t try this at home.
“These things happened to them as examples. And were written down as warnings for us on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So then if you think you’re standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
So Paul here is saying that these things, those stories, mean something and they mean something to us as Christians.
Let’s go to the First Peter chapter three. As we turn there, someone might say, “Well, Paul wasn’t one of the original disciples. He didn’t know Jesus the way the originals who walked with him knew.”
So what does Peter say in chapter three? We’ll start in verse 15.
“But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ, may be ashamed of their slander.”
So two things are going on here, right? You’re giving an answer, which implies that they’re actually asking the questions. But you’re also setting such a good example, that as they slander you, they actually should be ashamed. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits – to those who were disobedient long ago, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
Okay, so strange things are going on here. First, Jesus suffers and dies. Have you noticed that the “proclamation” is after he’s made alive? Now, other people have different versions of that.
So what does the King James version say? Going from verse 18 to verse 19: “He was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient…”
So when does he do this? Does he do this before or after? He’s quickened by the Spirit. Yes, after he’s made alive he goes and preaches to the spirits in prison. Right. A lot of people think that that means that he did the proclamation while he was dead. That makes no sense from the way the passage reads.
Okay. So Peter’s story jumps down to Noah and the ark. Somehow. You might think he’s completely illogical here. But no, those spirits were imprisoned at the time of Noah and the ark. And they’re still there by the time Jesus comes back to life.
Does that make it clear enough? Peter is making a distinction between the fate of those who disobeyed during Noah’s time and Noah’s family, who were saved from the flood in the ark.
“In it, [the ark,] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water. Oh, this is where you go with that. And this water symbolizes baptism that saves you also, not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand, with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.”
So, what Peter is saying, like Paul, is that the baptism of the Spirit is foreshadowed by previous biblical events. In Paul’s case, it is by the Exodus crossing of the Red Sea. Peter is talking about how being in the ark surrounded by water, with water also coming down from heaven on them. (With 40 days of rain, you may as well be underwater.)
That’s the passage through the Ark from one world to another, like the passage from slavery into freedom, and like the passage from outside the promised land into the promised land, these are symbolized by a baptism through the water of death to a new life.
So for Peter baptism not only saves life but also functions as a pledge of remaining in a good conscience with God.
Cleaning out sinfulness is why it is necessary to repent and be baptized. It’s in that order, right? So we are working along with the Holy Spirit to cleanse the sinfulness out of our lives. So we must clean out not just the actual physical sin, but the desire to sin, from our lives.
Now, the context here first: Peter is saying that suffering is involved and suffering for doing good is involved. So we should be willing to suffer for doing good while avoiding what’s doing evil. And you know, the reference is to Jesus himself. He suffered for doing good. Not only that: he suffered to pay for our sin.
Let’s go to Romans chapter six. Start in verse one.
“What shall we say that? Should we go on sinning so the grace may increase? By no means we are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer?”
So obviously, the passage from death to life is symbolized by baptism. We have died to sin. Sin is left there in the water as we come out.
“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”
So we have symbolically died. When immersed in water baptism, you become a new person. Symbolically it also frees us from slavery to sin, just like the Red Sea crossing brought freedom from slavery to Egypt. You know that death marks the end of pretty much all of our human obligations. In the normal marriage vows, what do they say? Till death do us part.
As we rise from death to life we’re freed from our slavery. We’re participating in Jesus’ resurrection symbolically as we come out of the water. So we can enter into life debt-free. And we enter into a life debt with the one who freed us. So basically, we’re in debt to Jesus for saving us.
He also shows that there’s a connection in Colossians 2. There’s another connection with baptism, or between baptism and something else.
To verse 12: “Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Well, I started a little bit too late there. If we go back to verse 11 he says, “In him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism.”
Do you see the connection there? Verses 11 and 12 talk about how circumcision is replaced by baptism. And the thing that they only did for women because they didn’t have the part that can be cut off is done to all of us. Because our whole self needs to be cut off. We have a new self created as it were.
So baptism is a sign of entering into a covenant with God, the way circumcision was made as a sign of entering a covenant with Abraham, between Abraham and God.
So how do we know that the baptism of John was legitimate and the baptism of Jesus was legitimate? Turn to Luke chapter three.
In verse 15, “The people were waiting expectedly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all. ‘I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
In verse 21, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened
and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
So how do we know that Jesus can baptize with the Spirit? Well, it kind of helps if you know that he has the spirit right? It kind of helps if you actually see the Spirit descending upon him and resting on him, that he can then put his hands on you or breathe the spirit into you, such as in John chapter 20, Verse 19.
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John includes this particular story he realizes that this is something important that disciples of the next generation need to know. They need to know that Jesus actually breathed on them to give them spirit.
It wasn’t manifest to the world until Pentecost. And one of the reasons I wanted to talk about baptism today is that we’re going to be moving into the Pentecost season pretty soon here. But Jesus gave the Spirit to them first before they manifested it to the world. And where does the symbol of breathing on them come from?
God breathed life into humanity at the very beginning, and now he’s breathing new life into his disciples.
Comment from the congregation: God ensures that the Bible always provides examples as time progresses for us to look at and realize that he’s consistent. He’s working out his plan consistently down through the ages. You need the Old Testament plus the Spirit to really grasp the New Testament. The spirit guides us to understand how it all connects together, and how consistent God is.
Amen. Yes, so I want to talk next week more about having the spirit and how we, among other things, we know we have the Spirit.
John Valade 
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