Many explanations about baptism begin with the meaning of the word “to baptize” or “to immerse,” or with the ritual of baptism; the person being baptized being submerged in the water and being raised above water again.  But a question that still lies behind this ritual is this: how did the Lord Jesus come to the point to institute baptism?

From where does the water ritual come?  And why was it that, when John the Baptist began his ministry, so many Jews came to him and let themselves be baptized?  On what did John base this baptism?  If he came with a new and unknown ritual, then it would be very strange that so many would allow him to baptize them.  On what did John base this ritual or to what did he connect it?

Death and Resurrection⤒🔗

Perhaps you, yourself, have never asked this question.  For us today, we are conversant with the ritual of baptism.  Within the church, we have known it for centuries.  In it we see a beautiful and powerful illustration of the believer, who, just as Christ, dies and is buried, following this stands up, rising, clean, out of the watery grave.  The key witness for this way of thinking appears to be Romans 6:3-5: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

Seen from Romans 6, that which we see happen in baptism all seems very logical and moving.  But it does call forth the question:  John the Baptist began baptizing and at that time, Christ had not yet died and risen again!

Upon closer inspection, this link between our baptism and Romans 6 is not that simple, for the meaning of Romans 6 is not as unambiguous as it is thought to be.  J. van Bruggen has pointed out that, in Romans 6, it does speak about being baptized into the death of Christ, but that the resurrection is not connected with baptism.  That is also not possible, according to Van Bruggen, for, to his thinking, baptism represents a drowning.  He sees baptism as an indication of the judgment that we have earned; you can not be immersed/ drowned into a resurrection and a new life!

J.P. Versteeg has also rejected the thought that Paul, in Romans 6, would describe baptism as a symbol for the dying and resurrection of the believer.  The confessional reasoning in Romans 5 and 6 demands, according to him, that we read it differently.  We are, according to Versteeg, through our baptism, bound to the Christ of Romans 5.  That is the Christ that we know out of salvation history, who by his righteousness, obtained life for us, sinners-with-Adam.  Through our baptism, we are sacramentally connected with this Christ, who died for us and was buried, and who also was raised for us to a new life.  Versteeg thus says: not our baptism but our being connected to Christ makes that we have died to sin and now live for God.  We do not obtain that in our baptism, but we obtain it in Christ to whom we have become connected in our baptism.  We must therefore not be too quick to connect the ritual of baptism with and deduce from it the connection with Christ’s death and resurrection.

But, if we are not to see baptism as an apt reflection of dying and being resurrected with Christ, of what is it then a sign?  What is then its meaning?  More to the point yet, where does that water bath originate?

Ritual of Water←⤒🔗

You would say, baptism comes from Christ.   He instituted it when he sent his disciples out to proclaim the gospel.  At that time he mandated that the peoples should be made to be his disciples and should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  From of old, we, as church, see the institution of baptism described here, and rightly so.  However, the question remains: how did Christ come to the idea to use this water ritual?

Looking into the background of baptism, people have referred to the cleansings which were well-known in the Old Testament.  Before they went in to serve God in God’s holy place, the priests had to wash themselves (Exodus 29:4).  There was a separate basin in the tabernacle and the temple for the cleansing of the priests when they went in to do the work appointed for them. (Exodus 30:17-21)  This was also mandated for the Levites.  Even all of the people were required to cleanse themselves before they could meet the LORD at Sinai (Exodus 19:10; also Genesis 35:2) and also in order to return to regular life after a period of being unclean. (Leviticus 14:7-9; 2 Samuel 12:20)

Your cleansing was necessary in order to prepare you to meet God.  This cleansing had to be paired with inner conversion and a holy life. (Isaiah 1:16,17)  When the prophet Malachi announces the Day of the Lord, he says that it will be preceded by the coming of the prophet Elijah.  He is to bring the people back to the law of Moses and to single-hearted worship of the LORD.  Otherwise, at his coming, the LORD would have to destroy the land totally (Malachi 3:22-24).  As stated in the prophecy of Malachi, John the Baptist came and called the people to repentance, so that they would be able to meet the Lord (Luke 1:16-17).  His appearance was connected with a baptism, which is described in John 3:25 as a ritual of cleansing.  The people were required to cleanse themselves for the coming of and meeting with the Lord.

So, for the baptism of John the Baptist, one can think back to a background of washing or cleansing of the old covenant.  But this does not explain the Christian baptism that we now know, for the baptism instituted by Christ is a different baptism from that of John.  The baptism of Christ, instituted in Matthew 28 is not there as a preparation for meeting with Him.  We know this because the institution takes place after the coming and the work of Christ.  It is also a baptism that, in the Bible, is emphatically differentiated from the baptism of John: John baptised with water, Christ baptizes with the Spirit (Luke 3:16-17; Acts 1:5; 19:1-4).  John also explicitly differentiates between himself and the One who is coming after him.

As background for the water of baptism, also the flood and the journey through the Red Sea have been mentioned.  Peter calls the water of the flood a foreshadowing of the water of baptism (1 Peter 3:21), and Paul writes about the baptism of Israel in (the cloud and in) the sea (1 Corinthians 10:2).  My impression is that both apostles, looking at things after the event, connect both events with baptism, but that you can not say that Israel, since the flood and since the passage through the Red Sea, lived in the expectation of a water ritual such as our baptism.

As a background of Christian baptism, people have also referred to the Jewish baptism of proselytes.  Heathens who wanted to become Jews did not only have to undergo circumcision and bring an offering, but also had to be immersed in water: the so-called baptism of proselytes.  But the connection between our Christian baptism and the Jewish baptism of proselytes is not logical.  Although, in both cases it is about initiation or consecration into a new connection, there are clear and essential differences between the Christian baptism and the Jewish baptism of proselytes:

1. The baptism of proselytes was done by the proselyte himself while the Christian baptism is administered to the person being baptised.  Christ commands his disciples to baptise the people. 
    
2. Children of proselytes who were born after their parents were converted to become Jews, were not baptized, while Christian baptism is administered to all children, also to those who are born after the conversion of their parents. 
    
3. For Christian baptism, the connection with Christ, and in particular with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is real and essential; and is very much not Jewish. 
    
4. Circumcision was rejected as a typical Jewish ritual of consecration; would the church then have adopted the Jewish proselyte baptism, which was also Jewish, as a rite of initiation?

Ezekiel 36←⤒🔗

For Christ, there must have been a different background that brought him to the institution of baptism.  According to my understanding, the source of this water ritual, which baptism is, must be sought in Ezekiel.

In the time of the Babylonian captivity, Ezekiel proclaims a time of salvation in which the LORD will again look upon his scattered nation.  The LORD will reveal Who He is; the LORD, Jahweh, the God who is faithful to His covenant.  He will bring his people together out of all the nations in which they were scattered and He will give them a place to serve Him.  He is not going to do that because the people have earned it; He is not doing it for their sakes, but for the sake of His holy name.  The LORD will again cause His great name, which was profaned through the idolatry of his people, to be respected and honoured.  He will show that He is holy.  And then he announces, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules”. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

The Lord speaks of water and His Spirit to cleanse you.  The Spirit which God will implant into their hearts is spoken of here.  Also in other places in the prophets, the image of water is often used along with the gift of God’s Spirit.  Thus, Joel prophesies that God will “pour out my Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28).  Isaiah speaks about a destruction which will last “until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high” (Isaiah 32:15).  And elsewhere this prophet announces that the Lord will arise on behalf of his people; “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” (Isaiah 44:3)

When John the Baptist makes his appearance, his central message is that the time has come when the prophecies of the prophets will be fulfilled.  That which they have promised, the kingdom of heaven is near (Matthew 3:2).  That which the prophets of God spoke about will now happen.  It is the kingdom for which, according to Ezekiel, the cleansing water and the Spirit which cause them to walk in God’s ways are characteristic.  You can only see and enter into that kingdom when you are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:3, 5), the two things which Ezekiel proclaimed.  John has come and baptizes with water: a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins – the first part of the prophecy of Ezekiel 36.  And he does not only baptize; he also preaches.  He proclaims the second phase of Ezekiel’s prophecy: the Spirit which will be poured out:  “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming ….He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16).  The Spirit will descend on the One who is coming and stay on Him.  Presently, He will receive, from the Father, the right of disposal of the Spirit, and He will pour it out over His disciples (John 1:30-35; Acts 1:5; 2:33).  The Spirit is connected by Christ to streams of living water  (John 7:38-39).