Lesson 679

(Lesson 679)(06-29-13) The next appearance of a form of the term "baptize" appears in Luke 3:21-22, "Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased."

It would do us well to note that when this text says, "Now when all the people were baptized", the implication could be that everyone present was immersed in water. That, however, is NOT the case. Matthew 11:30-31 asks the question, "The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, WHY THEN DID YE NOT BELIEVE HIM?" This clearly establishes that those "chief priests, scribes and elders" had not believed him. Therefore, they obviously heard John's message (baptism), but chose not to believe, with this knowledge, it becomes reasonable to assume that the priests, scribes and elders, along with unknown others were NOT immersed in the water "baptism" offered by John.

If I haven't muddled this to the point that it is impossible to understand, we can see that ALL the people present received John's message and were in fact "baptized", but not everyone participated in his water "baptism". ~