"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
Today's lesson will finish our study into the actual instructions Jesus left us in Matthew 28:16-20.
It is attributed to Jesus as having uttered the word baptize, or one of its grammatical variations, baptism, baptizing, etc, not including the repetitions of different accounts, a total of only eleven times during His entire ministry. Six of those usages appear in Matthew 20:22-23, "But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be (1)baptized with the (2)baptism that I am (3)baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be (4)baptized with the (5)baptism that I am (6)baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father."
Two more usages are found in Luke 12:60, "But I have a (7)baptism to be (8)baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!"
Another usage is found in Matthew 28:19, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, (9)baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost".
Another usage is found in Matthew 28:19, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, (9)baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost".
Two more usages are found in Acts 1:5, "For John truly (10)baptized with water; but ye shall be (11) baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."
Of all those eleven usages, Jesus applied the term "baptized" only once in reference to the use of water as the medium into which the baptisms were to occur. That usage is found in Acts 1:5 when Jesus, referring to John the Baptist, said "For John truly baptized with water".
Jesus used variations of the term baptize to describe His own crucifixion, He used the term to describe the taking on, or overwhelming, of the Holy Ghost, He used the term to describe the message that John the Baptist brought to the Jews. But He, only once, used any variation of the term "baptize" in reference to a water immersion.
From this information it becomes very obvious that physical water immersion was of little importance to the message Jesus came to teach. However, the baptism of the Holy Ghost as well as the baptism of one's eternal soul, by faith, into the spiritual body of Christ and thereby into His death, burial and resurrection, was, and is, profoundly important to His message. As a matter of fact, those baptisms are fundamental to the entire gospel of Jesus Christ.
Formed from all this information, it is my opinion that Matthew 28:19 instructs us to go all over the world and teach the complete concept of our one true, living God in all of His three distinctly different appearances. "The Father", the Alpha and Omega, He is our omnipotent creator and the only entity to whom we will all be ultimately required to answer. "The Son", He is, through faith in Him, our ONLY intercessor before the Father for the sin inherent in all of us since the fall of Adam. "The Holy Ghost", He is our personal, day to day, contact with the Father, our strength, our healer, and our comfort.
Baptism into this concept is what Christians are to preach.~
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