Lesson 2368

(Lesson 2368)(06-08-18) Matthew 21:23-27
    “And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.”

   In today’s quote, Jesus used the phrase “the baptism of John”, referring to the entirety of the overall message and actions of John the baptist. Jesus did that while challenging the Jewish hierarchy concerning their belief or disbelief in whether, or not, John’s message and actions were sanctioned by God.
    There is a very important lesson to be learned from Jesus’ use of the phrase “baptism of John”.
That lesson is that the term ‘baptism’ was used to define, not the water immersion portion of what John accomplished, but rather, and more importantly, the phrase was intended to define the message that John conveyed.
    One cannot believe, or disbelieve a water baptism. Since water baptism is an overt, physical action, it cannot be reasonably denied. Therefore, it is blatantly obvious that Jesus, when He applied the phrase, “the baptism of John”,  was referring to the message that John conveyed, which was, “repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
    This is yet another scriptural application of the term “baptism” that is not, in any way, related to water immersion.~