"Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."
In today's quote, Jesus rebuked His apostles for not having enough faith to believe He had returned from the dead.
Today's quote also contains one the most misunderstood and misinterpreted verses in the whole bible. Verse fourteen of this lesson says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."
Mark 16:16 and Matthew 28:19-20 are simply two different accounts of the same final instructions that Jesus gave to His apostles given before He ascended back to heaven. They are both grossly misunderstood by almost every known religious organization.
I say they are misunderstood and misinterpreted because in both instances variations of the transliterated word baptize: "baptizing" (Matthew 28:19) and "baptized" (Mark 16:16); are most always taken to describe a totally wrong action, that is an immersion, or sprinkling, exclusively in water. Beginning here, I will attempt to prove the validity of what I have asserted.
The English word "baptize", and it's grammatical variations (except for the word 'baptism' a noun which was transliterated from the Greek word "baptisma", also a noun) were all transliterated from the Greek word 'baptizo'. The word "baptize" was never intended to convey the medium into which a person, or thing, is to be 'baptized', that is meant to be established by the context within which the word is applied. The Greek word 'baptizo' (or 'baptidzo') is a 'one word fits all' term that can define anything having to do with placing one item into another AND LEAVING IT THERE for the purpose of altering the form or state of that item.
In simpler terms, to "baptize" simply means to permanently place an item (or person) into some substance or ideology, leaving it there to achieve a desired effect.
A great example of what the Greek word 'baptizo' (English 'baptize') actually means, and what its application implies in today's lesson as well as in Matthew 28:19-20, is given in the only application I've been able to find where the two words "bapto" (to dip) and "baptizo"(to permanently install) were used in common Greek conversation, is in a recipe for pickling vegetables that was written by the Greek poet and physician Nicander who lived around 200 BC.
NOTE:Tomorrow's lesson will take up here and go on in the explanation of what today's lesson and the passage from Matthew 28:19-20 actually are intended to tell us.~
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