It's the first week of our new sermon series and we're going to be focusing on churchy words for the next little while, up into next year. The purpose and I guess the idea behind this series is to take words that we use very regularly and commonly in church and try to help us understand them in the context of our culture, in the context of the church and in the context of scripture. It's going to look different each week how we do this. And this is the first one. And because we are having a baptism this morning, the sermon will be on the word baptism. And next week we are doing communion, and so the sermon will be on communion. We're starting where we should, with the two sacraments. And so that is kind of what the plan is. All right. Okay.
So, baptism. It's a word that we know. But a really important question to ask sometimes as the church when we have words like this is, are these words that are known and understood in our culture and in our society for unchurched people? What do they think when they hear the word baptism? Now, maybe you're already thinking, what context do you hear that word in society? I could think of one that was really popular, and maybe after the service you can let me know if you thought of others, but the one that came to my mind was baptism by fire. Baptism by fire, right?
You can imagine a conversation, two people. "Hey, I heard you're starting a new job this week." "Yeah." "Yeah, how did it go?" "Well, to be honest with you, it was kind of crazy. There was no orientation. There was no training. They were throwing me in, talking with clients. It was a total baptism by fire." It's this experience that's immersive, right, where you're just kind of thrown into something. Maybe there's an image of being in over your head, and this image of, well, the connection to fire is just like you're learning on the fly, right? This stuff is kind of happening. If you don't figure it out, it's sink or swim, or maybe you'll get burned if you don't figure it out. That is the context probably in secular society.
Now let's take a look at what the word means when we look in the Bible, in scripture. It's a word that we find in the New Testament. We don't really find it in the Old Testament, but we find it in the New Testament. And it's one the church has been using for 2,000 years. And it has a very simple meaning. And you've got to understand that the word didn't have like a churchy theme to it coming into the New Testament. It was just a Greek word that was used, and it meant dip. Dip, to dip, the verb. We could get into the secular meaning for that, but we're not going there. Dip is the idea of, kind of similar to the secular word, so you can see how these things transfer through, but dipping is taking something and immersing it in water, right? When you're in something, I guess, when you take something and you dip it, you're putting it in water and you're taking it out again. So remember that, okay? That word simply means that, as we look through all of our New Testament texts that we uncover and encounter this morning.
And so our text this morning comes from Matthew 28:16-20. This is the great commission. These are the last words of Christ on earth before his ascension. This is after his resurrection. So this is Christ in the flesh in front of his disciples when they have seen everything he is to show them. They have a greater clarity and understanding of who he is. And he gives them these final words.
"So then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, dipping them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"
All right. So, what does that mean? We have an idea in our head of what baptism is in our context. But this is coming to the disciples as, the words kind of probably more accurately as they're hearing it, that Jesus is basically saying, dip them in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now, we don't get an understanding here. Often when the disciples hear Jesus say something, we find out that they're perplexed or confused or don't understand. We don't really get that in this situation. It's hard to know how much they knew, but they must have known quite a bit, because the church figures this out. And this is the beginning of the church. Jesus is leaving. The church is being planted. And it really takes off in Acts 2, right, through Pentecost.
So what does this mean? Now, faith kind of comes through the Israelites. It comes through the Hebrews. It comes through all of these people. We know that faith is for more. It's for Gentiles. It's for all believers. But it comes through Israel. Israel had been prepared for thousands of years to be able to understand who Jesus was and what he meant when he says things like this. So, what I'd like to do this morning is try to help you have a snapshot of all of the things that Israelites knew and understood when they hear the words of Jesus. So, in order to do that, we kind of have to go way back. This is why we have the Old Testament. We have it so that we can study it and see everything in its context. So, I'm going to just try to blitz through the story, painting a bit of a picture of what they would have seen and understood as this comes.
All right, we're going all the way back to Abram. Okay, Abram is called by God. He's not an Israelite. There's no nation of Israel. He's just a guy at this point that God chooses, approaches, and says, "I'm going to make you a promise, but I want you to do something for me." He says, "I want you to go from this place that you currently are, and I want you to go where I direct you to go, and I promise that I will bless you." We get this in Genesis 12:1-3. "The Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country, your people, and your father's household to a land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse, and all people on earth will be blessed through you.'"
He also promised that he would give him the land of Canaan, the place where he's going. He says the nation that comes from you will inherit this land. This is a covenant. This is a two-way promise that is offered from God but requires something also from Abraham. God changes his name from Abram to Abraham, which goes from meaning father of none to father of many. And he offers him something to signify, a sign and seal of this. It's circumcision. That's the process by which this covenant is remembered, is sealed, is signified. And God says, "I will give you a land and a nation."
So Abraham has a son named Isaac. And then Isaac has a son named Jacob. And Jacob means Israel. So we have one person who's named Israel. And Israel has 12 sons, which is the 12 tribes of Israel. And they lived happily ever after. No. No. In fact, they get sold into slavery. Now, that's a really long story in scripture, but let me summarize it for you. 10 brothers get mad at one brother and they sell him into slavery. And through a series of wild circumstances, they all end up in slavery in the place that they basically sold him to, which is incredible. But they all end up in slavery in Egypt.
And as I was explaining to the kids earlier, God shows up to a man named Moses and says, "I am going to use you to rescue these people." And so he sends them to Pharaoh, and through a series of punishments, Pharaoh relents, lets them go, they run, they reach the Red Sea, and God parts the waters and they're able to pass through. And as Pharaoh and his army moves into the waters, the waters crash in on them. Sin, suffering, slavery is chasing after Israel. And God parts the waters for them to pass through and then brings the waters down on all of that oppression. They reach the other side and they live happily ever after. No, of course not.
Now they're in the wilderness, and pretty quickly they're saying, "We want to go back. We want to go back. We choose slavery over where we find ourselves now." And then they choose idols. They choose false gods. They choose greed. They choose all sorts of things that are not of God. And yet God meets them there and says, "I've made promises to you. Even though you're failing your end of the bargain, I will help you. I will give you law to guide your life. I will give you something to show you my will for you, for me to show you how to live. And I will provide you with presence." God shows up in the ark of the covenant, a place where he meets with his people. And this happens in the wilderness. They wander around, but the whole time, while making mistakes, they're learning and growing and learning more about God all the time.
Eventually, God leads them to the promised land. It's the land that is promised. That's why we call it the promised land. It is what was promised. And they know that they're basically right there in front of it. And Moses is there with them. He's led the people through this entire wilderness journey. And all they have to do is cross the Jordan River. But then Moses falls short in a powerful way, exposing what happens to all of Israel's leaders over the time, and he's not allowed to enter the promised land. And God says, "I need to appoint a new leader." And so he appoints a man named Joshua, or in Hebrew, Yeshua, which means God saves. And under the new leadership of Yeshua, God brings them to the banks of the Jordan River and he parts the waters for them to pass through. The ark of the covenant goes before them, God's presence, and they pass through once again on dry ground. And they reach the promised land and they live. No, they don't live happily ever after. It's more of the same.
When they enter the promised land, they're commanded to separate themselves from all these other people and they're not able to accomplish it. They end up living in relationship with these people that they're not supposed to, and they don't set boundaries of separation, and they end up in idolatry again, and they end up forsaking mercy and justice. And so even in the promised land, they struggle. And yet God says, "I've made a covenant with you and I will uphold my end even though you continue to fail."
And so then God sends prophets on his behalf. He sends these people who are powerful speakers, who are able to call Israel to repentance, telling them that they need to live differently. And they have these amazing, miraculous signs that they show the Israelites. And these signs, these miracles, are a foretaste of what God is doing. They're always illustrating something powerful about what is to come. And I'll give you one quick example from the ministry of Elisha.
There's this man named Naaman and he has leprosy, and he hears about this healer, this prophet who worships the one true God. And so through a series of events, he ends up in front of this prophet Elisha. And Elisha tells him to go wash in the Jordan River seven times. And Naaman thinks this is ridiculous. He knows of other water that's way more pure and clean. Why would he go wash himself? But the humility of his servant girl says to him, "You know, if he would have asked you to do something incredible, you would have done it. So why not just do this simple thing?" So while doubting, Naaman does what he's asked to do. He steps out in an act of faith and he's healed. It's an amazing miracle that points to the cleansing water and points back to the Jordan River.
Now, this cycle continues through this season of life in the promised land, to the point where God says, "You can no longer live in the promised land." And he exiles them. And there's this whole series of things going on where they get kings, and they have good kings and they have bad kings, and they're out of the promised land and they're back in, and they're being oppressed by other nations like Babylon and Persia. And all of this is happening. This cycle just continues, of people running from God and him calling them back.
And that leads all the way to the point where we find the New Testament gospels. This is now a season where they're living in the promised land, but they're under Roman oppression. The Romans did things different than some of the other nations. Instead of just fully suppressing everything, they said, "We're diplomatic. We're political. We'll let you kind of have your own government. We'll kind of let you have your own temple. We'll kind of let you have your own religion." But there was still oppression happening. And the Israelites knew that they were enslaved and they were still looking for rescue.
And so along comes this guy named John. John the... No, John the Dipper. Remember? Okay. Yeah. Thank you. John the Dipper comes along, and we've had a few sermons on this guy recently. We've had two, actually, where we've looked at how he's kind of this Old Testament prophet and how the people are wondering, is this Elijah? And maybe now, hearing the whole story, you can understand why they're wondering exactly who this guy is. And he sounds a lot like these Old Testament prophets because he's calling for repentance in the same way the law required in the Old Testament.
And then Jesus shows up, someone who John the Dipper was pointing to, saying, "There's someone coming whose sandals I'm not even worthy to untie." And he shows up where John is in the wilderness, and he is dipping people in the Jordan River. All sorts of amazing significance here. All sorts of imagery that all of these Israelites understand, the religious leaders understand. They know what's happening here. This is an outward cleansing of the body and a forgiveness of sins. And it was desperately desired by the people.
Jesus shows up and he says to John, "You need to dip me, too." And John's like, "No, that's not right. Because what I'm doing here is I'm offering a cleansing for those who have sinned. And Jesus, you are righteous, so you don't need this." And then Jesus says to John, "This needs to be done to fulfill all righteousness." In this we see that something is changing. Something is happening here. The baptism of John is being changed and transformed in the baptism of Jesus.
Jesus immediately after this goes into the wilderness. He's tempted by the devil, and we see that for the first time a religious leader sent to rescue Israel does not fail and does not sin. And then we get the ministry of his whole life, and yet they crucify him. The religious leaders don't see and understand who he is. They misunderstand it and they put him on the cross, and he dies. And then three days later, he raises, Lord of life over all things, showing that God himself has power even over the grave, over all things, and illustrating that Jesus wasn't just a prophet. He is the Son of God. And his followers know this.
So this is a story where Jesus is curious. He's asking his disciples what they know and what is happening. And he said to his disciples, "Who do the people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Dipper, others say Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." "But what about you? Who do you say I am?" And Simon Peter said, "You are the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of the living God." Now the name Jesus is the phonetic Greek pronunciation of the name Yeshua. It is the same name, and that matters. He's the new Joshua and he's the illustration that God saves.
So Jesus rises from the dead. He meets his apostles, or his disciples, and he tells them go into all nations and baptize them, and then he leaves, and we are all since then living happily ever after. No, we're not. We're not. Because even though when Christ came and instituted the kingdom of God, Jesus said the kingdom of God is at hand, we are living in a wilderness. We are in a season of already, the kingdom of God has come to fruition, but not yet, because Christ will come again to restore all things. We have not reached the final resting place, the promised land as it is presented to us, as the promises have been given to us. There is salvation, there is saving, but it is not yet fully realized.
And so, what did the disciples know as they were told this, as it was handed to them and as it was passed on through the church? Well, they knew that Jesus was the Son of God, as the profession that we hear from Simon Peter. And then there's these words that Jesus gives. He says, "I want you to go to all nations." And at that time, faith was only for the Israelites. In Acts 10, we get this beautiful image and understanding of how the gospel is brought to more than just the Israelites. Peter has a vision where he's sent to a Gentile's home. And when he goes there, he's shocked because they're praying. They're talking about understanding who God is. And he's amazed. Then he went, because he felt that Christ himself in a vision called him to go. And so this is what happens for Peter while he's in the presence of these Gentiles.
He says, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptisms that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on the cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen, by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testified about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
While Peter was speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles, for they heard them speak in tongues and praise God. And this is Peter's conclusion. So Peter said, "Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized and dipped with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." So he ordered that they be dipped in the name of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Son of God. He is sent to all nations. It's not just those who are Israelites, but it's everyone who's part of the covenant of Abraham, which is a covenant of promise that's extended to all who believe. Acts 19 talks about this and Romans 4 talks about this covenant, the covenant of circumcision being extended now through baptism. So this is for believers but it's also for their children.
Romans 4:1-12 says this. "What shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this manner? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God. What does scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.' Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God, who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 'Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.' Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before. And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised."
That's a bit of a confusing passage. The point is this. Things changed in and through Jesus Christ. John's baptism was one of repentance. But Jesus came and said, "You can't earn any of this on your own. I am the one that brings atonement to you." And so the dipping, the washing, the cleansing of our souls, of our relationship in and through Christ, is only in and through God and his Spirit that is given to the church. So when we baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are pointing to Christ. It is Christ's work and Christ's redemption that saves the church. And these promises are for us and our children.
Let's pray. Lord God, you have given us beautiful stories and imagery for us to understand, that help us to realize who you are and how you are rescuing us, how you have rescued us, how you are rescuing us, and how you will save us. Lord God, give us greater clarity and understanding. Holy Spirit, thank you for revealing truth to your church. Help us to live it out with boldness, in mission, and in truth. In your name, amen.