“Water Rationing?”

Monday, October 27, 2014

    I have a friend who claims Christians must be baptized by full immersion.  I was wondering why in Luke 11:38 when Jesus ate at a Pharisee’s house, "the Pharisee was astonished to see that He did not first wash [baptizo] before dinner."  Since I'm pretty sure they did not practice full bodily immersion before dinner (tradition indicates that they just washed their hands), Scripture seems to indicate ‘baptizo’ can mean cleansing or ritual washing as well as immersion.

Also, in Ezek 36:25-27, "I will SPRINKLE clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols, I will cleanse you.  A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you... and I will put My Spirit within you..." Doesn't this Old Testament verse pre-figure baptism?

Sincerely,
Just A Dash Please

Dear Just A Dash Please,

The word ‘baptizo’ means ‘immersion’, but context tells us what is being immersed.  In Lk 11:38, the Pharisees would immerse their hands in water to wash them.  In Jhn 3:23, John the Baptist was immersing their entire bodies, and that is why he needed “much water”.  The word doesn’t ever mean sprinkle, splash, or any other type of washing other than full immersion.  In fact, the word ‘baptizo’ is the word that was used by sailors to describe a sunken ship because it had become immersed under the sea.  Your friend is right; we do need to be baptized by full immersion.

As for the verse in Ezek 36:25-27, that is a reference to how God would cleanse the Jewish nation from idolatry.  Ezekiel isn’t referring to literal sprinkling of water; he is referring to the lesson they would learn by spending seventy years in captivity.  When Israel came out of captivity, they would have learned not to worship idols.  Yes, that prophecy pre-dates the New Testament, but no, it doesn’t contradict or alter God’s command to be baptized (1 Pet 3:21, Acts 2:38, Mk 16:16).

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