BAPTISM

Related Articles

FULFILLMENT OF A PROMISE, THEN CONFLICT

April 6, 2023

THE CONCEPT OF ORIGINAL SIN AND THE RESPONSE OF GUILT AND BLAME

April 6, 2023

SYLLABUS for the book of GENESIS

April 5, 2023

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

Matthew 3:1-17
Lesson #05
BAPTISM

• Memory verse: Mat 3:17
• Background:
  • Identification of Religious and Political Entities:
    • The Sanhedrin – 71 member of the religious council that controlled religious aspects in Israel.
    • Caiaphas – The high priest.
    • Council Members consisted of Sadducees, Pharisees, Scribes, and Elders
    • Essenes – A religious community near Jerusalem.
    • Priests – Members of the religious priesthood from the tribe of Levi.
    • Nobles – Politically well-placed Jewish families.
  • The Sanhedrin:
    • The governing council of internal affairs, civil and religious, accountable to Pilate and Herod for civil matters.
    • They were the recognized headship of the Jewish people.
    • This organization probably originated about the 3rd century BC.
    • The members were mostly priests and Sadducean nobles, with some Pharisees, scribes, and elders presided over by a high priest.
    • They had the power of life and death but couldn’t execute the sentence of death as that was up to the Roman government.
  • The Sadducees:
    • They were considered the free thinkers or liberals.
    • A religious group that probably originated in the 3rd century BC.
    • They favored adopting Greek customs taking part in the Maccabean wars for their nation’s liberty that occurred between the books of Malachi and Matthew.
    • They were a priestly clique being the religious officials of the nation.
    • They were a small group but wealthy and influential group.
    • They controlled the Sanhedrin.
    • They did not believe in the resurrection of the body or the immortality of the soul, or the doctrine of future reward and punishment, or the existence of angels.
    • They accepted only the first 5 books of the Bible.
    • They rejected the teachings of the scribes and elders.
    • They joined with the Pharisees to trap Jesus.
  • The Pharisees:
    • They were the formalists of the time.
    • The Pharisee movement began in the 3rd century BC as a reaction against the Greek effort to Hellenize the Jews by getting the Jews to accept Greek culture and pagan religions.
    • They maintained national integrity and a strict conformity to Mosaic Law.
    • Formalism was the end result at the time Jesus came because they had added to the Mosaic Law a law of tradition by the scribes and elders.
    • They were the religious power of the time as they were backed by the majority of the people.
  • Scribes and/or Lawyers:
    • They were in charge of copying scripture.
    • Their duties were to add to the Law the regulations for minor details omitted in the Law, to explain the Law itself, to study and teach the Law, to interpret and make decisions being judges under the Law.
    • They were recognized as authorities.
    • The decisions of leading scribes became oral law or tradition.
  • Elders:
    • These were influential people ruling as representatives of the people.
  • Essenes:
    • They were considered the puritans.
    • This was a religious sect of about 4,000 in Jesus’ time who were strict separatists believing in a pious life separated from Jewish and Roman society.
    • They had all things in common, believing in the institution of marriage but abstaining from it.
    • Life was regulated by strict adherence to the Mosaic Law.
    • They lived in the wilderness around the Dead Sea.
    • It is supposed that they were the ones who hid the Dead Sea scrolls in wilderness caves.
    • They were not represented in the Sanhedrin having no interest in government.
  • Nazarite (Nazirite) Vow: Num 6:1-8
    • This was a vow made to God.
      • =1= The vow consisted of a promise to abstain from wine and other alcohol because all one’s joy is in the Lord and not in the pleasures of the world.
      • =2= The vow said a person was never to cut his hair to show his willingness to bear reproach for the glory of God,
      • =3= The vow said a person must never to have contact with anything dead because there is only life in God, not death.
      • =4= The vow said a person must be totally separated unto God.
    • There were 3 men in the Bible who were Nazarites for life.
      • They were Samuel, Samson, and John the Baptist.
      • The vow was made by the parents at the birth of the child.
    • There were others who were Nazarites for short periods of time.
    • Nazarite has nothing to do with the geographical area of Nazareth.
• Read Mat 3:1-12 The announcer of the King: John the Baptist
  • Who was John the Baptist?
    • John the Baptist was the first prophet in 400 years of silence.
    • His coming was prophesied in Isa 40:3.
    • The previous Old Testament prophet was Malachi.
      • Why was there 400 years of silence?
      • The people would not listen and obey the messages of the prophets sent by God. Therefore, God was silent for 400 years.
    • John was a second cousin to Jesus. His mother, Elizabeth, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were cousins who shared a close relationship. Jesus and John probably saw each other periodically as they were growing up.
    • John grew up in the wilderness. He ate and dressed differently than the average person of his time.(4)
      • Wearing rough clothing of camel’s hair was a characteristic of many Old Testament prophets. (2Kin 1:8)
      • The prophets of the Old Testament often looked different in order to call attention to their message.
    • It is possible that John was a member of the Essene religious community. However, he would have had to break that relationship to preach to the people.
    • John was also a “Nazarite” (Nazirite) for life. The vow was made by his parents, Elizabeth and Zacharias.
  • With John the Baptist, we have a dividing of history.
    • He marked the beginning of a new era. (See Mat 11:13 and Luk 16:16.)
    • It was the end of the age of the prophets and the Mosaic Law and the beginning of the age of grace.
  • What was the message of John the Baptist?
    • In John the Baptist’s teachings we have practically all the major articles of the Christian faith on which major Christian doctrine is based. For example:
      • Pre-existence of Jesus Christ. (Joh 1:15; 3:28-31)
      • Jesus’ sacrifice as atonement for sin. (Joh 1:29,36)
      • The deity of Jesus Christ. (Joh 1:34; 3:28-31)
      • The kingdom of God. (Mat 3:2)
      • Sin. (Joh 1:29)
      • Repentance. (Mat 3:11)
      • Baptism. (Mat 3:11)
      • Confession of faith.
    • The message we find in Matthew is predominately repentance and baptism.
      • Repentance
        • John renounced evil wherever he saw it. He did not change his message to impress men.
        • Jews recognized the word repentance.
        • It was a concept central to all religious faith and to a relationship to God.
        • They knew that only God could forgive someone of sin.
        • The Jewish word for repentance (teshubah) means = to turn: a turning from evil and turning to God. (Eze 33:11)
        • What religious people came to see John baptize? (7)

The Pharisees and Sadducees

Why did John object to their coming?

Their lives did not bear the fruit of repentance.(8)

They had an outward appearance of religion but were sinners inwardly.

• • • • • What was the purpose of John’s ministry?

Read Isa 40:3

He was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.

All major surfaced roads were constructed by the king and for the use of the king.

They were called “The King’s Highway”.

They were repaired only as the king needed them for a journey. Before the king was due to arrive, a message was sent to the people to get the road repaired for the king’s journey.

John is calling for the repair of one’s life because the King is coming.

• • • • • What was the meaning of the baptism by John the Baptist?

Water baptism and the Jews

Water baptism was not new to the Jews. If a Gentile decided to become a proselyte to the religion of Judaism, he was baptized.

However, no Jew was ever baptized.

Water baptism and the New Testament believer:

Baptism is the outward evidence of the repentance that occurred inside.

Read Rom 6:1-6. Man was not saved by baptism in John’s day nor is he saved by baptism today.

 

Jesus’ Death	Physical act of Baptism	Spiritual Meaning of Baptism
Jesus’ crucified body was buried in the earth.	Our physical body is put under the water.	After repentance our sin nature was buried with Christ vicariously when He was buried. Col 2:12
Jesus was raised from the dead to a new resurrected body.	Our physical body is raised up out of the water.	We are raised spiritually to a new life being new creatures in a resurrected Jesus Christ. (Col 2:12 Gal 2:20)

• Read Mat 3:13-17 The baptism of Jesus
  • Since baptism was a public testimony of repentance from sin, why did Jesus insist on being baptized when He was not a sinner?
  • The Bible does not specifically explain why Jesus was baptized. The following list presents possible reasons.
    • It marks his entrance into public ministry.
    • It introduces Jesus as the coming King.
    • It enables Him to identify with sinners. (2Cor 5:21 Isa 53:12)
    • It prophetically speaks of his own coming death. (Mat 20:22)
    • He becomes a model to us to follow Him in baptism.
    • Three-fold baptism for the believer

	Baptism of Repentance	Water Baptism	Holy Spirit Baptism
Candidate:	New convert	New convert	New convert
Baptizer:	Holy Spirit	Disciple	Jesus
Medium:	Body of Christ	Water	Holy Spirit
Purpose:	To receive new life	To witness to new birth	To receive power
Scriptural Occurrences:	John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples before the crucifixion Joh 3:22-23	3,000 baptized and added to the church Act 2:41	Disciples on the day of Pentecost in the upper room Act 2:1-4
Scriptures:	Mar 1:4 Luk 3:3 Act 13:24 Act 19:4	Luk 3:16 Rom 6:4 Col 2:12 Joh 1:31	Luk 3:16 Act 2:38-39 Act 1:8
Present-day Practice:	Occurs internally when one is born again.	Sprinkling or total immersion	Evangelical position: this occurs automatically at the time of new birth. Pentecostal and Charismatic position: it occurs when one asks for the experience some time after new birth.

Homework

Matthew 3 continued

• Application of Mat 3
  • If you have not been baptized in water since accepting Christ as your savior, pray and ask God to open the possibility for you.
    • You may want to talk to the pastor.
  • If you have never been baptized in the Holy Spirit, pray and ask God to reveal his timing for you.
    • You may want to talk to the pastor, to me, or to another believer who has had the experience to pray with you.
• Preparation for the Parables in Mat 3
  • Parable #1 Mat 3:7 Parable of vipers and their offspring
    • What is the central truth of the parable?
    • Who are the generation of vipers?
    • What is the wrath to come?
  • Parable #2 Mat 3:10 Parable of axes and trees
    • What is the central truth of the parable?
    • What is represented by the ax laid to the root of the trees?
    • What do the trees that do not bring forth good fruit represent?
    • What does the fire represent?
  • Parable #3 Mat 3:11-12 Parable of the wheat harvest
    • What is the central truth of this parable?
    • Who is the one with the shoes that John is not worthy to carry?
    • Who is holding the fan?
    • What does the fan, the instrument of separation, represent?
    • What does the threshing floor represent?
    • What is the purging?
    • What is the wheat and what is the chaff?
    • What is the granary?
    • What is the unquenchable fire?
• Memory verse: Psa 1:6