Water,
Washing, and Baptism
While in the process of reviewing a lesson from one of my
teachers (Les Feldick’s “Through the Bible” Series: Book 54, Lesson Three, Part
IV - https://www.lesfeldick.org/lesbk54.html ),
I was drawn to look further into his discussion about “baptism”. As I turned to my Strong’s Expanded
Concordance, I hoped to trace that concept to see when it first appeared in
Scripture. To my surprise, the word
“baptism” did not appear at all in the Old Testament, but first came in the New
Testament’s Book of Matthew, Chapter Three.
Most Christians will recognize the verses related to John
the Baptist, who was the herald announcing the presence of Israel’s
long-awaited Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. Further, it was then that we
learned that the Lord Jesus had come from Galilee to the Jordan River specifically
to be baptized by John. When John was reluctant to baptize Him, the Lord Jesus
responded, saying: “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness.” (Matthew 3: 13-15)
Many Christians believe that the Lord’s response was an
indication that all His followers should receive a water baptism to receive righteousness.
However, in considering the discussion presented by Les Feldick in the lesson
noted above, there might be another reason for His reply to John the Baptist. As
a result, I wanted to look further into some of the key factors involved in baptism,
specifically the use of water, and the process of washing. Although
the word “baptism” itself was not cited in the Old Testament, related concepts
were.
Baptism is defined in the Strong’s Concordance as related
to the English translation of three Greek words: “baptizo” (# 907); “baptisma”
(# 908); and “baptismos” (# 909). Because of the length and varied content of the
full definitions, I will not repeat that information here. However, it you do
not already possess your personal copy of that valuable reference, I refer you
to these two internet-based resources: https://strongsconcordance.org/ ;
and https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/strongs-concordance/?g=1
The key points I’d like to make are that the concept of
baptism has been used in several instances, in both the Old and New Testaments.
Common to many of those usages are the processes of immersion, submersion,
and emergence from water or another agent / medium. Consistent with
the usages of other descriptive terms in the Bible, the writers used baptism to
describe events either literally or figuratively. For example, the literal
water “baptism” of immersion, submersion and emergence from the Jordan River conducted
by John the Baptist in Matthew Chapter Three, can be contrasted to the figurative
baptism of the people of the Nation of Israel as they left slavery in Egypt,
crossed the Red Sea, “And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”
(1 Corinthians 10: 1-2)
When our Lord Jesus wanted to teach His Disciples an
important lesson about service in His Name, He demonstrated by washing their
feet. (John 13: 1-17) But as with many of the Lord’s teachings, there were
likely other lessons hidden in the literal messages. I would like to review that one lesson and
offer some potentially useful additional insight into how that example might
help us better understand other parts of the Scripture.
First I’d like to focus on some specific verses
describing what the Lord did in washing their feet. Note the Book of John,
Chapter Thirteen, Verses 3-5: “3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands,
and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4 He
riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded
himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a
bason (basin), and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe
them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”
[Since Scripture reports that
supper had just ended, it is likely / probable that they had all previously
washed their feet or had someone else do it for them before they dined.
Remember the environmental factors and conditions in Israel at the time… geography
and climate (dirt roads); use of sandals and other open footwear; agrarian
lifestyle; presence of animal and human waste on the roads…all contributed
daily to poor sanitation of people’s feet. The Lord’s washing of their feet was
literal, but hopefully not as necessary as it would have been had they just
come in from the dirty roads.]
At this point I’d like to suggest more details which I believe the
Lord might have followed in accomplishing his washing of the Disciples’
feet:
1.
The Lord poured some clean water into the basin.
2.
He asked the Disciple to place / immerse
his soiled feet into the basin of water.
3.
Once the layer(s) of dust / dirt had been softened /
dissolved, the Lord discarded the dirty water.
Full submersion of the feet would remove all the offensive
dirt / material.
4.
The basin would then be refilled with clean water to
rinse the feet.
5.
As the Disciple’s feet emerged from
the basin, they were restored to their prior / pre-soiled condition by the
Lord’s drying them with His towel.
I’ve raised these points to note their relationship to a few other
significant events in Bible history, chosen from the Old Testament. One seldom
used example appears quite early in the Bible, as follows:
Genesis Chapter One: “1 In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters.”
Note that in Verse # 1, God
had created the heaven and the earth. Undoubtedly they were perfect, and for
our example can be imagined to be a basin containing clean water. However, in Verse # 2, there is every
indication that the “perfection” had been fully disrupted in a most negative
way. The descriptive words “without form and void” tell us that the “basin”
(heaven and Earth) was totally wrecked, while the words “the deep” and “the
waters” inform us that the “clean water” had been soiled / fouled by some
unidentified agent. The remnants of the “basin” were submerged.
The Second Verse continues by
noting that the Spirit of God moved on those “contaminated” waters,
leading the reader to the expectation that something good and glorious was to
follow in the ensuing verses. That expectation would quickly be realized as God
reconstructed the “basin” (heaven and Earth) and began the process of filling
it with “perfectly clean water”, such that “it emerged” as a new setting
to benefit man’s walk in life. I would ask that you re-read all of
Genesis Chapter One in that context of the Lord Jesus’ lesson as noted above.
In a likely better recognized
example, consider the role of water and the “deep seas” in the story of Jonah
and the whale. (Jonah 1: 17 – 2: 10) The
fact that the LORD chose to send Jonah as His personal messenger to Nineveh
gives the reader no background except to assume that Jonah had “clean feet”.
(Jonah 1: 1-2). However, quickly Jonah’s “feet” became “soiled” as he chose to
violate the LORD’s instructions to avoid helping those “sinful Gentiles” in
Nineveh. Jonah chose the waters of the seas to be his avenue of escape, but the
LORD made that environment to be his ”basin of cleansing”. Jonah had been “immersed”
/ tossed into the seas by his fearful shipmates, and then submerged
in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights. As his prayers
of contrition were heard and accepted by the LORD, they served to wash / rinse
away the “soil” from his feet, as with clean water. The LORD reinstated Jonah’s
standing as with “clean feet”. Then Jonah emerged from the belly of the
whale restored, to do as the LORD had originally instructed.
With these examples, I’d like
to challenge you to look for other possible examples that follow the sequence of
“Water, Washing, and Baptism” as shown in the title of this post. Literal and
figurative examples are both encouraged. (As a hint, you might consider starting
with the Scripture reference to the “baptism of the Holy Spirit”.)
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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