Matt 3:6 And they were baptized by [John] in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. Rom 6:3 Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? (5) For if we have grown together with Him in the likeness of His death, indeed we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.
Matthew 3:5 and 6 reveal that many were baptized by [John] in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. To baptize people is to immerse them, to bury them in water, signifying death. John the Baptist did this to indicate that anyone who repents is good for nothing but burial. This also signifies the termination of the old person, that a new beginning may be realized in resurrection, to be brought in by Christ as the life-giver. Hence, following John's ministry, Christ came. John's baptism not only terminated those who repented, but also ushered them to Christ for life. Baptism in the Bible implies death and resurrection. To be baptized into the water is to be put into death and buried. To be raised up from the water means to be resurrected from death. Whenever anyone repented in the presence of John the Baptist, John put him into the water....By baptizing the repentant ones, John indicated that they and all their past had to be terminated and buried. Burial, however, was not the end, because burial always brings in resurrection. Thus, on the one hand, burial is termination, but on the other hand, it is also germination. Those whom John terminated in baptism were to be resurrected, not in him, but in the One who was to come after him.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, 1986, pp. 117. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
To unsubscribe from the mailing list, either: Send an email to: [email protected] (No subject or message needed; a blank email will work) or visit www.emanna.com and fill out the unsubscribe form there.
