Why is there no evidence that Jesus baptised with immersion in water?

lsume

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We know that Jesus himself was baptised by immersion in water (Matthew 3).

John the Baptist preached that "one would come after who would baptise with spirit and fire", however, Jesus does not appear to have baptised anyone via immersion in water and yet, the apostles clearly did this long after the cross.

I am also querying the relationship between Christian baptisms, the sanctuary service, and Jesus as both our sacrificial lamb and high priest (i feel that there is a link i the sanctuary services that explains why Jesus did not baptise in water)

If the baptism via immersion as performed by John the Baptist was an important ritual, what happened as a result of a break in the timeline between the death of John the Baptist, and the Day of Pentecost approx 7 weeks after Jesus crucifixion? (John died quite some time before Jesus did so if baptism by immersion in water is crucial in salvation, what happened immediately after John the baptist died as there is no record of any further water baptisms until the apostles)
When it’s your time to be awakened and illuminated, you will understand baptism differently than you do now. As you probably know from The Word, all of God’s children must be taught directly by Christ. You might read Numbers 16 paying attention to the first use of the word “visitation” (KJV Numbers 16:29).
 
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chad kincham

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Jesus disciples continued water Baptism as Christs disciples.
Joh 4:2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
Cornelius was baptized...
Acts 10:45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

Good passage for showing that water baptism isn’t done to be saved, because they had already received the Holy Spirit which only happens after being born again.
 
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disciple Clint

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I've never heard that before.
Yes I thought it was very strange when I learned it as well. But history proves that it is a fact. those waiting to be killed in the Colosseum asked to be baptized and were baptized by non believers and the Church accepted those baptisms as being valid. I do not know if all denominations accept this as valid today.
 
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Ceallaigh

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Yes I thought it was very strange when I learned it as well. But history proves that it is a fact. those waiting to be killed in the Colosseum asked to be baptized and were baptized by non believers and the Church accepted those baptisms as being valid. I do not know if all denominations accept this as valid today.

That goes back to the Mormons asking me by who's authority I was baptized.
 
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GreekOrthodox

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Yes I thought it was very strange when I learned it as well. But history proves that it is a fact. those waiting to be killed in the Colosseum asked to be baptized and were baptized by non believers and the Church accepted those baptisms as being valid. I do not know if all denominations accept this as valid today.

Then there is the case of St. Genesius an 4th century actor who parodied baptism on stage and became a Christian and was martyred by Diocletian.

Genesius of Rome - OrthodoxWiki
 
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Albion

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That goes back to the Mormons asking me by who's authority I was baptized.
Strictly speaking, a layman may baptize. For example, nurses baptize people who are about to die, but they aren't ordained ministers or acting on the authorization of some denomination. Martyrs about to be eaten by the lions--unbaptized people giving their lives because they would not renounce Christ--are considered to have received a (non-ceremonial) "baptism of desire." And these baptismal irregularities are considered valid by the churches. So as for the Mormon question, the "authority" is Christ himself. Christian baptism is what it is because Christ commissioned his disciples to baptize new believers.
 
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Jaxxi

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We know that Jesus himself was baptised by immersion in water (Matthew 3).

John the Baptist preached that "one would come after who would baptise with spirit and fire", however, Jesus does not appear to have baptised anyone via immersion in water and yet, the apostles clearly did this long after the cross.

I am also querying the relationship between Christian baptisms, the sanctuary service, and Jesus as both our sacrificial lamb and high priest (i feel that there is a link i the sanctuary services that explains why Jesus did not baptise in water)

If the baptism via immersion as performed by John the Baptist was an important ritual, what happened as a result of a break in the timeline between the death of John the Baptist, and the Day of Pentecost approx 7 weeks after Jesus crucifixion? (John died quite some time before Jesus did so if baptism by immersion in water is crucial in salvation, what happened immediately after John the baptist died as there is no record of any further water baptisms until the apostles)
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He tarried with them, and baptized. John 3:22

When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John. John 4:1

It looks like He baptized people to me.
 
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Gregory Thompson

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We know that Jesus himself was baptised by immersion in water (Matthew 3).

John the Baptist preached that "one would come after who would baptise with spirit and fire", however, Jesus does not appear to have baptised anyone via immersion in water and yet, the apostles clearly did this long after the cross.

I am also querying the relationship between Christian baptisms, the sanctuary service, and Jesus as both our sacrificial lamb and high priest (i feel that there is a link i the sanctuary services that explains why Jesus did not baptise in water)

If the baptism via immersion as performed by John the Baptist was an important ritual, what happened as a result of a break in the timeline between the death of John the Baptist, and the Day of Pentecost approx 7 weeks after Jesus crucifixion? (John died quite some time before Jesus did so if baptism by immersion in water is crucial in salvation, what happened immediately after John the baptist died as there is no record of any further water baptisms until the apostles)
Full immersion baptism declined as healthy water was difficult to come by.

As clean water became more readily available, it became a thing again.

Imagine drinking in some infected water while being baptized and dying?
 
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Root of Jesse

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We know that Jesus himself was baptised by immersion in water (Matthew 3).

John the Baptist preached that "one would come after who would baptise with spirit and fire", however, Jesus does not appear to have baptised anyone via immersion in water and yet, the apostles clearly did this long after the cross.

I am also querying the relationship between Christian baptisms, the sanctuary service, and Jesus as both our sacrificial lamb and high priest (i feel that there is a link i the sanctuary services that explains why Jesus did not baptise in water)

If the baptism via immersion as performed by John the Baptist was an important ritual, what happened as a result of a break in the timeline between the death of John the Baptist, and the Day of Pentecost approx 7 weeks after Jesus crucifixion? (John died quite some time before Jesus did so if baptism by immersion in water is crucial in salvation, what happened immediately after John the baptist died as there is no record of any further water baptisms until the apostles)
There is no evidence, really, that most in Israel who were baptized by the apostles were baptized by immersion, either. In the speaking in in tongues incident, which took place in Jerusalem, baptizing 3000 men and their families by immersion would have likely polluted the entire drinking supply for a good while. You might say they went to the Jordan, but that's 20 miles away, and it's not related in Scripture that that's what happened. Jesus didn't tell the apostles how to baptize, he just said to do it.
 
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BeyondET

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John 3:
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there
He remained with them and baptized.
23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.
And they came and were baptized.
24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.
26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to
whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”

Hmm but isn’t this before the Baptist was thrown in prison. The OP mentions what happen after John’s death.
 
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Mr. M

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Hmm but isn’t this before the Baptist was thrown in prison. The OP mentions what happen after John’s death.
Good catch. I was responding to the statement earlier in the OP that "Jesus did not appear to baptize".
To answer the later question that you are referring to would be mere speculation. The fact that the
Gospel writers didn't make recurring reference to baptizing does not exclude the act.
 
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Bob Crowley

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Without reading all the answers, Christ didn't need to baptise anyone because He was God Himself, in the form of God the Son. When He "converted" someone, it was quite obvious, like a blind man seeing, a deaf man hearing, or lepers healed from their disease.

For us, Baptism is a sacrament, a visible sign of an invisible grace. Baptism by immersion or sprinkling, whatever method is chose, is simply a sign that the Holy Spirit has come upon that person. It's not the water that does the trick - it's just a sign.

In Christ's case, the grace was visible and immediate.
 
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ViaCrucis

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Mere semantics...the point is, John baptised with water, why is there no evidence Jesus did this, and if it was a new ritual started by John, how was that function fulfilled between Johns death and day of Pentecost?

Understanding this means understanding some things about Jewish practice. Specifically in Judaism ritual washing (called tevillah) was done for a number of reasons. These washings were to be done, usually, in a specific bath called a mikveh--wealthier Jewish households had their own mikvehs, but most Jews had to rely on public mikvehs.

St. John the Baptist, under his specific appointment as the Forerunner of our Lord, was in his prophetic work calling Israel back to repentance in the anticipation of God's imminent salvation and visitation to Israel, long ago promised by the ancient prophets, looking forward to the Day of the Lord, and the advent of the King Messiah son of David.

John's baptism/tevillah was a call for people to come and purify themselves in repentance through this ritual washing which John was doing. So what John was doing wasn't instituting a new ritual, but taking an existing ritual and imbuing it with a specific significance--the significance of repentance in anticipation of the advent of God's salvation into the world through the arrival of the promised messianic deliverer.

When Christ instituted Baptism for His Church, that was both a "new ritual" but also placed in the already established context of what was already familiar--the washing of water as an activity of God's mercy and power in a person's life is already established in the precedent of what had come before. But Christ takes what came before, and imbues them with His authority and power, giving them the significance of Himself.

Which is why when St. Paul encounters a group of "disciples" near Ephesus he discovers that they are horribly uninformed, which causes him to ask, "What baptism have you received?" And they respond that they had received John's baptism--and it is from here that Paul had to illuminate their minds by giving them the full picture, and then provides them with Christian Baptism.

John's baptism was a baptism of repentance in anticipation of Christ; the Sacrament of Holy Baptism which the Church administers in Christ's name, authority, and stead is that which Christ Himself instituted and gave for the purposes with which He gave it. So, for example, we read in the 2nd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles that this specifically Christian Baptism, "in the name of the Lord Jesus", washed away sins and conferred the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts of the Apostles 2:38), and that this Baptism was for both those hearing these words (many very likely were familiar with John's baptism, and many may have even been washed in John's baptism), and for their children, and for all who are far away--all whom God shall call to Himself.

And so the word of the Gospel came out of Jerusalem by the preaching of the Apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost to the whole apostolic work to which they were called. They preached the word, and those who heard the word were received into the Church through Baptism, even entire oikia, households, were baptized as we read in a couple places in the Acts of the Apostles.

Thus Christian Baptism has antecedent and precedent in what came before, even as the precious Eucharist which we celebrate is grounded in Paschal Seder, with Christ imbuing the breaking of bread and the drinking of the cup with new purpose and meaning. That the meal of remembrance of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt is now fulfilled and given new and special meaning in a new sacred supper instituted by Christ--wherein here in/with/under these elements of bread and wine is Christ Himself fully--His flesh and His blood, broken and shed for us and for our sins. For which reason this Supper was of such sacred importance that St. Paul gives a strong warning against abusing the bread and wine of the Supper, because to sin against the Eucharist is to sin against Jesus' own very bodily flesh (because that is what we have here in the Supper, Christ's flesh and blood, 1 Corinthians 10:16).

These sacred pledges from God to us, in which God works the revealed mystery of His redeeming and saving grace in our lives are called variously mysteria in Greek ("mysteries" because these are revealed acts of God's grace for us) and in Latin came to be called sacramenta, sacraments, meaning "a sacred pledge"--God's sacred pledge to us through these precious means which Christ has given, and the seal of God's grace and Spirit on us and our lives. In Baptism we have been "stamped" as it were with the very name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity; that is the kind of gift, work, and power of God this is for us.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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AdamjEdgar

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That is the general notion of John's baptism. Scripture does not really tell us what phrasing he was using. Most likely he was using a Jewish, maybe Essene, formula. He would not have been using a Trinitarian formula since the Trinity had not been revealed. It is only with the Great Commission that the disciples are given full instructions for the Christian baptism.
That is an interesting statement...does not Isaiah 9:6&7 state...
"6For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.
I believe that is one of the most famous trinitarian texts of all time. It was written 700 years B.C!
 
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GreekOrthodox

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That is an interesting statement...does not Isaiah 9:6&7 state...
"6For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given,
and the government will be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.
I believe that is one of the most famous trinitarian texts of all time. It was written 700 years B.C!

Hardly Trinitarian to first century Jews. I said and as ViaCrusis commented on, John's baptism was NOT Trinitarian as the Trinity had not been revealed, well, until John baptized Jesus.
 
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Sunshinee777

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I would say there is no evidence of Jesus baptising with immersion in water because he didn't do it.

Jesus didn't come to earth to baptise people in water, but to tell people about God and our need of repentance. The important part for salvation is the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Jesus (and Paul as well btw) left the task of baptism with water to other disciples.

If there was a time where nobody baptised anyone by immersion in water it's not a big issue. I'm pretty sure the thief on the cross wasn't baptised in water either.

Yes I have come to this conclusion aswell. The most important thing is to be born again in Jesus and be filled with Holy Spirit. Have direct relationship with God, then you are sealed.
 
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Albion

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Yes I have come to this conclusion aswell. The most important thing is to be born again in Jesus and be filled with Holy Spirit. Have direct relationship with God, then you are sealed.
I am hoping that you did not mean to say that Baptism is optional or unimportant. Although it's correct to say that there is no direct Scriptural evidence to the effect that Baptism is to be done by total immersion or that Jesus' own Baptism in the River Jordan was done that way, it surely isn't the case that Baptism is not especially important for any and all believers.
 
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Sunshinee777

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I am hoping that you did not mean to say that Baptism is optional or unimportant. Although it's correct to say that there is no direct Scriptural evidence to the effect that Baptism is to be done by total immersion or that Jesus' own Baptism in the River Jordan was done that way, it surely isn't the case that Baptism is not especially important for any and all believers.

I think water baptism is amazing experience and blessing when it is done in ”right place and right timing” as God’s will is. This is my own view and other people can have their own view, im not here to judge anyone.
 
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Albion

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I think water baptism is amazing experience and blessing when it is done in ”right place and right timing” as God’s will is. This is my own view and other people can have their own view, im not here to judge anyone.
Nor do I mean to judge anyone myself, but I am interested to read your own view of the matter.

At the same time, you've caused me to consider the witness of Scripture.

You say that Baptism is an amazing experience when done in accordance with God's will. But we know from the Bible 1) that it is God's will because the importance of Baptism is written all over his revealed word in the New Testament, and we also are informed 2) that it's the initiation ceremony/sacrament for new Christians, not something described as optional, merely a gesture or something to get around to doing at some later time.
 
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Clintpauljohnson

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If there was a time where nobody baptised anyone by immersion in water it's not a big issue. I'm pretty sure the thief on the cross wasn't baptised in water either.

People in prison seem to get the Holy Ghost even though they were not baptized in water.
 
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