John the Baptist
John the Baptist is a fascinating character. His birth narrative mirrors that of Jesus and he appears in all four Gospels. There is interesting debate as to his precedence in the synoptic gospels, especially since he baptises Jesus. However, by the time John’s gospel was written his own leadership and following is downplayed and he is firmly cast in the role of ideal witness to Jesus.
This passage introduces us to the man grown out of his priestly family and into a fiery prophet. He is dressed in traditional ascetic’s clothing and demonstrates fastidious adherence to Jewish food and purity laws.
His message is unyielding. ‘Repent for the Kingdom of God (understood here as the imminence of God’s final judgement) is at hand.’ And if those who heard him did indeed repent of their wrongdoings, he baptised them as a symbol of their purification and commitment to a new way of life.
The account of John the Baptizer is the foundation of baptism in the church. However, when John baptised, it was not a rite of passage or entry into a particular group. Nor did it convey forgiveness or reunite the baptised with God. That all came later.
Following the death of Jesus the emerging church began to baptise those it counted in its number. And as the church also began to argue about what was the ‘true’ understanding of the faith, with some beliefs being declared heresies, there were increasingly complex catechisms to learn, sometimes kept secret until a person was discerned ready to know them, which had to be declared before they were admitted for baptism – or perhaps baptised to be admitted.
Similarly, they needed to be recognised as already leading a blameless life, including having left prohibited occupations. If their claims to this were disputed by their neighbours, their baptism was deferred.
As part of the immediate preparation for baptism candidates were commanded to renounce Satan (we will return to this!) and various rituals were followed to help expel demons and encourage the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
As the divinity of Jesus began to be debated there developed the idea of baptism as the individual dying with Christ and being raised to new life. Although, it was not individual in our modern sense, since baptism involved committing to community and living out the declarations made together.
As the centuries unfolded there was controversy around whether baptism effected God’s grace or was a sign of it. And if the former, whether it ‘worked’ or not was dependent on the personal qualities of the person administering the baptism. These debates rumble on in various forms! Most people would now agree however that all sacraments, including baptism are a visible sign of an invisible grace, working beyond individuals or circumstances.
There is though debate about what the exact nature of that grace might be. This becomes particularly clear when it comes to infant baptism. Following Augustine’s declaration on original sin (we will be returning to this too!) it came to be believed that baptism remitted the consequences of the sin that entered the world when Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden. This sin was in addition to any personal guilt and was declared inescapable other than through baptism. Anyone not baptised, however blameless, were thought to be destined to perish. And such was the strength of fear of this that many, including Augustine himself, waited for baptism until their death bed, just in case any sins he committed got missed!
All of which seems a very long way from simple immersion in water, the source of life, to signify a determined response to a call to stop wrongdoing and make a new start…
