John 3:22,23 - Baptism

3:22

Jesus then left Jerusalem and went out into the Judean countryside. There He baptised people. John 4:2 makes it clear that it was actually His disciples who did the baptising. Now this is very interesting. We don’t often think of Jesus baptising, but this shows the continuity with the ministry of John the Baptist. Indeed this whole section is demonstrating how John and Jesus were continuous, and how John the Baptist’s ministry naturally (or supernaturally) led into Jesus’ ministry and was superseded by it.

This also highlights the importance of repentance, for John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance (Acts 19:4). We shouldn’t need any reminding of the importance of repentance, but so many people have a distorted, unbiblical and silly idea of who Jesus is and what He is about. We see the same continuity in Matthew. John preached repentance (Matt 3:2), then Jesus preached repentance (Matt 4:17). Peter continued this “tradition” in Acts 2:38. Repentance is a fundamental component of the gospel.

3:23

At the same time John was continuing his ministry of baptism, this time at Aenon. We are not certain of the precise location, but it was possibly about eight miles south of Scythopolis, west of the Jordan. Aenon means spring, which ties in with there being lots of water available. People were still coming to John to be baptised.

Part of the reason he chose Aenon was because there was lots of water about. John baptised people by full immersion. Now, of course there is much disagreement between churches about when and how one should be baptised. From the Bible it seems clear that it was believers who were baptised, and full immersion seems to have been the most common method. Now, while I hold to believer’s baptism, we must not reject Christians who hold to infant baptism, and I think it would be incredibly silly to reject people on the basis of the method of baptism.

Baptism really is an awkward subject. It is important, these two verse make that clear, as do the words of Jesus in the great commission, and the practise of the New Testament church. So we have to face up to it. However, it is not something over which we should divide.