Baptism Creates International Incident
A surprise baptism at the original site of the Lord’s baptism (Mark 1:9-11) created an international incident yesterday and a glimpse of the age to come. Here is what happened. I am leading a tour of 30 adults through the Holy Land.
Our bus pulled up to the newly renovated site commemorating the Lord Jesus’s baptism by John the Baptist. It is also the place where Joshua crossed over the Jordan into the Promised Land. It is Qasr el Yahud.
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A Renewal of Baptismal Vows: Anglican Style
I led our group in an Anglican-style service of renewal of vows. In other words, people would only get slightly wet if someone sprinkled a few drops of water from the Jordan on their heads. I prayed over 29 of the 30 pilgrims’ words that would recall the vows and promises they made, or that others made for them, years earlier: “Remember that you received baptism in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Then I would anoint their head with a dab of oil and say, “Remember that the Holy Spirit seals you in baptism and marks you as Christ’s own forever.”
An Unexpected Baptism from the Group
We planned the above; it seemed to be going very, shall we say, liturgically. At the end of the proper service, one man from our group came forward and said, “I want to be baptized; I have never been baptized, and I want to be today.” I looked at him and asked him if he could agree with the vows and promises of a Christian. Would he renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil, turn to Jesus Christ as his Savior, and promise to follow and obey him as Lord? He said, “Yes.” I said, “Let’s do it!”
I told him to take off his shoes and his sweatshirt. As I took my shoes off, he said, ‘Why don’t you just let me get in by myself? I don’t want you to get wet.” I said, “No one is ever baptized alone. I’m going with you.” And with that, the two of us got into the frigid, muddy water. Without hesitation, he broke the formalism of our Anglican-style liturgy and rolled himself in under the cold water. I fully immersed him. He sprang up from the water, heaving in and out with deep breaths; he’d gone ‘all in’ under the water.
An International Incident of Praise
The moment he came up, a group of nuns from Lebanon and Egypt, standing on the opposite shore of the river, in Jordan, another national border not yet 10 yards away, began cheering and singing “Amazing Grace.” We joined them in singing. We all realized we were part of a spectacle we would never forget. Christians from around the world stood on opposite sides of a river, separated by a country. But as one brother came into the fellowship of our common Lord, that moment joined them together in Christ over that same water, the very river where their Lord had also been baptized. One man went under the water of baptism, and when he emerged, a cloud of witnesses from around the world gave thanks to God.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19, 20
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