Ah, Sam did good! As usual.
Some additional thoughts:
I have addressed this subject on a number of different forums, boards, threads, etc., so I will not go into any great detail here. The long and the short of it is as follows:
The ritual of baptism as we know it today has little in common with the baptisms performed by the Jews. Neither the Hebraic culture nor religion is reflected in our modern baptismal ceremonies.
The last question, first.
“… why did Paul say this? 1Co 1:17, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”
Although these words were spoken before Paul became a called Apostle, this is remains a direct response to
Matthew 28:19, “Go ye therefore, and teach* all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: …” (*G3100; intransitively, to become a pupil; transitively, to disciple, i.e. enroll as scholar:--be disciple, instruct, teach.)
While it is not explicitly stated, from the context of the verse, it is ‘understood’ that the instructions are for the disciples of Christ to go out and make additional disciples of Christ – and not of (for) themselves. The baptism ritual is to demonstrate a ‘conversion’ action from a non-disciple (non-student) of Christ into the ‘brotherhood of students’ of a Rabbi. In this case, the baptism signifies that one has become a student of the Rabbi (Master) Jesus of Nazareth and are willing to be subject to his teaching, guidance, and correction. As such, the act formalizes a change in both the social and religious condition of an individual.
One additional item not usually brought out in most articles on baptisms, and that is important for Christians to be aware of, is that when one becomes a student (disciple, Talmid) of a rabbi, they perform a baptismal ritual, the ‘new’ student taking on the name of the rabbi (
Matthew 28:19-20). This forms a distinct relationship between the teacher and the student - not unlike between a father and son.
Next, in a spiritual context, baptism is also akin to the required ritual cleansing started at Mt. Sinai, and which continues today among most observant Jews. See
1 Peter 3:21. While not specifically noted in the scriptures, it is part of the historic Jewish custom of performing the conversion ritual of a Gentile into the Jewish faith. We should notice the universal understanding of baptism among the Jews by the singular lack of any explanation by Peter to the crowd on the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost) why a baptism was required after they believed on the name of Jesus.
Therefore, there are two things at work when Paul states that he was not sent out to baptize people, (1) it is strongly implied that was a task best left to his travel/ministerial companions, because (2) it is also implied that if Paul conducted the baptisms, while also being the one responsible for the majority of the teaching, it could be assumed that Paul was creating a following of his own, rather than of Jesus: This would be a case of using the name of Jesus as a means to gain a personal following – a practice he saw taking place within the churches and which he vigorously denounced several times in his letters, and we can still see that subversion of the gospel practiced in many of our churches today.
To the other references of being baptized with/in water:
A person undergoing a Tevilah (ritual cleansing, baptism), is never touched by the person observing (judging) the baptismal process (in the Mikvah submersion/baptismal water). The Mikvah must be running water, not a ‘locked’ body of water (i.e., no bucket or pipe fed water tough, church baptismal pool, swimming pool, etc.). That is, it must be either in an ocean, a sea, lake, river, stream, spring fed pond or pool, and the pond/pool must contain at least enough water for normal size man to walk into and completely submerge himself completely (typically about 200 gallons). In a non-flowing pool, it is like getting wet, removing some of the dirt, and then reclaiming that dirt was one emerges from the water – dirt remaining suspended in the water until one moves through it getting out of the pool.
There is no ‘laying on of hands’ (touching) unless and until the Tevilah ritual is completed. This is because until the ritual has been completed, the person undergoing Tevilah is still ‘unclean’, and is not to be touched, less others become ‘unclean’ also. See
1 Timothy 5:22.
The person observing (judging) the Tevilah does not touch the person undergoing the ritual, rather, he/she observes the process. The person being baptized performs the ritual themselves, as a willful act, without assistance or coercion. The observer is to judge that the individual was, in deed, fully submersed and met all of the Tevilah requirements. After this, blessing may be offered and if deemed appropriate, there was the laying on of hands. See
Acts 8:14-17 as one example.
The form of the ritual that we observe today has its foundation in the Gentile church of Rome, that as a major tenet was the separation (divorce) of the ’Roman Church’ from all influence of ‘those Jews’.
For additional information I recommend the following on-line resources as ‘starter’ research materials.
The Jewish Background of Christian Baptism
http://www.haydid.org/ronimmer.htm
The teaching of Sam Soleyn
http://www.soleyn.com/download_audio.html
May your studies be blessed.
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