This link between water baptism and the eschatological
outpouring of the Spirit occurs, at least negatively, in the narrative of
John’s baptism; it is he who first contrasts a baptism with water for
repentance and a baptism of the Holy Spirit effected by the one who comes after
him (Matthew 3:11). Notwithstanding this explicit contrast, there has been much
debate concerning whether John’s baptism might properly be identified as
Christian baptism. In the first place (and most strikingly) Luke employs precisely
the same phraseology to describe John’s baptism (Luke 3:3) as he later employs
on the lips of Peter (Acts 2:38): both are described as a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins (εἰς ἄφεσιν [τῶν] ἁμαρτιῶν). Secondly there is no
record of any of the disciples of Jesus being re-baptised. And thirdly there is
the enigmatic reference in John’s Gospel to the disciples of Jesus baptising
during his earthly ministry, a reference rendered the more extraordinary given
the Gospel’s unequivocal denial of the Spirit’s outpouring prior to Christ’s
exaltation.10 But, on the other hand, John the Baptist is unequivocally
portrayed in the Gospels as the herald of the Christ; one who prepares the way
for the Christ; the last of the ‘old’ rather than the first of the ‘new’.
Perhaps John’s baptism should be understood as anticipative of Christian
baptism inasmuch as, within the context of John’s proclamation, it was a
baptism into the coming Christ. This may be the reason underlying Paul’s
‘re-baptism’ of disciples in Ephesus: on the basis of the surrounding narrative
it would appear that they had received John’s baptism without hearing John’s
message (Acts 19:1ff.). (John E. Colwell, Promise and Presence: An
Exploration of Sacramental Theology [Waynesboro, Ga.: Paternoster, 2005],
111–112)
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