Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Luke Timothy Johnson on Baptism in the Epistle to the Hebrews

  

Baptism

 

The most widely attested of early Christian sacraments is baptism, the ritual of initiation (Matt 28:19; Acts 8:12; 1 Cor 1:13-17; 12:13; 15:29; Gal 3:27; Eph 4:5; Col 2:12; 1 Pet 3:21). Passages mentioning baptism elsewhere in the New Testament connect the ritual variously to the death and resurrection of Jesus (Rom 6:3-4), the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:41), the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:48; John 3:5), a sanctifying bath (1 Cor 6:11; Tit 3:5; Eph 5:26), a new birth (John 3:3, 7; 1 Pet 1:3; Tit 3:5), and an enlightenment (Eph 5:14). Although the testimony of Hebrews on baptism is complex and not entirely clear, the language used by the composition fits within this cluster of associations.

 

Part of the complexity in Hebrews’ presentation is its odd use of the plural form of baptismos (“washing”). In 9:10, where the author speaks of the dispensations of the earliest covenant, he mentions “various washings” (baptismois) along with “foods and drinks” as among the “regulations of the flesh” that cannot “perfect the consciences of the worshipper.” But when he speaks in 6:2 of the “elementary doctrine of Christ” (ton tes arches tou christou logon), the author also uses the plural form for “washings” (baptismoi) as among the foundational elements that ought to be assumed for the believer seeking to move to greater maturity. IN this case, the “washing” is not that of the old but of the new covenant, and is not a regular ritual practice but is among those “in the beginning” things—like repentance and faith—of Christian existence.

 

Given that other New Testament texts link baptism and the forgiveness of sins, a second set of associations in Hebrews may be connected to baptism. A major part of Hebrews’ argument involves a comparison between the sacrifice carried out to the ancient ritual of the Day of Atonement and that of Christ’s death. Thus, Hebrews declares that the shedding of blood is necessary for the forgiveness of sins (9:22), but the ancient cult could not accomplish this through the sacrifice of animals. In contrast, the blood of Christ purifies consciences from dead works to serve the living God (9:14). The reference here must be primarily to the death of Christ, as it is also in 1:3, when Christ is said to have accomplished “purification for sins” before taking his place at God’s side, and when Christ is said to “sanctify” (2:11; see 13:12) and “to make expiation” for sins (2:17). Such forgiveness and sanctification touches those who belong to him (2:11): in contrast to those who worshipped year after year, those cleansed/purified by Christ “no longer have any consciousness of sin” (10:2). The connection with baptism is made most directly by 10:22, when the author speaks of his hearers having the full assurance of faith, “with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” While it is possible that the image of “sprinkling” may refer back to the death of Jesus, the phrase “bodies washed with pure water” almost certainly refers to the ritual of baptism (see 1 Cor 6:11; Tit 3:5; Eph 5:26).

 

Also a reference to baptism as a ritual of initiation is Hebrews’ language about enlightenment. In 6:4-5, shortly after mentioning “baptisms” among the elementary things concerning Christ, the author speaks of “having been once enlightened” (photisthentas), having tasted (geusamenous) the heavenly gift and become partakers (metochoi) of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come.” The image of tasting occurs also in 1 Peter 2:3 in connection with baptism and the word of God, while the image of being enlightened is also found in Ephesians 5:14. The second mention of enlightenment (in Heb 10:32) points equally unmistakably to an experience at the start of the readers’ life as believers: “Recall the former days (tas proteron hemeras) when, after you were enlightened (photisthentes), you endured a hard struggle with suffering.” This call to remembrance occurs shortly after the author’s speaking of the elders’ “receiving the recognition of the truth” (10:26). (Luke Timothy Johnson, “Sacramentality and Sacraments in Hebrews,” in The Oxford Handbook of Sacramental Theology, ed. Hans Boersma and Matthew Levering [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015], 112-13)

 

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