Why Did Jesus Need to Explain the Scriptures to Cleopas?

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Editor

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Luke 24:13-35

If you were walking with Cleopas along the road to Emmaus, you would think that the story of Jesus was a tragedy. After all, Jesus was crucified.

Crucifixion was the most shameful and disgraceful way to die. It was a method of torture reserved for the most despicable kind of criminals—slaves, thieves, pirates, and traitors. The goal? To dissuade the public from following in the traitor’s footsteps. To this end, an individual’s suffering was prolonged and their exposure to the public was maximized.

Nothing was more shameful than the cross.

Seneca once said, “It is better to commit suicide than to go through crucifixion.” Another Roman concurred, adding that Romans should keep the crucifixion far from their bodies, the minds, their eyes, and their ears. In other words, even thinking about a crucifixion was shameful! Especially because it wasn’t only the crucified individual that was shamed; anyone affiliated with the individual was humiliated alongside them.

If you were walking alongside Cleopas, Christ’s crucifixion would truly be a tragedy.

Christ’s crucifixion was shameful, but the fact that his body was missing only rubbed salt into the wound. Of course, Cleopas tells us that the women came to the disciples with news of Jesus’ resurrection, but the disciples had not believed them. After all, without the Holy Spirit, it would be very difficult for them to believe the women’s testimony!

As if this was not tragic enough, Cleopas and the disciples had high hopes for Jesus. Of Jesus, Cleopas said, “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” This is reminiscent of Zechariah’s song in Luke 1: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel / because he has come to his people and redeemed them!” Jesus was their great redeemer. He was the one who they hoped would redeem Israel. Instead of watching him redeem Israel, however, the disciples watch him suffer the most shameful of executions.

To the disciples, this was truly a tragedy. But to us, Luke 24:13-35 is more than a tragedy—it’s a tragicomedy.

Jesus appears to these despairing disciples, but they cannot recognize him. Furthermore, Jesus doesn’t reveal himself immediately. This allows for several comic moments. Especially when Cleopas says, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened here?” and Jesus replies, “What things?”

But this exchange between Jesus and Cleopas is more than entertaining—it is enlightening. We can see God’s character through the way that Jesus speaks with Cleopas. Foremost, we can see that God is patient. Jesus does not introduce himself immediately. Instead, he walks and speaks with Cleopas. He listens. Despite Cleopas’ ignorance, Jesus never once smacks Cleopas on the head. God is patient. He is also compassionate and forgiving.

Do you remember what the disciples did when Jesus was arrested? They ran. The apostles locked themselves in a room. Even now, the disciples are not looking for Jesus’ body.

But Jesus is looking for them.

Although we never see the words “I forgive you,” we can sense that Christ has already offered his forgiveness to Cleopas. He walks with Cleopas, talks with Cleopas, and even accepts Cleopas’ invitation to stay in the house. Despite Cleopas’ betrayal, Jesus has forgiven him. Our God is forgiving.

What does God do in this passage? He walks alongside the disciples, he speaks with them, and—most importantly—he explains the scripture to them. But why would Jesus need to explain the scriptures? The disciples spent three years with Jesus. They heard him teach many times. After Jesus told a parable, he turned to the disciples and explained the parable to them. The disciples saw Jesus heal people and exorcise demons. They even saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead! Yet the disciples still cannot understand the scriptures. Why is this?

Was it because they were not well trained in the scriptures?

The scribes and Pharisees knew the Old Testament like the back of their hands. They were experts on both Jewish history and Jewish culture. They knew the nuances of the Hebrew language. Nevertheless, even the Pharisees could not understand the scripture!

Often, we think that if we (1) had lived with Jesus or (2) if we understood Jewish culture better, we would be able to understand the Bible better. The disciples and the scribes show us that this is not the case. While both are helpful, neither can supply us sufficient understanding of the scripture.

Jesus is the key to understanding the scripture.

Talented mystery authors often explain that they plan the crime before writing. While writing, they will scatter several clues throughout their novel that indicate this solution. If you are reading the novel for the first time, these clues might not stand out to you. But if you have read the book, learned the solution, and read the novel again, the clues become obvious.

Jesus is the solution of the Bible.

If we read the Bible with Jesus in mind, we will be able to understand the scripture. However, if we read without considering him, we will likely overlook or misinterpret a clue that God has left for us! This is what the disciples and scribes did.

However, even when Jesus explained the scriptures to the disciples, they were still unable to recognize him. They understood the scriptures, but they could not recognize him. This is what makes the end of the scripture so important.

After entering the house, Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to the disciples. The words used in this verse are very similar to the words of Luke 22:19. In the upper room, Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to the disciples. He tells them, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus chooses to reveal himself through Communion.

When Jesus broke the bread and handed it to Cleopas, his eyes were opened. In the same way, when we do Communion, our eyes are open anew. This is why we call Communion a sacrament: Christ has chosen to reveal himself to us through Communion. When we partake of the bread and the cup, we are meeting the risen Lord—just like Cleopas!

There are no direct commands to us in this passage, but Jesus’ interaction with Cleopas shows us that God has indirectly asked something of us: to rely on Christ. The primary way of understanding the character of God is through the scriptures. Without Christ, we cannot understand the scriptures. So we must come before Christ. Through Communion, Christ has given us a way to do this. All we are called to do, then, is to be willing to listen and break bread with him.

The Romans considered the cross a tragedy. They recommended that citizens avert their eyes—and their minds—from crucifixion. However, through this passage, we learn that the cross was not a tragedy: it was Christ’s glory.

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Doubting Thomas and the Second Resurrection of Easter

Posted on May 13, 2017 by Editor

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John 20:19-31

Previously we read about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, his appearing to Mary, and his instruction to bring news of his resurrection to the apostles. Where are the apostles when this happens? They are huddled together behind a locked door.

But scripture is not a revelation of the character of the apostles. It is not a revelation about the character of Mary, either. And it is not a revelation of our own character. From first to last, scripture is a revelation of the character of God. So as we read John 20:19-31—or any passage of scripture—the question we should ask is, “What does this scripture reveal to us about the character of God?”

In John 20:19-31, this question is especially vital, because in this scripture it is easy to lose focus on Christ as we are drawn into considering the drama of Thomas.

He is often called “doubting Thomas” because of this very story. Sometimes we read the story as a rebuke of Thomas’ character: He should not have doubted the news of Christ’s resurrection. Then, we apply this truth to ourselves: We should not doubt Christ, either. However, when we read John 20:19-31 in this way, we miss the grand revealing of several stunning elements of God’s character.

So let us leave Thomas be and instead read John 20:19-31 together with our focus unshakably centered on God.

To focus on God, we have to understand where he is in this passage. The Nicene Creed tells us that God exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son is not separate from God, but is “God from God, light from light, true God from true God.”

Furthermore, context tells us that the Son’s purpose is to reveal the Father. For example, in John 14:9 Jesus says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Then, in John 5:19, Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” From this, we can learn that an essential part of focusing on God is focusing on Christ.

At the outset of this passage, however, Jesus is nowhere to be seen. We read that the apostles have shut themselves into a room. Why? Because they are afraid of the very same religious leaders that crucified Christ. If you asked the disciples at this time, they would say that they are afraid of losing their lives. But it wasn’t actually their lives they were afraid of losing.

As we learned before, life as defined by Christ can only be given by the Holy Spirit. The disciples are actually afraid of losing their breath. If the disciples were afraid of losing their lives they would have fearlessly followed Christ to the cross. They would realize that they could only gain their life by losing it.

However, by seeking to save their breath, the disciples have lost their lives.

When Jesus sees human beings with breath but no life, he refers to them as dead. They lack the life that only comes from the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, we can refer to the apostles in this passage as dead men. The room that they have shut themselves in has become their tomb. Jesus left the tomb on Easter; the disciples entered theirs. Fear and self-preservation confine them to this tomb, making it impossible for them to leave the tomb on their own.

In Luke 17:33, Jesus tells the disciples, “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” Here, we see an example of this. Jesus was crucified, but God “highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” Jesus was raised from the dead and, through his own death, defeats Death. On the other hand, the disciples attempt to flee from death, but they lock themselves inside a room from which they cannot emerge. They remain dead.

This is our context. Now, our question: “What does Christ do?”

Although the apostles betrayed Christ (in exchange for their own lives), Christ chooses to appear in their midst. He reveals to the apostles the wounds on his hands and side. This is important. Christ does not shed his body and become raised as a spirit. He is raised bodily from the dead, and he remains embodied to this day. Sometimes, we mistakenly identify Thomas’ error as a fixation on the physical. “We must focus on the spiritual,” we conclude. However, when Jesus appears, he is not a bodiless spirit.

He bears wounds that he encourages the apostles to touch. Thomas is not the only one who cares about physical things: Christ does, too.

Scripture tells us that Christ’s body is much like ours in many ways—except it is not limited by death, time, or space. Unlike our current bodies, Christ’s body is perfect. The only “blemishes” are the marks on his hands and side, marks that Revelation tell us will remain for all of time. Even when John sees Jesus in heaven, Jesus still bears these marks. But these marks are Christ’s glory—not his shame.

Jesus’ first words to the apostles are not accusations or complaints. “Peace be with you,” he says. Why is this important? When we speak, our words express our desire, but their effect is limited. If we say, “Peace be with you,” very little happens. People may return our greeting, but our words do not in and of themselves instill peace within those to whom we speak.

But God’s words are power: Whatever God says, happens. His words always accomplish their purpose. In Genesis, for example, we see that God creates the heavens and the earth through speech. Because Jesus is God the Son, it should not surprise us that his speech is also efficacious. For example, in Mark 4:35-41 Jesus’ words quiet a storm. So when Christ says here, “Peace be with you,” it quiets a storm as well.

After bestowing peace and joy upon the apostles, Jesus breathes on them. Why would he breathe on them? In Genesis, God creates human beings by breathing breath into them. Once again, Jesus is creating. But this time he gives them more than breath. He gives them life, telling them to “receive the Holy Spirit.” And in bestowing this life on them, they receive the forgiveness of sins that he won on the cross. Through Christ’s breath and forgiveness, the disciples are born from above.

However, not all of the apostles had the Spirit breathed into them. The scripture tells us, “Thomas … was not with the disciples when Jesus came.” What will God the Son do?

It is interesting to note that Christ does not immediately appear to Thomas. Instead, he waits. He allows the apostles to speak with him. After the apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit, they follow the same commands as Mary and Mary: they pass on the word they have heard. The disciples approach Thomas and witness to him about Jesus’ resurrection.

Thomas rejects their witness.

Jesus has 10 apostles willing to witness of his life, death and resurrection. These disciples have witnessed to Thomas. Thomas has rejected the witness. What does Jesus do?

Jesus reveals himself to Thomas.

“Peace be with you,” he tells Thomas. “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. When any of his sheep wander, he follows them.

“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away,” Jesus says in John 6:37. Then, again, in John 6:39: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me.”

Thomas betrayed Jesus and then rejected his witness, but Jesus still revealed himself to Thomas. This is the character of God.

This does not mean that we should test Jesus. We should not offer him our service in exchange for some favor we request. We should not say, “Lord, if you heal me, I will believe in you” or “Jesus, if you exist, reveal yourself to me!” Why not? After all, that is what Thomas did and Jesus appeared to him. Why can’t we do the same?

Jesus did not call us to be physical witnesses of his life, death, and resurrection. He designated this purpose to the twelve apostles. Their witness is recorded in the scriptures, so that we may believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God, and, believing, that we may have life. When we have doubts, we should turn to the scriptures, to be instructed by the Holy Spirit. There we receive the testimony of Thomas and Mary and the apostles.

Christ says that when the Holy Spirit reveals the character of God to us through the scriptures, we are even more blessed than Thomas, who saw him face to face.

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What Happens At Baptism? Do I Need To Be Baptized To Be Saved?

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Pastor Foley

 

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  –Jesus in Mark 16:16

Baptism is not mentioned many times in the Gospel of Mark, but each time it is mentioned we are reminded of a particular truth about the Christian faith that we are always in danger of forgetting:

  • First, it is through our baptism that Christ gives us the Holy Spirit. In Mark 1:8, John the Baptist says that though he baptizes with water, one is coming—Christ—who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
  • Second, we are baptized into Christ’s baptism, not our own separate personal baptism. In Mark 1:10, Jesus is baptized by John, and it is on Jesus that the Holy Spirit descends.
  • Third, baptism is the beginning of a life of taking up our cross. In Mark 10:35-40, James and John ask to sit at Jesus’ left and right hand in his glory. Jesus tells them that this is not his to grant but that they will be “baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,” referring to his crucifixion.
  • Fourth, baptism is how Christ saves. In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus says, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Jesus places baptism at the center of his Easter message to his disciples, at the center of his work of salvation, and at the center of our ongoing Christian life. So, baptism is an especially appropriate focus for our reflection today.

For Christians, baptism is a sacrament. We can define sacrament as a “channel” or “conduit” or “delivery system”[1] established by Christ, through which he has promised to convey his life and grace to us.

We Protestants believe in two sacraments. Many Protestant churches act as if the two sacraments are worship songs and the pastor’s preaching, and so they build their worship services around those two activities (and, sadly, they often neglect the actual sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper). But worship songs and preaching are not sacraments. Sacraments are not decided by our preference. It is not for us to decide how Christ conveys his life and grace to us. Christ determines that. And Christ has determined to share his life and grace with us through baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Preaching and worship flow from these two sacraments:

  • Through baptism we receive the Holy Spirit.
  • The Holy Spirit opens the scriptures to us, leading us into all truth.
  • Preaching declares that truth.
  • So, good preaching is rooted in baptism.

The same is true of the Lord’s Supper:

  • We Christians believe that truth is not just a series of facts but instead a person.
  • That person is Christ.
  • Through the Lord’s Supper, we feed on the body and blood of Christ through our hearts by faith.

So, worship is our response to the gifts of life and grace we receive from Christ in the sacraments. Our preaching and our worship should always cause us to remember our baptism and to feed on the body and blood of Christ. This is why the Protestant Reformers emphasized that the three “marks,” or characteristics, of the true church are:

  • the preaching of the gospel
  • the right administration of the sacraments, and
  • discipline and accountability to ensure that our lives reflect these things.[2]

In our previous message today, we talked about Jesus as the first human being—the only one who displays the image of God. According to Genesis 5, the children of Adam are born in the image of fallen Adam, not in the image of God. On the cross, the children of Adam are judged. The judgment is this: We are revealed to be murderers who kill the Lord of glory for telling the truth about us, as Jesus says in John 8:40. In John 8:43-44, Jesus says the children of Adam cannot understand his message because we belong to our father, the devil, and we live to carry out his desires. God’s commands, which are life (as Jesus says in John 6:63), seem like death to us. We children of Adam live for choice, and freedom, and the self-creation of our own lives.

Jesus here is not describing a few bad people among us. He is describing every child of Adam, which means all of us. As the church father Nikolas Cabasilas noted, the only difference between the Old Testament saints and the rest of the children of Adam was that the Old Testament saints felt bad about sinning and longed to be released from their sin.

As children of Adam, even if we wanted to learn about Christ or to force God to reveal himself to us, we could not. That is because, as the contemporary theologian John Behr explains, “God is not subject to human perception.”[3]  None of our human methods of learning or seeing or thinking give us the ability to understand what Christ reveals about the character of God.

We see this in the lives of the disciples. For three years they live with Jesus. They go to church with Jesus. They witness the miracles of Jesus. Jesus teaches the Bible to them. Jesus explains the plan of God to them. And yet, as we see in the scripture reading today, even after Jesus is raised from the dead and sends witnesses of his resurrection to them, the disciples “didn’t believe them,” it says in Mark 16:13. The empty tomb does not make the disciples bold and faithful. It makes them frightened and confused. It takes something more than knowledge and experience to understand the things of God. It takes the Holy Spirit.

We see the same blindness in the life of the Apostle Paul when he was Saul the Pharisee, before he was baptized and received the Holy Spirit. As John Behr notes, “[Paul] had studied the Scriptures as a young man; he had trained in various rabbinic interpretations. Yet he did not ‘see’ Christ in the Scriptures, nor recognize Christ in those whom he was persecuting. In fact, on the basis of his reading of Scripture, he regarded himself as ‘blameless before the law.’”[4]

We see this blindness in every child of Adam. In Revelation chapter 5, the Apostle John sees a scroll—the word of God. A strong angel asks, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But John says, “No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.” The Bible is completely closed to the understanding of the children of Adam. And so, John weeps.

And weeping, it turns out, is the beginning of the right thing to do. The contemporary theologian Thomas Hopko says it like this:

If there is God…and God is the living God… our only choice is to give up our choice and listen to and obey Him. This is very important to understand, because modern people think that the more choices they have…the freer they are; however, this is not Biblical. What we say is that, if there is God, at any given moment the only choice we have is to give up choice and obey Him, listen to Him, trust Him, love Him, and believe Him. The primordial sin is exactly saying ‘No, I will not obey, trust, or love God. I will do it my way.’ You know what takes place when you do it your way; you perish and die.[5]

As children of Adam, we can either perish and die in unbelief…or we can choose to voluntarily perish and die in belief. It sounds funny to say it like that, but that’s exactly what baptism is: We believe, so we choose to die. As I.M.C. Steenberg says, baptism is “the sacramental participation by the human person in the death of the Lord.”[6]

In baptism, we agree with that Lord that we deserve death. And so we voluntarily enter into his death that he himself did not deserve to die. This is what Paul says in Romans 6:3-4: “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death…” And then Paul adds: “…in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

“The water of baptism destroys one life and reveals another,” says Nicolas Cabasilas, the great writer on baptism. “It drowns the old man and raises up the new.”[7] “To be baptized,” in the words of Cabasilas, “is to be born according to Christ and to receive our very being and nature, having previously been nothing.”[8] “Like formless and shapeless matter we go down into this water,” he says. “In it we meet with the form that is beautiful”[9]—Christ’s own resurrected body.

In baptism we become a member of that body, according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:27: “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” Or in Galatians 3:27, he writes, “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” That is why we are given a white robe to wear at our baptism: The white robe symbolizes Christ’s body, with which we are spiritually clothed at baptism.[10]

Notice that we contribute nothing to our baptism. Cabasilas says, “Baptism is called ‘gift’ because it is a birth, for what might a person contribute to his own birth?”[11] Cabasilas says baptism is like Christ’s parable of the king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. The king says in Matthew 22:4, “Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come!”[12] That is the invitation to baptism: You can bring nothing except yourself.

This is why we should not ask, “Do I have to be baptized to be saved?” Baptism is Christ’s work, not ours. Baptism is how Christ saves. It is his gift to us. In fact, it is his baptism, and through his death and resurrection he has invited us to enter into it. If we do not receive baptism, then either we are rejecting his invitation, or neglecting it, or failing to understand it. As Mark 16:16 shows us, belief without baptism is incomplete. It dishonors Christ. In the parable of the wedding feast, the king sees a man who is not wearing the wedding clothes the king supplies. These represent the baptismal robe, and our being clothed with Christ. And the king has the man bound up and thrown out.

Also, we should eagerly receive baptism because Christ gives us the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands at baptism, after we emerge from the baptismal waters. Some Christians argue that the Holy Spirit is given in some other way, but we should remember that we are baptized into Christ’s baptism, and in Mark 1:10 we see the Holy Spirit descending on Christ after he emerges from the waters of baptism. There are a few cases in scripture where the Holy Spirit appears before baptism, but these are clearly noted as exceptions, and even in these cases the believer is still baptized immediately after.

Some Christians argue that the main sign of receiving the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues, but Jesus says the main sign of our receiving the Holy Spirit is not our speaking anything, but instead the Holy Spirit’s speaking and our listening—and understanding—all truth, which is given to us in the scriptures. That is why Jesus even calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of Truth” in John 16:20. He says, “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” He says in John 14:26 that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you.” So, the sign that we have received the Holy Spirit is not any sound that comes out of our mouth but rather the sound that we can now hear in our spirit: the voice of the Son of God. So, Jesus says in John 5:25, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” That scripture is fulfilled in our baptism.

And when it is fulfilled, the Bible will begin to open to us. And the sign that it is the Holy Spirit that is opening the Bible to us is that, just like with the disciples and Paul after they received the Holy Spirit, we will begin to see that the whole Bible, from the beginning to the end, is about the crucifixion of Christ. That is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” And in 1 Corinthians 1:23, he says, “We preach Christ crucified.” And in Galatians 6:14 he says, “As for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Once the Holy Spirit opens the scripture to you, you will see Christ crucified on every page, in every verse.

And not only will you see this on the pages of scripture; you will also see it unfold in your own life, as the Spirit of Christ calls you to take up your cross daily in fulfillment of your baptismal vow of dying to this world. Remember: Christ was first baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, but then he went on in Mark 10:38-40 to call his crucifixion his baptism—and he said we would join him in that baptism of carrying our cross.

In other words, the symbol of baptism becomes for us the reality of the baptized life, just as it did for Jesus. We “grow into” our baptism, as the sacrament encompasses our whole life. As Thomas Hopko says, “The whole of the Christian life is to be baptized into his death, to eat his broken body and drink his shed blood, and to be crucified with him.”[13]

Why? And how? That is the subject of our next message. But to answer briefly, we must be crucified with him because, as Thomas Hopko says, “[Christ] is still rejected in this world, and this world still lies in evil, and its prince is still the devil, until [Christ] comes again in glory.”[14]

So, we should never forget that in this world, through baptism we are joined with Christ to have a share in his death:

  • When we are baptized, we die to self–to our desires, plans, dreams, choices, self-creation, and goals, so that his will may be done in and through us.
  • As we “grow into” our baptism, we die to the world. We say with the Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:14 that through our baptism “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
  • And for some Christians, baptism will even lead to actual physical martyrdom—what the early church father Tertullian called “a baptism of blood.”[15]

Paul says in Romans 6:5 that if we share in Christ’s death–in whatever way he brings that death to us—then we will certainly also have a share in his resurrection in the world to come. But Christ is equally certain in Mark 8:35 that whoever seeks to save his life in this world, will lose it in the world to come. So, although baptism is a gift, it is a very serious one, and we should never treat it simply as a ceremony or a formality.

For some Christians, however, that is exactly what their baptism was: just a ceremony or a formality. It may have been nothing more than a required step for church membership. Or perhaps they were baptized when they were too young to remember it, or before they became serious Christians. Such people may wonder, Should I be baptized again?

The answer is no. The Nicene Creed says, “We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” The early church fathers taught that the effectiveness of baptism does not depend upon our memory of being baptized, or how serious we were when we were baptized, or how much we understood baptism at that moment. It does not even depend on who baptized us (unless the baptism happened in a cult, in which case it was not a true baptism anyway).

The effectiveness of baptism depends entirely on Christ. Baptism is his gift to us. And he gave us all the gifts and graces of baptism at the time of our baptism, whether we knew it or understood it or were ready to receive it. The proof of that is that he has brought you from that point to this one—from nothingness to the point where now you are serious about your faith and are asking whether you should be rebaptized. You are only able to ask that question because Christ kept his baptismal vow, whether you kept yours or not.

Now that you are aware what a precious gift you have received in your baptism, the appropriate response is not to be rebaptized but instead to remember your baptism every day, and rejoice.  This is the promise of Christ: Because you were baptized and you believe, you will be saved.

[1] See R.C. Barcellos. 2013. The Lord’s Supper as a Means of Grace: More Than a Memory. Fearn, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications. Loc. 228. Barcellos uses the term “delivery system” and this overall understanding to define the term “means of grace” as he explains the Lord’s Supper. I have taken the liberty of applying the same understanding to the term, sacrament.

[2] W.R. Godfrey. 1992. “The Marks of the Church.” Ligonier Ministries. http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/the-marks-of-the-church/.

[3] J. Behr. 2006. The Mystery of Christ. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. p. 27.

[4] J. Behr. 2013. Becoming Human. Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, pp. 17-18.

[5] T. Hopko. 1999. “Life after death… Mysteries beyond the grave.” Orthodox Christian Info. http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/afterdeath.htm

[6] I.M.C. Steenberg. 2011. “Baptism in Orthodox Christianity.” In Baptism: Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspectives. Ed. G.L. Heath, J.D. Dvorak. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 8.

[7] J. Vissers. 2011. “Baptism in the Reformed Tradition.” In Baptism: Historical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspectives. Ed. G.L. Heath, J.D. Dvorak. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 76.

[8] N. Cabasilas. 1974. The Life in Christ. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. p. 66.

[9] N. Cabasilas. 1974. p. 79.

[10] Hopko, T. 2012. “The Death of Christ and our Death in Him Parts 3 and 4,” YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyTYHnMWcbg.

[11] N. Cabasilas. 1974. p. 69.

[12] N. Cabasilas. 1974. p. 79.

[13] Hopko, T. 2012. “The Death of Christ and our Death in Him Parts 1 and 2,” YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyTYHnMWcbg.

[14] Hopko, T. 2012. “The Death of Christ and our Death in Him Parts 3 and 4,” YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyTYHnMWcbg.

[15] R.D. Burris. 2012. Where is the Church?: Martyrdom, Persecution, and Baptism in North Africa from the Second to the Fifth Century. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, p. 36.

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