Matthew 3:13-17 Bible Study Discussion Guide

This brief guide was prepared for the 10am Wednesday Bible Study for the women of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Orlando FL, by the Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh

 

Matthew 3:13-17

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” ¹⁵ But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. ¹⁶ And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,^[a] with whom I am well pleased.”

1. What is a baptism?

Baptism (from the Greeknoun βάπτισμα baptisma).

It is a Christian rite of spiritual adoption and entrance into the church.  Water is always used but the methodology changes from group to group.

In early times, Baptism meant immersion.  Then it evolved to standing or kneeling in the water while water was poured on the one to be baptized.

Baptism has similiarties to Tvilah, which is a Jewish purification ceremony involving immersing into water, and which is required for conversion to Judaism.

 

2. Greek for baptism was baptizma, which is also the word for cleaning or washing.

Luke 11:38 tells how a Pharisee, at whose house Jesus ate, "was astonished to see that he did not first wash (ἐβαπτίσθη, aorist passive of βαπτίζω—literally, "be baptized") before dinner".

3. What do you remember about your own baptism?
4. What are some of the most memorable baptisms you have witnessed and why?
5. What do these memories say about what baptism means to you?
6. This Sunday we will have a renewal of baptism – we do not rebaptize.  Ephesians 4:4-6 says “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.…”  But we can renew our baptism.