The Gospel of the Forty Days: Baptism, Part 2
Last week we began discussion of Jesus’
command to the Apostles to baptize, given during the forty days between His
Resurrection and Ascension. An observant person may have asked, Why does Jesus
command to baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mt 28:20),
and yet at Pentecost Peter said to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ (Ac
2:38)?
There are at least two answers. First, any
time Jesus Christ is mentioned in the New Testament, as Son of God He is always
in reference to the Father; and in the context of baptism, Peter here, and the
New Testament elsewhere, speaks of the Holy Spirit given in baptism. Therefore, one can
truly say that to baptize in the Name of Jesus Christ is to reference the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Perhaps for this reason, or because of the
clarity of Jesus’ command, the early Church records that the words spoken while
administering baptism should be in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
(e.g., Didache 7.1, c. 70-100 AD; St. Justin Martyr, First Apology 61, 155 AD;
St. Irenaeus of Lyons, c. 165-180 AD; Tertullian, c. 200 AD).
Secondly, most of the NT references to
baptism in Jesus Christ, or in or into His Name, are probably not specifying
the words spoken while actually baptizing (the baptismal formula) but are
referring to the baptism Christ commanded, as opposed to John the Baptist’s, or
the Essene’s, or any other baptism. This in what Ananias told Saul at his
conversion: “Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His
[Jesus'] Name” (Ac 22:16). Peter’s Pentecost witness also implies this meaning
and used a similar expression. He quotes from the prophet Joel: “And it shall
be that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved” (Ac 2:21; Joel
2:32), and then proves that Jesus is the Lord God by His Resurrection (Ac
2:22-32) and Ascension, and thus the Name of Jesus is the Name of the Lord to
be called upon. Furthermore, Peter says it is because of Jesus’ exaltation (Ascension)
that the Holy Spirit was now able to be given (Ac 2:33-35). So baptizing in the
“Name of Jesus Christ” may just be a reference to the baptism given by Jesus
Christ.
Fr. Wulstan Mork in his illuminating book, Transformed by Grace, Scripture, Sacraments & the Sonship of Christ, gives some insight here. He points out that the incarnate Son of God in Jesus
had a fully human nature subject to weaknesses and changeability, the same as
we all have, but without sin, in order to fully identify with us in solidarity
so that He could redeem us. As St. Paul says, “born of a woman, born in
subjection … in order to redeem those who were in subjection” (Gal 4:4-5). Yet
He is a divine Person so all His human actions had infinite value – including
His atonement of every sin for every person.
Jesus humanly suffered and died out of
obedience to the Father’s will (Heb 5:8), and “because of this, God highly
exalted Him” (Phil 2:8). Jesus’ Ascension to the Father, then, was the supreme
exaltation of Jesus' humanity where now His perfected human nature (Heb 2:10;
5:9; 7:28) is no longer subject to weakness, changeability, and death (Ro 6:9)
but is glorified, becoming one with His divine nature. Or as Fr. Mork puts it,
God’s divine nature now is also a human nature in Christ. So St. Paul says
Christ is the “new Adam” or “last Adam” (1 Cor 15:45), and Peter says Christ is
“made” Lord and Christ (Ac 2:36; cf. Heb 5:9 “made perfect”) in His
glorification.
Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit
could not be given until after Jesus was glorified (Jn 7:39), i.e., the
perfection of His humanity, and thus Easter morning Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to cling to Him because He had not yet ascended to the Father but to go
tell His brethren that He was ascending (Jn 20:17). He was pointing to the
glorification of His humanity still to occur in His Ascension forty days after
His Resurrection.
So Scripture indicates that during these
forty days Jesus is teaching His Apostles of the Ascension, the perfection and
glorification of His humanity, and thereafter His ability to generate a whole
new sanctified race, i.e., those who are incorporated into Him through baptism
and become the children of God. More on this next article.
Dibby Green
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church is located in California City, CA. Visit our website at ollcalcity.org.
Originally published in the print edition of the Mojave Desert News dated September 3, 2020, slightly modified.
References:
Wulstan Mork, OSB, Transformed by Grace, Scripture, Sacraments & the Sonship of Christ (Cincinnati, OH: Servant/St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004; originally published 1965, Bruce Publ. Co.), p. 41-62.