What is Baptism? || Mark 4:1-11

Jesus’ cousin John was out in the wilderness and invited people to be baptized. The people came to see John to tell him everything they did wrong and to make the promise to do better in their life. John would then lead them down to the Jordan and baptize them. Jesus was traveling from his hometown to where John was. After a conversation between the cousins, John baptized Jesus. When Jesus came up from the water, He saw heaven open, and the Holy Spirit came down from heaven. Oddly enough, it looked like a dove. As you learn with the Bible, the more and more you get to know it, the more odd things will make sense. I’m getting off track. After the dove came down and landed on Jesus, a voice came from heaven and said: “You are my Son. I love you. You make me happy.”

Water is the symbol of baptism, so we see John baptizing people in the Jordan River. We see the first instance of water back in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. God separated the waters on the Earth to give us land and heaven. We see water in the story of Noah, where God sent a flood to the Earth. We see water in the story of Moses, where God used him to part the Red Sea to save the Israelites from being enslaved people in Egypt. Later in the Bible, we hear about Jonah and how he tried to run away from what God called him to do. The boat he was on dealt with some rough waves, and Jonah knew it was because of him, so the boat workers threw him in the ocean so that the storm would stop. In the waters where Jonah laid a big fish that swallowed him up.

This moment is where Jonah’s heart changed, and he asked for forgiveness.

Then we see this story about Jesus’ baptism and talk about how crucial it was that John baptized Him. There are more instances where water is used or seen in Jesus’ ministry. We hear about him turning water into wine in the Gospel of John. We hear the story about Peter’s nets filling up like crazy after a stormy night of fishing because Jesus told him to cast his nets into the water on the other side of the boat. We see Jesus walking on water. You heard me! Walking on water to meet his disciples going through a storm on the boat they were traveling on.

Water shows up throughout the Bible, but why? It shows us about God’s power and love. God has the power to separate waters to give us land on Earth. The flood shows God’s love as he’s trying to save humanity. God’s power is represented in the parting of the Red Sea so He can save the people he loves. God’s love shines through Jesus’ baptism, which we here when heaven’s open. God’s love grows on us through our baptism. It’s a sign of how God will work through us and through the community he has placed around us to thrive in Jesus’s community. When you get baptized as a child, you enter this family surrounded by people who love you, care for you, and want you to succeed. While God’s love is covering you, the Holy Spirit enters within you to place God’s plans for you in your heart. It’s a great sign of the covenant, or the promise, that God has for us.