"And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
I indeed have baptized you with water: abut he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."
Mark 1:6-8
The idea of baptism is a cool one, especially in the context here, as John is preaching "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (verse 4). The idea of being dead to sin and alive to God is redoubled when John indicates that the baptism he uses is incomplete, or rather part of a whole--that Christ is bringing a spiritual baptism that should accompany and enhance the physical act of being baptized.
These two baptisms help us to understand that the changes that we make as we repent are incomplete if they are only external, and that we need to be cleansed spirit *and* body to be fully clean.
We could stop there and it would already be a valuable message, helping us to remember to work on our internal and external cleanliness and devotion to God, through thought and faith and good deeds, etc.
I think though that the need to accomplish things physically and spiritually isn't limited to just baptism, so as we are considering baptism and the need for rebirth in our lives, and dedication to God, let's also remember that it applies to our health as well. Just now many of us are concerned about physical health and taking extraordinary measures to ensure that we, and the people around us, are okay. Let's imagine what it would look like if we were taking that much care about our Spiritual health as well, and then let's start moving in that direction. :)
And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
I indeed have baptized you with water: abut he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."
Mark 1:6-8
The idea of baptism is a cool one, especially in the context here, as John is preaching "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (verse 4). The idea of being dead to sin and alive to God is redoubled when John indicates that the baptism he uses is incomplete, or rather part of a whole--that Christ is bringing a spiritual baptism that should accompany and enhance the physical act of being baptized.
These two baptisms help us to understand that the changes that we make as we repent are incomplete if they are only external, and that we need to be cleansed spirit *and* body to be fully clean.
We could stop there and it would already be a valuable message, helping us to remember to work on our internal and external cleanliness and devotion to God, through thought and faith and good deeds, etc.
I think though that the need to accomplish things physically and spiritually isn't limited to just baptism, so as we are considering baptism and the need for rebirth in our lives, and dedication to God, let's also remember that it applies to our health as well. Just now many of us are concerned about physical health and taking extraordinary measures to ensure that we, and the people around us, are okay. Let's imagine what it would look like if we were taking that much care about our Spiritual health as well, and then let's start moving in that direction. :)
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