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Matthew 16:13-20 ~ (New American Bible)
13
When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
14
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16
Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
17
Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
18
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
19
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
20
Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.
I was in EYC, our youth group, with my future husband, when we were teenagers. Our minister, Father Clark, did at least 6 months of bible study & each study turned out to be a lesson on Baptism. In about the 5th month, as teenagers do, we began looking at each other stonily whenever the discussion turned to Baptism. Finally, it reached the point of silence. No one wanted to say change to our really great & good-at-youth-minister for his latest interest in Baptism. Being ever the talkative one, I finally said, "Please, no more Baptism lessons!"
Father Clark stopped in mid-sentence with his hand in the air and asked did we understand what Baptism meant, I replied, "Baptism is a visible sign," and the rest of us chirped, "of an inward and invisible conviction."
And guess what? It is.... exactly that. Infant Baptism - a tender soul welcomed into the body of Christ, you are now Christ's own forever.Water poured on the head? Just like the Lord said, streams of living water. Submersion? Just as John the Baptist did to Jesus and heard the Lord say this is His Beloved Son. Age of Consent? Jesus chose to stay in His Father's House.
What does all of this say in common? The Lord was recognized throughout the Gospels by many people in many circumstances. Some came to Him at night to avoid being seen as questioning or searching. Some came to Him in strength & told Him, His word was good enough. A Baptism is valid in the same manner. We recognize an inner need for Jesus, the need for the Father brought to our souls by the Holy Spirit. Baptism is this:
Matthew 3:16
immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him
Father God, we give You thanks for the gift of Your Son. He did not draw back, but already holy, pressed forward to do Your will. We thank You for the gift of Baptism, bringing us Your Holy Spirit.
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