conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

the perfect paragraph revisited

AKMA asks his Early Church History class to write a perfect paragraph. It is an exercise in writing a good thesis statement. I like it. He has asked for a similar literary beast in the seminar that Jeff and I are participating in. Oh boy. I have been struggling all term to nail down a thesis for this class. I have to be honest, Matthew and I are still at odds on some level. I cannot really go into that now, nevertheless I have been working up a paragraph.

Before you read it, read this quote from Paul Bradshaw.

Whether the Christian adoption of baptism began with Jesus himself or only in the Church after his resurrection cannot easily be resolved. All three synoptic gospels record Jesus' own baptism by John but say nothing of him baptizing his followers. The Gospel of John, on the other hand, does not mention Jesus being baptized but does speak of him baptizing others (John 3:22, 26; 4:1; but cf. 4:2). Matt. 28:19-20 contains a command to baptize all nations, but there are difficulties in accepting this as an authentic saying of the risen Lord.

So, here is the so-called "perfect paragraph."

Matt. 3:11-17
Matt. 21:23-27
Matt: 28:19-20

In the Gospel of Matthew, John the baptist proclaims "I baptise you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." In this moment, Matthew establishes a theological difference between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus. Also, after his resurrection, Matthew's Jesus commands his disciples to "make disciple of all nations" through a baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to bring about obedience to Jesus' commands and teachings. Through this statement, Matthew further clarifies his understanding of baptism as Jesus taught it as something different from what John proclaimed. Once again Matthew redefines a familiar Jewish ritual in the light of his understanding of the Risen Christ. It is a radical theological shift within a Jewish framework. Jesus has given us is a new baptism. This is not the baptism of John.

Posted by tripp at December 11, 2003 09:37 AM