To understand what Luke believed about being baptized we must consider Luke-Acts solely within the context these two books provide for each other, at least initially.
We cannot read Matthew or Mark as the prelude to Acts. We first consider it in the light of Luke’s gospel.
Neither can we take information in Acts and read back into Matthew and Mark ideas about baptism before first analyzing what Luke was saying in his two works.
Ten verses contain a usage of baptize or baptism.
R. John’s baptism to Israel (8 refs.) Luke 3:3,7,12,16,21; 7:29-30; 20:4.
Extra-Scriptural Jewish purification practices, Luke 11:38.
The suffering which Messiah would experience in His rejection as King, Luke 12:50.
Holy Spirit and Fire baptism, Luke 3:16 (this verse also refers to John’s baptism).
We observe flexibility, Luke sees different elements and different results of various baptisms.
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Water |
Ceremonial purification |
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Spirit |
Eternal purification |
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Fire |
Eternal purging |
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Persecution |
Intense suffering |
Luke is not bound to any exclusive understanding of either the element for baptism, or the result, many things could baptize, and the results were far beyond simply being surrounded.
Luke also wrote that everyone following Messiah had been baptized with John’s baptism, 7:29-30, even after R. John had been arrested. Whoever performed a Messianic water baptism up to R. John’s arrest had performed John’s baptism.
Yeshua also compared the authority of John’s baptism to His authority, Luke 20:1-8, and called Himself the rejected Stone of Psalm 118:22. Since His authority was derived from Scripture and was directly compared with R. John’s baptism it would not be difficult to believe it also was based on Scripture, even Ezekiel 36.
Luke’s gospel tells us John’s baptism was extremely important for Messiah and His disciples with no indication of another Messianic water baptism, there is no verse in which Messiah commanded a later water baptism before or after His resurrection.
Twenty-two verses in Acts refer to baptizing or baptism. The categories are as follows;
John’s baptism (8 references). 1:5,22; 10:37; 11:16; 13:24; 18:25; 19:3,4.
Messianic water baptism (8 refs.). 2:38,41; 8:12,13,36,38; 10:47,48.
Holy Spirit Baptism (2 refs.). 1:5; 11:16.
"Was,” "were” or "be baptized” (6 refs.). 9:18; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:5; 22:16.
"Beginning to be baptized” (1 ref.). 8:16.
The first three categories are explicit in the text. Category 1 and 2 refer to the same baptism, references in 2 indicating the Messianic baptism to Israel was performed by the authority, "the name,” of Messiah.
Commentators almost always take the references in the fourth category to mean the new believer was water baptized even though the texts do not say, "Ananiah baptized Paul,” or "Paul baptized Lydia,” or "Paul baptized the Jailer,” or "Paul baptized the Corinthians.” These believers "were baptized,” forcing us to carefully consider which of the several baptisms Luke previously wrote about is now being mentioned.
The fifth category refers to an unusual periphrasis which seems to indicate more information is present in the Greek than is usually translated in English versions of this verse, see The Samaritans.
There is much to indicate these five categories can be reduced to two:
John’s Messianic water baptism in the name of Messiah
New Covenant baptism with the Spirit which truly enables entrance into the realm of Messiah’s authority, the name of the Lord
Luke’s thesis in Luke-Acts is to reveal that God now eternally purifies His children, baptizing them with the Spirit through faith in Yeshua for the forgiveness of sins.
The synoptic records were penned not much more than thirty-five years after the Lord’s resurrection and had similar verbal or written sources. Yet even a cursory comparison shows they are not identical word for word transcripts. This is certainly true on the topic of baptism after the Lord’s resurrection. One may not assume the command of the Lord in Matthew 28 is linked to the apostle’s command in Acts 2:38 to be baptized with water simply because both use the word baptize. They are not equivalent because they are not speaking of the same kind of baptism.
Moreover, Acts shows us the early believers did not immediately remember or fully comprehend all Messiah had commanded. The events leading up to the salvation of Cornelius’ house in Acts 10 and later, the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, indicate the early disciples did not know or understand everything about New Covenant reality in Messiah. They loved the Lord and were humble enough to learn.
The two significant events, Cornelius’ salvation and the Jerusalem council, likely occurred before any of the four Greek records of the Good News were written.
By the time they were there was a more complete remembrance and understanding of the Good News. This later fullness would be reflected in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, just as Matthew 28 has Messiah commanding His Jewish apostles to make disciples of pagan nations. Acts, on the other hand, clearly shows us there was reluctance to associate with gentiles even by the leading apostle, Peter, until at least Acts 10. It was not until the Acts 15 Jerusalem council that a clear ruling about gentile salvation was given by the believing Jewish community in Jerusalem. Yet Matthew says nothing of this increasing awareness of the transcendence of the Good News, he simply assumes it is already known.
This makes it appear the disciples fully understood every command immediately after the Lord’s resurrection. But Acts shows a steady increase in understanding and fully accords with the Lord’s promise that the Holy Spirit would bring to remembrance all He had said to them, John 14:26. At first they did not realize the significance of the Acts 1:5 contrast between ritual purity of flesh and inner purity of the heart but they did come to understand in the house of Cornelius.
As Luke wrote his works he never degraded the importance of the Jewish culture for Jewish disciples who were zealous to observe Torah and the Prophets, including the words of R. John and Messiah. Whatever these two giants of Israel’s long line of prophets commanded the nation would be of crucial importance for Jewish disciples.
Luke was sensitive to this cultural heritage and never intimated any idea of an abolished distinctiveness for Israel. He wrote confidently of Jewish disciples performing rites which pertained solely to them.
Luke faithfully recorded Messiah as He lived His life in the Jewish culture without any preconceived prejudice. Jewish baptisms were legitimate expressions of Jewish culture, not idle, legalistic rituals. In both Luke and Acts Jewish disciples are seen practicing their heritage, which included performing R. John’s baptism to all in Israel who would repent and believe.
In Acts 2:17 Luke recorded a practice which was not uncommon for the first disciples. Jewish thought of those days easily allowed the combining of different portions or elements of prophecies or prophetic commands. In this light it would not be unreasonable for the Jewish disciples to combine the Messianic baptism of R. John with the name of the risen Messiah. Of the following six conflations found in the New Covenant the first is even said to be an observation of the Chief Priests and scribes, not Messiah’s disciples.
Matthew 2:6 - Micah 5:2, 1 Chronicles 11:2.
Matthew 21:5 - Isaiah 62:11, Zechariah 9:9.
John 12:15 - Isaiah 35:4, Zechariah 9:9.
Matthew 27:9-10 - Zechariah 11:12-13, Jeremiah 32:6-9.
Mark 1:2 - Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 40:3.
Acts 2:17 - Joel 3:1-5, Isaiah 2:2-4, Hosea 3:5, Micah 4:1-4.
The disciples of Yeshua put all faith in the name of their Rabbi, the crucified and resurrected King Messiah. It could be expected that they would proclaim the Messianic purification for their nation in His name even if He had never commanded a new baptism. For Jewish disciples it was still an important element of the Good News.
Yet Luke faithfully revealed the enormous supremacy of Messiah’s Sacrifice. As God steadily unveiled the greatness of His New Covenant Luke tactfully recorded the growing awareness of the immensity of this new order. The Jewish culture of the original disciples was not obscured but Luke never diminished the greatness of his Messiah.
Acts presents the Messianic baptism for Israel in a positive light while at the same time revealing the more pressing need of being baptized with the Holy Spirit by the risen Messiah. These two baptisms are side by side and both are presented favorably and this has been the cause of much confusion for later readers.
When Peter grasped the significance of Messiah’s parting command of Acts 1:5 after the salvation of Cornelius’ house a milestone in New Covenant faith was reached. Jewish disciples finally realized that Messiah’s true purification of all people was through the out-poured Holy Spirit.
Because Luke recorded both baptisms without diminishing the importance of either one some commentaries on Acts tell us the episodes of salvation are so different that the process is unpredictable, but with a proper foundation to understand Acts these situations are not as unpredictable as many think.