David Bahn – Reflections

Acts 19:1-10

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this,they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Frodo, Gandalf and the fellowship arrive at the Doors of Durin, gateway to Moria. They are faced with a riddle there, and had to solve it before the doors would open. It was no easy task, but finally Gandalf remembers the Sindarin word for “friend,” pronounces it correctly and the doors magically open. Movies such as National Treasure, or any of the Lost Ark movies have similar episodes. Say something, solve some riddle, do something just right and you are successful. It’s magic!

There is a great appeal to such magical incantations or secret solutions. If we could just find the right pill to overcome obesity, the right formula for choosing stocks, or the right words to get that raise, life would be so good – so we think. Such is seldom the case, however. There is more to success than a word, pill, or simple formula.

In the book of Judges (chapter 12), the Gileadites used the literal word “shibboleth,” to out the Ephraimites on one occasion. It was a sort of negative password. Because the Ephraimites could not pronounce the word correctly the Gileadites knew they were impostors.

While Christian baptism is a vitally important gift of God, it is no shibboleth. There is no certain way it must be done. Even here the question about baptism was not about who did it, where, how, or what mode was used. The issue was more essential: was it a baptism into Jesus? Did the baptism connect the people to the one who was to come? The proof at that time was whether they had received the Holy Spirit when they were baptized.

Just as in Acts 2, where Peter told the people that with baptism would come the gift of the Holy Spirit, on this occasion the Holy Spirit was given. On this occasion the Holy Spirit was manifested in the new believers by moving them to speak in tongues and prophesy. This event marked the founding of a two-year mission outpost in Corinth, and the continuing message of the Gospel being shared in that part of the world.

Some might wish to draw certain conclusions about baptism, the work of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, or the role of Apostles in the life and mission of the church. This seems not to be Luke’s purpose, however. He is simply reporting how things unfolded as the Word of the Lord spread and grew. It grows in fits and starts. And it’s messy in the process. Baptism is an essential part of that growth. But it’s never a shibboleth – a secret code or simple formulaic event. It is a means by which God’s grace and blessings come to people, and a blessing to be embraced with thanks and praise to God.

Baptism is not to be thought of as a magical pill, a ticket-punch, or a must-do-it-just-this-way kind of ceremony. It is a blessing from God and the beginning point of the great adventure of faith and life in the Lord Jesus.