In the New Testament, many people are immersed (or baptized) after putting their trust in Yeshua. This practice today carries much historical baggage, especially for Jewish people, because of the church’s history of forced conversions. Immersion, however, is rooted in Old Testament purification laws. In this episode, we discuss the historical background of immersion and why it is important. We address questions including why Yeshua was baptized, what baptism by the Holy Spirit means, and why immersion is part of the Great Commission. You will also hear the story of one Jewish man who recently chose to be immersed. Our guest is Robert Walter, New York regional director for Chosen People Ministries.  

(cheerful music)

- Welcome to Our Hope,

a production of Chosen People Ministries.

On this podcast, you will hear inspiring testimonies,

learn about Messianic apologetics,

and discover God's plan for Israel and you.

Wherever you're listening,

we hope you lean in, listen closely and be blessed.

(bright music)

As we read through the B'rit Hadashah or new Testament,

we see many people getting immersed.

Also known as baptism,

immersion is when someone is dipped into water

after coming to faith in Yeshua,

making a public declaration that they have repented

from their sins and chosen to follow their Messiah.

Immersion remains an enduring part of our faith

in Yeshua, and it has a rich and complicated history.

To guide us on this journey,

we have invited back our New York,

Regional Director, Robert Walter.

I now introduce the host of Our Hope podcast, Abe Vasquez.

- Welcome back everyone.

We're back here with another episode of Our Hopes,

episode two in our eighth season now.

It's been awesome, right Nicole?

To go this long and to be consistent,

you know, podcasts can be hard.

It's just, you know,

trying to come up with the scripts

and come up with the guests and everything.

And so we're just super grateful

to have a really great audience.

We have a few hundred people listening to us every week

and occasionally a few thousand.

And so if you're listening,

thank you so much for being a part of our community

we're so grateful last week was awesome with Seth.

If you hadn't had a chance to listen to it yet,

you can go back and listen. It was really, really wonderful.

So today we have Robert Walter

otherwise known as Bobby, if it slips,

but Robert, thank you for joining us again.

I mean, I feel like you're on almost every season, right?

- Yeah. I think it's getting a little bit too much here Abe.

- Yeah.

We might have to limit your appearance on this podcast,

but you know--

- Well, first I just want to say, you know, mazel tov

to your team and to all of you guys for a season eight,

that's quite an accomplishment.

And I know that the podcast has definitely blessed me

in my walk.

- Thank you. Thank you.

Appreciate that.

- Yeah.

- So we, I mean, by now everyone knows everything about,

because you've been on this so many times,

but something they may not know is

what's your favorite movie?

- Oh man, that's a really good question.

It's hard to narrow it down to just one,

I'll say this my favorite movie right now, okay.

Is actually not just one movie.

It's the Lord of the rings trilogy.

- Oh yeah, yeah.

- I know it's been out for like 20 years now

or close to 20 years, but it just endures

like just a very re-watchable, very engaging, you know,

action, good dialogue, you know?

- Yep. I'll tell you what I did

when Amelia, my daughter, she was born,

there were a lot of times where I had to, you know,

watch her at like midnight and things like that.

Cause she wouldn't go back to sleep, you know how it is.

And the Lord of the rings and the Hobbit

I went through the entire.

From the Hobbit and then I did Lord of the rings

and it was such a cool experience to just, see all of that.

- Well, the important question is,

did you do the extended additions or the original cut?

- This is a good question.

Probably. I think it was the original.

- Okay. So you're okay.

- I should do the extended. Yeah, the next child.

I'll do it for the next child.

Good plan.

- Well, hey, thank you so much for joining us.

And we're at the end of January now,

so we're sort of a 12th way through the year.

And I'm just curious I guess,

even though we're in the new year already,

what are you most excited about for 2022?

There's a lot more year left.

And so like what in your ministry

and church for Chosen People Ministries,

like what are you most excited for?

- Yeah. Well, I mean, honestly,

I'm more hopeful that we will finally get past

a lot of disruptions that COVID has caused

over the past few years, especially in New York.

I mean New York has been quite restrictive and careful,

and it's been hit pretty hard by COVID

a number of times already.

So I'm really hopeful and praying

that this'll be the year where we're sort of able

to get back to more of a normal kind of state in New York

when it comes to ministry.

So that means, you know, we're sort of kicking around

the idea and praying

and really thinking hard about having

our Shalom New York mission trip, this coming summer.

So right now we have it tentatively planned for like,

you know, late July, early August,

but we're being very careful.

- Yeah.

- So that's what I'm looking forward to.

- That's awesome.

- Yeah.

- I'm also looking forward to it.

- A lot of us can't wait to see others face to face again.

You know, we have a lot of people into ministry

across the country.

Some we haven't seen in two years because of, you know,

just the way the world is right now, but can't wait for it.

So today's episode is somewhat,

I don't know if I'd call it controversial,

but it sort of is many of our listeners

will know it as baptism,

but we're going to use the word immersion.

Would you mind explaining a little bit

why we prefer to use immersion over baptism?

- Sure, sure.

Well, I mean, there's nothing wrong with the word baptism.

It comes from the Greek, baptizo

which means to, to dip or immerse,

or it could also mean sprinkle honestly.

But it's the word that's used in the new Testament

to refer to the sacrament through this tradition

or ritual that's used in the life of a believer

to signify that they have been born again,

that they have accepted Yeshua Jesus as their Messiah.

And part of the reason in a Jewish ministry that we prefer

to use the word immersion rather than baptism

is honestly because of the historical baggage

that the term baptism carries in the minds

and hearts of the wider Jewish world.

And I'm sure we'll talk more about this as we go

through the episode here, but there's a dark history,

a dark history of antisemitism

and the Christian Church persecuting the Jewish people

and forcing them to convert, giving them the option

to either convert or die, you know,

as if that's an option

and baptism kind of became like emblematic

of that persecution.

- You know, because that was like the dividing line

the marker that indicated that a Jewish person

now has officially become a "Christian".

- So I think a lot of us know baptism or immersion

from obviously the New Testament,

you know, John, the Baptist.

That's sort of where we see it really prevalent.

But what about the Old Testament?

You know, there's a lot of practices

we read about that are also

in the New Testament that are in the Old Testament,

but is immersion one of them?

- Yeah. Yeah.

So we do see immersion or baptism

or some form of that in the Old Testament,

we see its foundations,

its roots in the Old Testament

and probably in two major areas

that both have to do with the tabernacle

or the temple and ritual cleansings that would take place.

So the term that's used is mikveh

and mikveh refers to like a pool of water

or, you know, a bath of running water

that was used in a ritualistic kind of way

to symbolize that a cleansing was taking place

or some kind of transition was taking place

at the same time when we look to what happened

and what took place in the tabernacle and the temple,

we do see that part of the furnishings when the layout of

the tabernacle was given you had the outer court, right?

So you had the holy place,

which was like in the structure itself

inside where the Holy of Holies was,

where the table of showbread, the altar of incense,

the Menorah,

and only certain priests could go in there at certain times.

And then you have the outer court.

And the two main furnishings that were in the outer court.

One was the altar where the offerings would be presented

and sacrificed.

And the other was this huge bronze Laver,

like a big tub that was filled with clean living water.

And that water was used to ceremonially

and ritually cleanse different things.

It cleansed the priests,

it would cleanse the worshipers.

It would be used to cleanse different vessels

that had become unclean for different reasons.

And so that in many ways was kind of like

a picture of what would eventually

become the New Testament expression of baptism.

- Yes, and we know that this idea of the mikveh,

it comes from the old Testament.

We read in the Torah about water being used

for purification.

We know that the Levitical priest,

as you said, had to bath in water

before offering sacrifices,

for example, on the day of atonement.

And we know that if people become unclean

from touching somebody who is sick,

they're required to bath in water.

And that kind of sounds obvious to us, you know,

if you touch somebody who is sick,

you should wash your hands, that kind of thing.

But why was this specifically commanded

and what did the water symbolize.

- Really, I mean what it symbolizes is a cleansing

that takes place.

And ultimately it's like a snapshot,

a picture of a larger truth that points to

what God does for us.

And at that point in history,

when the tabernacle and the temple were in operation

and functional,

it was pointing ahead to what the Messiah would do for us.

Right?

It was pointing ahead to the fact that the Messiah

was going to come and he was going to cleanse us

because we are unclean.

We have this sin nature that we've inherited

and that we're born with

since the time of Adam and Eve

and we need cleansing.

And there are many, many passages in prophecy

that point forward to this cleansing.

Now, one of the things I want to mention,

it's really interesting when we look at

how the water was used in the tabernacle

for these cleansing purposes, right?

So yes, the priest would use it on Yom Kippur

on the Day of Atonement

and someone who had come in contact

with someone or something that's unclean,

they would have to do it to show that they've been cleansed,

but it was also used to signal the transition in life

that a priest would go through

when he would begin his priestly service.

So in Numbers 4:1-3 ,

we see that a priest would begin their service

at the age of 30.

And what would signal and what would be part of the ceremony

of them transitioning from being an inactive priest

or a priest in training to now being, you know,

an active priest would be this sprinkling of water,

this cleansing with water

and the Hebrew word that's used there is Nazah.

- Okay, Nazah.

- And this is an important word because it's used there,

in Numbers, Numbers 4 for it's used in Exodus 29,

when Aaron is going to be set apart for priestly service,

he's sprinkled with blood and water.

It's used in Leviticus 5:9, in Leviticus 8:11,30

to show that Aaron and the priesthood would be sprinkled

with water and with blood to prepare them.

And even the altar would be sprinkled with blood.

And the furnishings in the tabernacle would be sprinkled

with blood to set them apart for this special duty

and this special service.

And when we compare that with the New Testament, you know,

I don't want to jump too far ahead of ourselves here,

but when we look at the baptism of Jesus, right,

when he goes to John the Baptist,

or John the immerser,

John, the baptizer

and Jesus Himself is baptized while He's at the age of 30.

And He's beginning in many ways,

His priestly service, right?

He's beginning His priestly ministry

as He is taking one step going closer and closer and closer

to the cross where He would make atonement for us.

- We'll be right back.

- Shalom. I'm Mitch Glaser,

President of Chosen People Ministries.

Is it possible for Jewish people to believe in Jesus

when there's such a sad history of Christian anti-Semitism

that has shaped Jewish attitudes towards the gospel?

Well, I know there's hope because I'm Jewish

and I believe in Jesus,

and I would love to offer a few suggestions

for reaching Jewish people personally,

with the love of God through Messiah.

First, keep your message personal.

You're representing a person, not a religion.

Second, be loving patient and kind even when they object.

And then finally, and most importantly,

pray, touching the heart of your Jewish friend

with the good news of Messiah

will also touch the very heart of God.

And you can learn more by visiting

Chosen People Ministries at chosenpeople.com/radio.

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- Shalom.

We are so glad you're joining us on

this episode of Our Hope.

We created this podcast as a resource

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and the Jewish community.

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- Bobby, that's incredible.

I actually didn't know that about the priests.

My mind is pretty blown right now.

Since you kind of talked about the new Testament,

Nicole, why don't you just read that passage for us?

Just so we have a little bit more context.

- Yes, so this is Matthew 3:13-17,

"Then Jesus arrived from Galilee

at the Jordan coming to John to be baptized by him.

But John tried to prevent Him saying,

'I have need to be baptized by you and do you come to me?'

But Jesus answering said to him 'permit it at this time,

for in this way, it is fitting for us

to fulfill all righteousness.'

Then he permitted Him.

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately

from the water and behold, the heavens were opened

and He saw the spirit of God

descending as a dove and lighting on Him

and behold, a voice out of the heaven said,

'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.'"

- I think we've answered the question.

Why did Yeshua need to be immersed.

But Robert, can you kind of elaborate a little bit more?

Sure. You know, I mean, He's God.

He's God,

why would there even be a need for Him to be immersed?

- Right, right.

Well, so John's baptism was a little different, right?

And it's actually probably important for us to sort of

take a look at what was the view on baptism

or immersion or the mikveh in the second temple period

and the second temple period it's, you know,

from about the year 500 BC

all the way through the year 70 AD.

Very important time period for us as students of the Bible

and followers of Jesus.

And in that time period,

the mikveh or the immersion,

had definitely expanded beyond the confines of the temple

and the tabernacle.

And we know this when we look at the Qumran community.

So the Dead Sea Scrolls,

which were discovered at a region in Israel called Qumran,

which is right on the Western shore of the Dead Sea

in between the Dead Sea and Jerusalem,

it's a desert, right?

And there are a bunch of caves that are there.

And in like, I think in 1947, 1948,

the story is kind of sketchy,

you know, but there were two Bedouin shepherds

who were going through the desert there

and sort of throw in rocks into caves

that were on these hills.

And when they threw a rock into one of them,

they heard pottery breaking.

So they went inside and they found these ancient scrolls

that were over 2000 years old copies of scripture.

Copies of the Hebrew Bible.

And that had been just, you know,

preserved because of the dry climate in the desert

for so many years.

And then excavations, you know,

started to take place in that area.

And what they found is that there was an entire community

that had set up shop out there.

And there were a very unique community.

It's believed that they were a bunch of priests

who were fed up with the corruption

that was taking place in the temple of Jerusalem.

So they separated themselves.

They viewed themselves as like a new covenant community.

And this is before Jesus came on the scene.

So many, many date this to like around the year 200 BC

or, you know, but anyway, so they view themselves

as like a new covenant community

and they were very strict

and ritual cleansing with water,

with the mikveh was huge in this community.

So if you go there today,

you'll see that what they've excavated

and what they found out there is all kinds of, you know,

different places where they lived,

but there are a ton of mikvehs or mikvehots, right?

These ritual baths that were out there.

So the mikveh immersion was again,

had expanded and extended beyond the confines of the temple.

And people would go through the baptismal waters

for a number of different reasons.

Okay. so the priests, like I mentioned,

would go and be sprinkled,

be cleansed with this water at the age of 30

to start their ministry.

But there are many other reasons,

a woman, when she finishes her menstrual cycle each month,

even to this day in the Orthodox Jewish world,

they go through the mikveh.

So where I live in Brooklyn,

there's a bunch of mikvehs around here.

You know, these private buildings where women will go and,

you know, under supervision

and they'll go through this cleansing,

this ritual cleansing, every single month,

men will go through it for different reasons,

a bride and groom, before they, before their wedding day,

we'll go through a mikveh together because

it's signaling a transition in their life.

They're going from the single life to the married life.

So they're going through this transition

and they're going through the cleansing waters

and the transitional waters to show that a change

is taking place.

Now on top of this now, you know,

there's a reason I'm mentioning all this.

When we look at the second temple period,

another reason another use for the mikveh or the immersion

was for someone who was converting to become Jewish.

So a Gentile person who was becoming Jewish

who was attaching themselves to Israel

who believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

There was a ritual conversion process.

It's believed, that there was a ritual conversion process

that a person would go through.

And it involved three things.

One was they would have to offer a sacrifice.

The second is they would have to be circumcised.

And then the third would be going through a mikveh.

And by doing that again,

its signaled that a change was taking place.

And even today in the Rabbinic literature that we have,

and as it's lived out in the Orthodox Jewish world today,

for someone who converts, someone who is Gentile,

and then they convert and they go through that process,

which today involves circumcision and a mikveh.

They're viewed now as no longer Gentile, they are Jewish.

And, and it's an insult to even refer to them as a convert,

or even to mention their former life as a "Gentile".

Now this was circulating in the second temple period.

So in the world of John, in the world of Jesus,

in the world of Paul,

this use of a baptism was in operation.

It was known.

So when John came on the scene, his baptism was different.

His baptism is described as a baptism of repentance, right?

And in many ways, it was calling people to repent

calling people back to God's word

back to God's truth.

But it was also preparing the way

for the coming of the Messiah.

A transition was going to take place.

A big transition was about to take place

in God's economy of salvation

and in the history of the world.

And John's baptism was like,

getting the place ready now,

getting the house in order,

calling people to repent of their sins,

come back to God's word and go through this mikveh

to be prepared for the coming of the Messiah

and what John says as he, you know, refers to Jesus

in these early chapters,

in the gospels,

he uses terminology that says that

he's coming with a certain kind of baptism, right?

John is, but that the one who comes after him,

is going to baptize us, not just with water, but with fire.

Right?

So this was pretty big.

And when Jesus was baptized by John,

it wasn't because He was repenting.

It wasn't because He had any sin to repent of.

I mean, He's the Messiah, He's God with us.

He says, He's God in the flesh.

He's perfect, He's blameless.

Right?

And He even says permitted at this time,

for, in this way, it is fitting for us

to fulfill all righteousness.

So Yeshua Himself is saying,

look, we're going to do this

partly because it's a fulfilling all righteousness

and it's the right thing to do.

And to show that He's ceremonially clean

and to demonstrate that He's a person,

you know, God with us,

who's transitioning into this new phase of His life

and His ministry as this great high priest

and that this new era, this new age was being ushered in.

Right.

And this is the first step in the way it begins really,

you know, it's amazing the first steps that Jesus takes

when He comes out of those waters,

it's like the first steps that He's taking towards

the cross, right?

The plan is in motion.

And the kingdom of God He can say now is at hand.

- Wow.

I think I have more questions,

but I don't think we have enough time on this podcast.

We're going to have to have a episode three about immersion.

This is really awesome.

Robert, thank you for just giving us that history

so much that I'm learning, listening to all of this.

So you briefly mentioned,

Yeshua will baptize with the holy spirit and fire

maybe explain the difference between the two.

Are they connected at all?

What's going on there?

- So I think to answer that question,

we kind of have to go back again, right?

We have to go back to the Old Testament

to the Tanakh, right.

And remember earlier we mentioned the Hebrew word Nazah

that's used in Numbers, in Leviticus

to refer to the sprinkling, that would take place, right?

Well, that word is used frequently in the old Testament.

And there are a few passages,

prophetic passages that I think are important for us

to look at so that we can make the connection

between the foundation that's laid in the Tanakh

with this picture of cleansing water

and the sprinkling of the water,

leading up to what Jesus was ushering in.

And I mean, honestly, the baptism by with fire, right?

And really what he's pointing to is the holy spirit,

the power of the holy spirit that was coming,

that was, you know, part of the new covenant promises

that God had made.

And ultimately we see it unfold,

but there are two key passages

that I will want us to just look at very quickly

because they help us,

sort of get a handle

on the meaning of those words,

of being baptized with fire and with the spirit.

So the first one is Ezekiel 36, right?

So Ezekiel 36:25, this is what the prophet wrote.

And this is God speaking to Israel, right?

Actually I'll back out, I'll read verse 24, right?

"He says for, I will take you from the nations,

gather you from all the lands

and bring you into your own land"

Verse 25," Then I will sprinkle clean water on you."

And that word sprinkle, it's the same word.

It's Nazah again,

"I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean.

I will cleanse you from all your filthiness

and from all your idols."

So like pause there for a second.

What's He saying,

He's speaking to Israel

and He's talking about this national cleansing.

That's going to take place that God is going to do

that God's going to bring about.

and it will be like a holistic cleansing, right?

It's not just a ceremonial cleansing that's taken place.

This is God cleansing the nation of Israel

for all their filthiness,

for all their sins and all their idolatry.

Right, now we keep reading verse 26.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart

and put a new spirit within you.

And I will remove the heart of stone

from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh, okay.

So again, this cleansing, this Nazah,

that's going to come, the sprinkling that's going to come.

It's not just external.

It's internal now, right?

He's talking about a heart transition, a heart change.

That's going to take place.

I will give you a new heart.

I mean, that's huge, right?

- Yeah.

- Now verse 27, how's He going to do that?

What's the operative means of this transformed heart.

I will put my spirit within you

and cause you to walk in my statutes

and you will be careful to observe my ordinances.

So the way that God is going to do this,

the way that this sprinkling, that this cleansing,

this, you know, mikveh, this baptism

is going to take place.

This new heart is going to take place

it's by the power of His spirit, okay?

So again, He's speaking to Israel directly here.

Now turn with me to Isaiah,

Isaiah 52 beginning in verse 13,

going all the way through chapter 53, verse 12, right?

Isaiah 53.

This is, you know, a portion of scripture.

That's fairly familiar in our ministry, right?

We're accustomed with this.

Well, the way that the prophecy begins in 52:13-15,

those three verses are like the preamble

for the rest of chapter 53.

It gives the summary of the whole prophecy.

It tells us what this special unique servant of the Lord

is going to do,

what He's going to accomplish through his suffering, right?

Through Him being perfect and blameless

and not deserving the punishment

yet putting Himself in position,

laying down His life as a sacrifice, as a guilt offering,

to pay for the crimes, sins and transgressions of the many

and 52:15, this is what He says.

Thus okay look,

"As a result of his suffering and his death

and his becoming the sacrifice.

He will sprinkle many nations."

And there's that word again, Nazah, okay.

He will sprinkle many nations.

So Ezekiel is talking about this sprinkling,

that takes place for the nation of Israel, right?

That is part of God's promise.

And here Isaiah is sort of broadening the view of this

sprinkling ministry that the Messiah will accomplish

through the shedding of His blood.

It's not just going to be Israel.

It's going to be all the nations, the entire world.

It will have a global impact, okay?

Thus, he will sprinkle many nations,

a global atoning impact and cleansing impact.

And we again, learn more about

what that cleansing means when we combine

Isaiah 52:15 with Ezekiel:36,

it's a new heart.

And it's by the power of God's holy spirit.

And to sort of tie it in with the new Testament.

When we come to the book of Acts,

you know, after the death,

burial and resurrection of Yeshua, right?

He's perfect.

He's blameless. He's gone to the cross.

He's obtained eternal redemption for his people.

He's provided the shed blood for our sins.

He's, our priest, who's active.

And in Acts 1:5,

before He ascends to go to be

at the right hand of the father,

He speaks to his disciples and he tells them

to wait in Jerusalem, right?

He says, "You heard from me for John baptized with water."

This is Acts 1:5, "for John baptized with water

but you will be baptized with the holy spirit,

not many days from now."

And then in Acts 2,

sure enough when Shavuot or Pentecost had fully come,

God poured out his holy spirit.

And it started with those disciples.

They were transformed, right?

They had new hearts and it was by the power

of the Holy Spirit.

And that was, you know,

this cleansing baptism that was coming in fire, right?

With these tongues of fire

and transforming the lives of these disciples.

- Thank you for explaining that Bobby

and we know that the baptism

and the Holy Spirit was necessary in order

for Yeshua's disciples to fulfill the great commission

which we read about in Matthew 28:19-20,

He told His disciples to do three things,

make disciples, baptize them and teach them his commands.

So why is baptism essential for those

who choose to follow Yeshua?

- Yeah, that's a good question.

Well, first I would say that the,

to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, that's essential,

you know, and that's something that comes at the moment

of a person is born again,

that comes at the moment that a person acknowledges

and receives Yeshua, Jesus as the Messiah.

They are changed and transformed.

And again, when we look at what baptism represents,

what it means, it's a transition, it's a change.

And when a person is born again,

the way that I explain it to people that, you know,

whether I'm discipling them or, you know, new believers,

when we think about what happens in a baptism,

you enter into the water as one person,

you go beneath the water completely

where human life cannot be sustained, right?

So it's a picture of death. So the old person dies.

And when they come up from the water

and they take that first breath,

it's like the first breath of new life.

So a believer will go through the baptismal waters

to make a public proclamation that

if that has happened to them,

that they had been transformed, that they were one person.

They were, as Paul describes,

we were dead in our trespasses,

but we had been baptized for by one Spirit.

We are all immersed.

We were all baptized into one body

and we are baptized into the Messiah.

We enter into His death with Him.

And at the same time, we come up from those waters

and we breathe that new breath.

And we have that Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us.

And so the process of going through baptism

is symbolic of what has already happened

in the life of a believer

that they have been born again.

- What would you say to a Jewish person who says,

oh, if you get baptized, or if I get baptized,

I'm no longer Jewish. You'd like, it's, I'm done.

That's it.

That's a reality, many Jewish people have said that.

So what's the truth behind that?

- Yeah, well, I mean that's a good question.

And I think, you know,

the approach that I've generally taken through the years

is to try to unwrap, you know,

that statement from its historical baggage.

What I really want to do,

is get the focus on the scriptures

and get the focus on what the word actually teaches.

And that this idea of baptism this ritual,

this ceremony, the sacrament of baptism

is thoroughly Jewish,

and it has Jewish backgrounds and Jewish roots.

It's got prophetic significance and you know,

for anybody who's going to be baptized,

I would argue that they must be a believer.

- So Bobby, thank you for explaining

just the history behind immersion,

where it comes from, how it works.

And we know that the reason we picked you for this episode

is because you have seen several Jewish people

come to faith in Yeshua

who have freely chosen to be immersed.

Could you share any stories about their experiences?

- Sure. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I mean, just recently

when the weather was nicer,

we went down and we were privileged

to have a baptism service ceremony

at the beach in Coney Island.

And this was in September of last year

and one of our you know, people,

Jewish man who came to faith,

actually at the start of the pandemic,

it was just such a powerful moment for him

as he went through those baptismal waters,

because it was honestly because of the historical baggage,

because of the weight of the significance

of what was taking place.

And he was able to see beyond the historical,

you know, baggage and the persecution

and understand that it's not him, you know,

becoming a Catholic, I mean, not to bash Catholics,

it's not him, you know,

not becoming someone who's not Jewish anymore.

It's him going through the process

and being able to stand on the shore of Coney Island

at the beach and share his testimony

of what Yeshua has done in his life

and go through those waters together

and enter into the water.

And we prayed with him

and with tears in his eyes,

he understood what was happening in that moment

that he was letting the world know

that Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah, the Messiah of Israel,

the one.

The perfect servant of the Lord

that we read about in Isaiah 53,

that sprinkles many nations,

the one who makes it possible for Israel

to receive a new heart, to be cleansed,

that this Messiah had changed his life

and that as he went through those waters,

it was him being able to come up out of those waters

and walk with great confidence,

knowing and trusting that Jesus had changed his life.

- Yeah, Robert, thank you so much for joining us.

Once again, this was an awesome, awesome episode.

And just to hear the history to hear

that immersion is very Jewish.

All of this has been very encouraging

and I hope everyone listening has been encouraged.

- Thanks Robert.

- "As they went along the road,

they came to some water and the eunuch said,

'Look! Water!

What prevents me from being baptized?'

And Philip said,

'If you believe with all your heart, you may.'

And he answered and said,

'I believe that Yeshua Messiah is the Son of God.'

And he ordered the chariot to stop.

And they both went down into the water,

Phillip as well as the eunuch."

And he baptized him, Acts 8:36-38.

Immersion is a simple but powerful way that we proclaim

our faith in Yeshua.

It is an outward symbol of a change

that has happened on the inside.

All our sins have been washed away

through Yeshua's sacrifice

and in him, we have been made clean.

If you have any questions about immersion,

email us at believe@chosenpeople.com.

We would love to talk to you.

Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Our Hope

featuring Chosen People Ministry staff member,

Robert Walter,

This episode was written and co-produced by Nicole Vacca

and edited and co-produced by Grace Swee.

This episode is also made possible thanks

to Dr. Mitch Glaser, Kieran Bautista and Rachel Larson.

I'm Abe Vazquez until next time.

- Thanks for listening to Our Hope.

If you like our show and want to know more,

check out ourhopepodcasts.com

or chosenpeople.com.

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See you next time.