Radical Immersion
Passing Through the Water + Fire
Yochanan the immerser, or John the Baptist as we call him, came preaching a radical message in his day. One of bearing the fruit of repentance by passing through the waters to symbolize a life surrendered to the Kingdom of Heaven and that Kingdom’s King.
This topic of passing through the waters has been laid heavy on my heart. The shallow recognition in our religious structures of baptism leaves the call to repentance + water immersion lacking the sacredness of the truth it holds.
The Call to Repent
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”- Matthew 3:2
I’m not sure we realize just how radical John was in his day. He went against the grain of his religious traditions. The way he dressed, his wild hair, his diet of grasshoppers and honey… imagine how he was viewed by his Jewish tradition. On top of that he preached a message that was just as radical as his appearance.
John carried the weight of the message of Heaven on his shoulders. It did not matter what others thought of him. He was bold in his telling of the truth.
The example of John haunts you and I. Are we willing to be bold for Jesus and the Kingdom? Are we willing to go against the culture of “church” that we have been immersed in and repent? Repent simply means to change direction. Am I willing to recognize how tradition has trumped the truth of God’s Holy Word, to change direction, and pass through the waters and the fire with Jesus? Am I willing to look at the leaders of systematic religion and call them for what they are? Brood of vipers!
Whether I am willing or not, that’s what’s required.
Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them,
“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.-Matthew 3:5-8
Notice how John called them to “BEAR FRUIT IN KEEPING WITH REPENTANCE.”
Wow! Feel the weight of this. Repentance is the fruit that John is calling the religious elite to bear.
And what if they don’t bear that fruit of repentance? What happens to any of us that claim to follow the Most High but we don’t produce that good fruit of repentance?
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.- Matthew 3:10
So the fruit that John radically calls followers of God to bear is one of a change of direction. A life that is dead to our own man-made systems. A life shining with the fruit of repentance. The other part of John’s radical message… every tree that does not bear that good fruit of repentance is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” -Matthew 3:11-12
Again John gets very radical. ( also a nerdy piece of info on the word “radical”… it’s from the root latin word “radix” which means “root”.)
John tells them of his immersing them in water for a sign of repentance, but when Christ comes He will immerse them in His Spirit and fire. We often think of this of a good thing, of gaining power from Jesus. Many wear it like a badge of honor, something they obtained from God. Oh, how foolish we can be. Yes, it is a great and wonderful thing if we have first died to self, changed course, shed off tradition, and denied any participation with the spirit of this world. However, read on. Jesus will immerse you in Himself and in fire with His winnowing fork in His hand, He is clearing His threshing floor, He is gathering in who is His, and He is burning up the chaff in His fire that can not be quenched.
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!! How much more bold could John have been?
How much more bold does the Lord need to be with us?
I have had the honor to speak with many in the body all over the world in the past year. The call for repentance to the “church” has been made loud and clear. You can hear the trumpet blasting. Still yet the majority of the religious keep up the pretense, fingers shoved in their ears. Deaf and blind by willful ignorance for some. An outright act of defiance to the call of the Lord by others.
To the ones that long to be immersed in those healing waters that John proclaimed…
The ones that have met the call for repentance with a broken and contrite heart, the ones that long to pass through the waters and through the fire with Jesus by our side, rest assured. The threshing floor has been painful for many, it has for me at times. The fire of Jesus burns out the impurity… its been painfully beautiful. I am delivered, like that calf loose from the stall. I am no longer chained in bondage to the system of religion that kept me blind in areas. I’m dancing free in the true gospel of Jesus Christ. My heart aches deeply to pass through those waters now that I know Jesus like I’ve never known Him before.
I believe we are in a season that is like the Day of The Lord. All the systems of man are currently on fire. The Lord is burning it to the ground. As all burns, as all pass through the fire, we can surrender to His call… come fully to Jesus and He will pass through it ALL with us. When you’re passing through it holding His hand, that’s true purification. Pass through it without surrender… that’s destruction.
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.- Malachi 4:1-3
Surely John was hearkening back to the words of Malachi as he warned his people. Malachi goes on to say that the Lord would send Elijah the prophet to warn. The Lord always sends radical ones to warn.
Jesus is Returning
John’s message was pronouncing the coming Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom here on earth. When He returns it will be fully established. The time we are currently in is the overlap. The now but not yet. However, the returning of our Lord is very close. I wonder often what we actually think that period just before His return would look like. I imagine it to be similar to the warnings and callings of His first coming.
Make sure you’re ready to meet Him. The gods of this world are not to be idolized by us. Not one system of this world ought to have our allegiance or worship. We are to denounce it all. We are citizens of Heaven. Ambassadors of Christ. If you’re an ambassador for anything other than Jesus and His Kingdom… repent! The axe is being laid to the root!
I’ll end with this imaginative writing by Frank Viola of the call of John the Baptist…
“To be part of this new nation, all of your loyalties to the present systems of this world must be severed. So untangle your heart from them and leave them behind.
Pull out of the present empire, pull out of the religious system, pull out of the political system, and pull out of every other damnable system of this world, all of which have enslaved you, because the new empire is about to descend on this planet.
Break your attachment to earthly things. Be generous and fair in your dealings with others.
The new King is going to bring judgement, righting the wrongs of the world and separating the wheat from the chaff. He is going to bring forth a great purging.
So get down here in this water, confess your sins and they will be forgiven, as the prophets promised. Turn away from your old way of life, sever your ties with this present world, and be baptized—denoting your death to the old system and your aliveness to the coming nation.
When He comes, the new Emperor will immerse you with the Spirit of the living God. And God Himself will dwell inside of you! Therefore, this new empire will not operate by human wisdom or human power. It will operate by God’s own Spirit.
Stay here in the desert with me until the new empire arrives. If you cannot stay in the desert, go about your business, but keep yourself unattached and wait for the promised King to come and establish His new nation.
But I issue a warning: The Kingdom of Heaven is about to descend on the earth. Rethink. Reconsider. Recant. Get out of the kingdom of darkness because it’s coming down. The Kingdom of Heaven is about to invade the planet and declare war on all other kingdoms and rivals in this world. Leave them behind while there is still time.
John the Baptist was preaching insurgence.”
I was just reading about baptism in Frank Viola’s book, “Pagan Christianity”. As usual, your words hold great weight and thought with me.
Thank you Michelle.