THREE!!!

October 1 

…baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Matthew 28:19

D.W. Miller (Understanding Baptism) offers an illustration clarifying the language of Matthew 28:19 by employing an apple, a child, and a pail. On every occasion, when commanded to dip the apple in the name of Billy, and of Sally, and of Mary, the child ALWAYS triply immerses the apple! Try it! 

Dr. James Boyer (Brethren Baptism Notes) offered a similar illustration employing silver dollars. Observing the grammatical construction of the passage, he asks: “How many dollars will you need if you are asked to put a dollar ‘into the hand of Peter, and of James, and of John’?” The answer, of course, is THREE; three hands, three dollars! Try it on someone! 

C.F. Yoder (God’s Means of Grace) offers an analogy involving the distribution of handbills. If asked to deliver a notice to the house of Mark, and of Luke, and of John, understanding that each have their own house, how many will you deliver? THREE, of course!

Another pair of helpful analogies come to us from D. Vaniman, referenced by T.M. Hodge (Could it be Three?): 

“If I should tell [a] boy to dip my pencil into the water, and into the milk, and into the wine, he could not possibly obey the command short of dipping the pencil three times—once into each substance. Again, if I command the boy to write his name into the book of Matthew, and of Mark, and of Luke, he will at once see that he must write his name three times to do as commanded—once in each book.”  

Jesus issued a clear and simple command that was universally understood by God’s people for centuries. Why all the confusion today? 

Terry L. Reese