We have to look at what baptism is and its purpose, I like this study...
"Note that John the Baptist did his baptizing in the river Jordan. Ever wonder why? A clue is in the definition of baptism. Here are the Greek words used in connection with baptism, from Strong's Greek dictionary:
G907. baptizo, bap-tid'-zo; from a der. of G911;
to make whelmed (i.e. fully wet); used only (in the N.T.) of ceremonial ablution, espec. (techn.) of the ordinance of Chr. baptism:--baptist, baptize, wash.
G908. baptisma, bap'-tis-mah; from G907; baptism (techn. or fig.):--baptism.
G909. baptismos, bap-tis-mos'; from G907; ablution (cerem. or Chr.):--baptism, washing.
G910. Baptistes, bap-tis-tace'; from G907; a baptizer, as an epithet of Christ's forerunner:--Baptist.
G911. bapto, bap'-to; a prim. verb;
to whelm, i.e. cover wholly with a fluid; in the N.T. only in a qualified or spec. sense, i.e. (lit.) to moisten (a part of one's person), or (by impl.) to stain (as with dye):--dip.
Apostolic baptism was by full immersion, and that is why John the Baptist used the river Jordan. In other words, the one being baptized was fully dunked under the water, which is clear from the Greek and even acknowledged by the Catholic Church:
1214 This sacrament is called
Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek
baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death (
628), from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as "a new creature."(6)
Source:
Catechism of the Catholic Church, published by Liguori Publications, English translation copyright 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana, bearing the Imprimi Potest of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, page 312.
So the New Testament only speaks of baptism by immersion. However, some may point to the book of Ezekiel to validate baptism by sprinkling:
Ezek 36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Ezek 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Sprinkling of water
was part of Israel's ritual cleansing ceremonies (see Numbers 8:7, 19:13, 17-21), which Ezekiel alludes to, but not a single instance of baptism by this method can be verified anywhere in the New Testament. Baptism was
only by full immersion. The common practice today of baptism by sprinkling or pouring is simply not supported by the New Testament. It is therefore, nothing but the tradition of men.
Yet, some may point to Pentecost (Acts 2:41) and use the following rational to justify baptism by pouring:
"At Pentecost, the thousands who were baptized could not have been baptized by immersion -- Jerusalem had no body of water large enough. (Water was [and is] piped in to the city.) The converts must have been baptized by pouring."
This makes you think that there were no large bodies of water in Jerusalem, that water was piped directly into homes, in sinks and bathtubs like today, which would make the task of baptizing 3000 by immersion impractical. Most any map of Jerusalem in New Testament times will show there were the following pools of water in the immediate vicinity:
- Serpent's Pool - to the southwest
- Tower's Pool - to the west
- Strouthion Pool - to the northwest
- Sheep Pool - to the north
- Pool of Israel - to the north
- Pool of Bethesda - to the north by the sheep gate
- Pool of Siloam - to the south
The Pool of Siloam is mentioned in John 9:7-11 as the place where a blind man received his sight after washing there. Another, the Pool of Bethesda is mentioned in John 5:2-7 which was by the Sheep Gate and frequented by the sick and lame looking for healing.
In Palestine, water is frequently stored in very large cisterns cut into the rock, some large enough to have spiral staircases cut into them so that one could walk down to the water level to draw water. There would have been an ample number of such pools and/or cisterns in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem with which to baptize 3000 people by immersion in one day.
So why immersion? What is the reason for it?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Baptism is symbolic of burial with Christ, which is the reason for full immersion, and coming up out of the water is symbolic of being raised from the dead to a new and eternal life. This symbolism is not effectively conveyed by sprinkling or pouring.
Another common practice is the baptism of infants soon after birth. Search the New Testament and you will not find a single instance of an infant being baptized."...
http://biblelight.net/baptism.htm
