Editorial March 8, 1975 Issue

Baptism: Its Deep Significance

Naomi Price

In the Bible we read of the importance from earliest times of washing the body with clean water. Conditions demanded it. The climate of the East was often very warm, the roads were hot and dusty in the summer, muddy in times of rain. Not only comfort but courtesy demanded the cleansing of the body after a journey or before eating.

Over the years there grew up many well-defined ceremonies and customs around the satisfying of this physical need for cleanliness, and washing became to the ancient people a symbol of purification and acceptance in the sight of God as well as of men. At an early date the Jewish people invested it with religious meaning. For instance, it became customary to wash with water, or baptize, the proselytes to their faith prior to full acceptance into the congregation.

In fact, ceremonial washing became important in many forms. One, the washing of hands to protest innocence was well established in the time of Christ Jesus. The Bible tells us, "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, ... he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person."^{Matt. 27:24;} At the time, the act of hand washing was literally performed. Today, the ritual is not necessary in order to convey the message of withdrawal from involvement in a situation. Ceremony, in itself, does not accomplish anything. It is merely a language of signs that eventually is outgrown.

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