Water Baptism in John 3:5?

OBJECTION: When Jesus said that a man must be born of water and the Spirit, his statement had nothing to do with baptism. The water was just a metaphor about the need for cleansing.

ANSWER: The larger context of our Lord's statement is against this interpretation. In the background of his reference to water and the Spirit was the fact that, up to this point, Nicodemus and the rest of the Pharisees had rejected the baptism of John (cf. Lk. 7:30; 20:1-8). In fact, baptism seems to be one of the major themes of the first several chapters of the Gospel of John:

• In chapter 1, John the Baptist comes baptizing with real water. His main message is that although he himself only applies the water, it is actually Jesus who applies the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt. 3:11).

• In chapter 2, Jesus puts water into the six stone waterpots that were used for Jewish baptisms, that is, Old Testament purification rites. Then, he turns that water into wine (a symbol of his blood) to show that, in baptism, our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ.

• In chapter 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that all the Pharisees must be born of water and the Spirit. This is why he speaks in the plural in verse 7. He does not say: "You must be born again" but rather "Ye must be born again." This refers back to their rejection of John's baptism.

But baptism doesn't just occupy the context prior to our Lord's Statement. It continues to be the primary subject in view even after it. In fact, right after the conversation with Nicodemus, the narrative continues with instances and controversies regarding baptism (v. 22ff). In this case, John's disciples broke out into an open dispute regarding the topic of "purification" (v. 25). Why? Because they saw that Jesus was also beginning to baptize (v. 26).

• In chapter 4, we see another reference to baptism with the woman at the well. In verses 1-4 we see that the baptizing activity of Christ was also rejected by the Pharisees, so he left Judea and went to Samaria. There, he told the woman that drinking the water that he provides leads to eternal life.

Interestingly, the reference to drinking points us back to the waterpots in John chapter 2, reminding us that those who drink the water that Jesus gives are cleansed by his sacrificial blood. But there is more. The cleansing takes place by his blood and Spirit, both of which we drink when we are baptized. For as Paul says: "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13).