Question
Gramps,
Did the Savior personally baptize anyone, either in Jerusalem or in the Americas??
Lee
Answer
Dear Lee,
The scriptures state that Jesus encouraged baptism among his disciples:
“When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)” (John 4:1-2).
The Joseph Smith Translation corrects the parenthetical statement to include the following:
“Now the Lord … himself baptized not so many as his disciples; For he suffered them for an example, preferring one another.“
I think this is a great lesson in leadership and mission focus. Christ wanted to bring souls to His Father – it didn’t matter so much who was in the water with the convert – only that the work was done. His Father’s glory increased, and His disciples gained excellent training which was greatly needed when He was no longer among them. Or, as Paul phrased it, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
Gramps
