And he said: In what then were you baptized? Who said: In John's baptism.
ειπεν τε προς αυτους εις τι ουν εβαπτισθητε οι δε ειπον εις το ιωαννου βαπτισμα
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Further, how is it clear that the disciples in Ephesus had the baptism of John? From the fact that when asked, "Into what, then, were you baptized?" they answered, "Into John's baptism." Perhaps they had gone to Jerusalem and returned from there baptized. Yet even after being baptized, they did not know Jesus.
How, then, did they receive the baptism of John while they were in Ephesus? Perhaps they were traveling to Jerusalem at that time and returned from there without even receiving information about Christ.
Since in Ephesus one could meet people of various eastern beliefs, Paul found there, among others, twelve disciples of John the Baptist. John had been called to prepare his contemporary countrymen for the appearing of the Redeemer. But as usually happens with preparatory manifestations in the Kingdom of God, they did not make the same impression on all. Hearts differed in their capacity to receive them. From his school came some who followed his indication and attached themselves to the Savior with living faith. Some even became His apostles. Others remained with very inadequate notions concerning the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. Still others did not imitate the example of their teacher. Remaining in their extreme prejudices, they acted even with hostility against Christians.
The beginning of the sect of John’s disciples, which survived until modern times, should probably be placed as near as possible to the Gospel period. The disciples of John whom Paul met in Ephesus belonged to the second of these groups. It is unknown whether they became John’s disciples in Palestine and received baptism from him himself, or whether they were drawn into the fellowship of his disciples later. In any case, only this must be noted about them. Though they knew little concerning the person and teaching of Jesus Christ, they considered themselves entitled to be called Christians like the others. Luke calls them μαϑητάς in Acts 19:1. Paul indeed expected to find Christians in them. But when he entered into conversation with them, it became clear that they had as yet received nothing from the glorified Lord Jesus. They did not even know of the Holy Spirit. Paul gladly instructed them concerning the relation of John’s ministry to the ministry of Jesus Christ. He also taught them the relation of John’s baptism to the baptism which brought men into communion with Jesus Christ. This baptism made them partakers of the divine life proceeding from Him. Then he gave them Christian baptism, with the laying on of hands and prayer. And in John’s disciples there appeared the same signs of the descent of the Holy Spirit that had once appeared in the apostles.
Even before the Apostle Paul’s second visit to Ephesus, there was already a small number of disciples of the Lord there; Acts 18:27. Among them was also a certain number of believing disciples who had received only John’s baptism. Like Apollos, they had not yet been fully instructed in the way of the Lord; Acts 18:25. They did not yet understand that John’s baptism was only a baptism with water. Through repentance it prepared men for faith in Christ. Consequently, it was insufficient for salvation, and for this one had to be baptized with Christ’s baptism. When the Apostle Paul came to Ephesus and entered into fellowship with them, he soon noticed the incompleteness of their Christian enlightenment.
He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” That is, when you believed in Jesus Christ. They answered, “We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” This answer of John’s disciples cannot be understood to mean that they had no notion at all of the existence of the Holy Spirit. First, one must suppose that these disciples were Jews, since there is no evidence that there were then disciples of John among the Gentiles. In that case, although they could not have had a notion of God as triune in Persons, the idea of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God could not have been foreign to them. Second, as disciples of John and even as believers, they had to know his prophecy concerning baptism with the Holy Spirit through Christ; Mt 3:11. Finally, they do not say that they do not know whether there is a Holy Spirit. They say, “We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” That is, when John’s disciples were brought to faith in Christ, they were catechized only in John’s teaching. They had not been told that believers in Christ receive the Holy Spirit. There had been no mention of the Holy Spirit as the gift of faith in Jesus Christ. Then the apostle revealed to them only the preparatory significance of John’s baptism in relation to Christ. He pointed out that, in order to receive salvation, it was necessary to be baptized with Christ’s baptism. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. By laying hands on them, Paul brought down upon them the Holy Spirit. This was plainly shown to all when they began to speak in other tongues and to prophesy. In all they were about twelve men.
From this question it is seen that even then baptism was performed with mention of the name of the Holy Spirit, and therefore in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. What, then, does the following expression mean: "When they heard this," namely, that the baptism of John, which these disciples had received, was only a baptism of repentance joined to expectation of Christ, "they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ"? It means that they were baptized not according to the institution of the Forerunner, but according to the institution of Christ, in accordance with His commandment. Therefore they were baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity.
This answer of the disciples, of course, could not fail to astonish the Apostle. He asks, "Into what, then, were you baptized?" What was the object of your faith and confession at baptism, if you have not even heard of the Holy Spirit, let alone received Him? "Into John's baptism," that is, into what constituted the object of John's baptism, and the confession required at that baptism.
The Forerunner’s teaching concerning Christ also determined the relation of his baptism, as preparatory, to baptism in the name of Christ. Therefore, when the Apostle Paul reminded Apollos’ disciples of John’s teaching concerning Christ the Savior, he skillfully stirred them to receive Christian baptism. The definition of the Forerunner’s teaching is given here briefly, but exactly and expressively. Here John’s baptism is called a baptism of repentance. That is, it was a sign of repentance, with hope for the forgiveness of sins through faith, not in John, but in Jesus Christ. In Him, therefore, lies all the real power that cleanses and saves.
One may also think that Paul, by asking them about the Spirit, appeals to their inward testimony concerning the insufficient power of John’s baptism. For when they were baptized, they did not thereby receive the Holy Spirit. Therefore they needed to receive that baptism after which the Holy Spirit is also given. “John’s baptism,” says Ammonius in his commentary on this verse, “had only an impulse toward repentance, but did not have the power to cleanse sins. In this lies the difference between John’s baptism and the baptism of the faithful, because the baptism of the faithful also grants the forgiveness of sins. John, when baptizing, said: I baptize you into Him Who comes after me, and I require that you believe in Him, because He is the Lamb of God. But the one who baptizes truly said: I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, that you may believe in the consubstantial Trinity.”
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 13 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS