Baptism

The word baptism comes from the Greek "to wash". As a Protestant, who believed that baptism was an external sign of an internal reality, I never stopped to ask myself why our Lord gave the sacrament such a name. If in fact it was meant to wash, wash what?

If anyone has ever been to a baptism, they might notice that afterwords (an evangelical baptism or otherwise), no one has been sufficiently cleansed externally by the ritual. In the case of the SB, the fresh smell of the chlorine might actually leave one in need of a bath following the ritual. If done in the Jordan river the afore is even more obvious. Yes, this cleansing cannot be external, which leaves us with only another option:

Baptism transforms the inner man. It washes us clean, from the inside-out.

I guess one still might argue that the washing was a metaphor for the symbolic nature of the salvific act of Christ that had already been accomplished. However, a reading of the end of Matthew, "Go make disciples, washing them (baptizing) in the name of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit...", makes no real sense with that reading. Instead, I am content to now have a coherent view of the sacrament of baptism. When Christ washes you, beware, he is coming for your soul!