QUESTION:

I listened to your lesson on Baptism (thank you, it helped me to better understand this aspect of our walk in Christ). However, I am not able to find any scriptural passages where it mentions the followers of Jesus were baptized? (The 12 disciples) Scripture mentions they did baptise others. Can you help with this question please?
Thank you.

There is a reason you could not find any reference to the apostles being baptized. It is because there are none to mention! This is one of those mysteries that will forever remain a mystery. Actually, there are two mysteries: First of all there is the mystery about when (if at all) they were baptized. Then there is the mystery about why their conversions are really not described at all. Bottom line, we do not even know how or when they were saved. This is clearly a mystery.

Let me state my opinion, which is probably not worth very much, as it is just an opinion. We know that the apostles were baptizing those who came to Jesus (John 4:2 Here, I am assuming that the “disciples” doing the baptizing either included the apostles or may even have been exclusively the apostles). Common sense (which is not the same as proof!) says that they were baptized before they baptized others. I doubt many would disagree with this. It is extremely likely that the apostles were baptized by Jesus early in their ministry with him.

Let me state another opinion. This opinion I am less confident of, but it is still my opinion. It is my opinion that the apostles were “rebaptized” after Jesus ascended but before the Day of Pentecost. I would use Acts 19:5 as an analogy in which people who had received John’s baptism were baptized in order to receive the Holy Spirit. According to Acts 2:38 we receive the promised gift of the Holy Spirit when we are baptized into Christ. Baptism by either John or Jesus before Jesus died for our sins did not have this result (Acts 19:1f). Therefore, logically, one can assume that the apostles were baptized into Christ before Pentecost. A word of caution here. This is logical, but it does not amount to proof.

Arguing against the necessity for “rebaptism” one can use John 20:21 which says that Jesus breathed on them and they received the Holy Spirit. This is why I hesitate a bit and why I have the opinion already stated, but do not feel strongly that I am right. It is conceivable that, because he had breathed on them, water immersion baptism was not needed for the apostles to be saved and to receive the Holy Spirit. I am afraid we will have to settle for being unsure about this. If God felt we needed to know he would have seen to it being state in the New Testament. Apparently we do not need to know the answer to this question.

John Oakes