Why Do We Baptize....

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Part of me wonders if, at the Last Supper, Jesus even thought that thousands of years into the future that Christianity would be an organized, institutionalized religion, and his words & actions of that would become ritualized by the organizers & gatekeepers of said religious institutions. No way to really know that I think.
 
Carolla said:
Part of me wonders if, at the Last Supper, Jesus even thought that thousands of years into the future that Christianity would be an organized, institutionalized religion, and his words & actions of that would become ritualized by the organizers & gatekeepers of said religious institutions. No way to really know that I think.
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My guess would be that he expected the end to happen within a reasonable time and that until then, gatherings would be small. He certainly does not seem to have ordained a centralized church that acts as a "gatekeeper."
 
Carolla said:
Part of me wonders if, at the Last Supper, Jesus even thought that thousands of years into the future that Christianity would be an organized, institutionalized religion, and his words & actions of that would become ritualized by the organizers & gatekeepers of said religious institutions. No way to really know that I think.
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Jesus - being divine - could have had perfect knowledge of that. However, it seems he did to choose to limit his own knowledge on certain things.
 
Mendalla said:
My guess would be that he expected the end to happen within a reasonable time and that until then, gatherings would be small. He certainly does not seem to have ordained a centralized church that acts as a "gatekeeper."
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agree. Often, near the end of life, people might (an do) say - 'do this in remembrance of me' - whether it's looking up at the moon before going to bed every night, eating/preparing a particular food, walking a particular trail ... there are so many ways we mark remembrance.
 
Jesus certainly seems to have known the ministry he started would be far-reaching. He tells his disciples, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, in witnessing to all folks; and then the end shall come." - Matthew 24:14 (WYC).
 
Jae said:
Jesus certainly seems to have known the ministry he started would be far-reaching. He tells his disciples, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, in witnessing to all folks; and then the end shall come." - Matthew 24:14 (WYC).
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Far reaching in 30ish CE and far reaching today are rather different things. Most who heard him speak would have thought of Rome as impossibly far away. Africa south of the Mediterranean coast was a mystery, as was anything east of the Parthians.
 
Finding this consideration of what Jesus meant at the Last Supper very interesting.

Did He see it as an intimate activity among His closest followers? Or did He expect the practice to become widespread?

What would He think of communion today as we practice it? What would He think about the way the words have evolved into "the bread of life" and "the cup of blessing" in many of our churches?
 
Mendalla said:
Far reaching in 30ish CE and far reaching today are rather different things. Most who heard him speak would have thought of Rome as impossibly far away. Africa south of the Mediterranean coast was a mystery, as was anything east of the Parthians.
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Perhaps so. And perhaps Jesus, being divine, knew about all the world when he said all the world. After all, he had created all the world.
 
paradox3 said:
Finding this consideration of what Jesus meant at the Last Supper very interesting.

Did He see it as an intimate activity among His closest followers? Or did He expect the practice to become widespread?

What would He think of communion today as we practice it? What would He think about the way the words have evolved into "the bread of life" and "the cup of blessing" in many of our churches?
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I think Jesus would want us to recognize the elements as being his body and his blood. You know, as he himself said.
 
Mendalla said:
Given that others read that "Word of God" differently than you, it is, indeed, by your reckoning.
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No. My reckoning would just be my own ponderings, my own logic. The Bible is beyond human reason. It is my understanding of the Bible as I am guided by the Spirit of God, okay.
 
Jae said:
No. My reckoning would just be my own ponderings, my own logic. The Bible is beyond human reason. It is my understanding of the Bible as I am guided by the Spirit of God, okay.
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Think the Spirit chooses to guide some of us differently than others?
 
I have wondered about communion for insiders only. This in light of language used by Jesus when feeding five thousand and when eating with the disciple. In both cases Jesus takes bread, blesses bread, breaks bread and distributes bread.

“Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people.” Mark 6:41

“Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples.”Mark 14:22

I wonder what the implications may be.
Mendalla said:
I'd say that they are making individual followers responsible for their own relationship to Christ. If someone takes the elements improperly, that's between them and God. You're almost pushing back to the RC attitude of the church as intermediary between man and God. Mainstream Protestantism like the UCCan tends to see itself more as a facilitator.
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Brings Socrates to mind, his image of a midwife encouraging and supporting the emergence of truth in others.
 
Sorry for the confusion. My thinking tends to be tangential. In Jesus we see God present to human circumstance. He gives his best to support and encourage persons met along the way. This in the material and spiritual realms. Jesus feeds five thousand on a hillside. In this we see God’s compassionate inclusion of those left outside the prevailing social economy. We also see Jesus feeding the spiritual hunger of those who follow in his straight and narrow way.

Still confusing?
 
GeoFee said:
Sorry for the confusion. My thinking tends to be tangential. In Jesus we see God present to human circumstance. He gives his best to support and encourage persons met along the way. This in the material and spiritual realms. Jesus feeds five thousand on a hillside. In this we see God’s compassionate inclusion of those left outside the prevailing social economy. We also see Jesus feeding the spiritual hunger of those who follow in his straight and narrow way.

Still confusing?
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I agree with you that Jesus feeds people both materially and spiritually.
 
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