阅读经文 

我从来都不是一个“爱水的人”。小时候，我不喜欢下水，所以水上乐园对我来说没什么乐趣。即使成年后，在湖泊、河流或海洋中游泳时，我也总在想，那些深海中的生物其实比我更怡然自得……

当一些宗教领袖试探耶稣，说他们想看一个神迹来证明祂是谁时，耶稣说，祂唯一要给他们见识的神迹就是“约拿的神迹”。我们还记得，约拿本来已经死定了，因为他被扔进了波涛汹涌的混沌的大海，然后被一条大鱼吞进肚里。但神让大鱼在三天后把他吐在旱地上。（参拿 1-2）耶稣接着说，祂将在“大地腹中”三天，这是指祂被埋葬在坟墓里。当耶稣向门徒们解释这一点时，祂预言说祂将“被杀，第三天复活”。（参太 16:21）后来，耶稣死在十字架上，被埋葬在坟墓里，果然第三天又复活了。祂为了我们胜过了罪和死亡，使我们在祂里面得以重生！

当我们在水池、湖泊或河流中受洗时，我们会浸入水中，象征着在基督里，我们旧有的罪性已经死去，被埋葬。然后我们从水中出来，表明我们在基督里复活新生。被更新的人将有能力跟随基督完成祂的使命。

I have never been a "water person." As a boy, I did not enjoy going under water, so water parks were not much fun for me. Even as an adult, when I am swimming in a lake, river, or ocean, I am always wondering about the creatures that are much more at home in those deeps than I am...

When some religious leaders taunted Jesus, saying they wanted to see a sign proving who he was, he said that the only sign he would give them was "the sign of Jonah." Jonah, we remember, had been as good as dead, for he was thrown into the chaotic sea and was then swallowed by a sea-monster. But God had the monster spew him out on dry land after three days (Jonah 1-2). Jesus then said he would be "in the belly of the earth" three days, referring to his burial in a tomb. When Jesus explained this to his disciples, he said he would "be killed and on the third day raised to life" (Matthew 16:21). And then later Jesus died on a cross, was buried in a tomb, and on the third day rose to life again. He defeated sin and death for our sake so that we can have new life in him!

When a person is baptized in a pool or a lake or river, they go under water, picturing how, in Christ, our old sinful nature has died. Then they come up out of the water, showing how we rise to new life in Christ. And the renewed person is empowered to follow Christ in his mission.