By FATHER KENNETH DOYLE
QUESTION CORNER
Question: I am a 90-year-old cradle Catholic, and there is something I have always wondered about. Is there anywhere in the Scriptures that mentions when the apostles were baptized? (Indianapolis)
Answer: There is nothing in the Scriptures that describes the apostles having been baptized by Jesus -- but of course the Gospels provide only the broad outlines of the public life of Christ and not every detail.
I think that it would be safe to assume that Jesus did baptize the Twelve. Just before his ascension, Jesus makes it clear that baptism is a basic part of becoming his disciple; in the final words of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus commissions the apostles to "go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."
In John's Gospel (3:22), we read that, "after this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing." So I take it as a logical conclusion that Jesus had first baptized his own apostles.
Questions may be sent to Father Kenneth Doyle at [email protected] and 30 Columbia Circle Dr., Albany, New York 12203.