My parents recently reminded me that I was baptized using water my grandparents brought from the Jordan River on their trip to the Holy Land. I was touched and moved by this news that I had forgotten, but it got me to thinking that when it comes to baptism, it does not really matter where the water comes from.
What matters most is its connection to the Word. The Word spoken over the baptized person as water is poured: I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. It is the Word that reminds us: “This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21).
Through baptism, we are made brothers and sisters of Jesus, the Word made flesh. It is in this Word that we find our hope with the sprinkling of water from wherever it may come from, through the work of the Holy Spirit.
