Rite of Naturalization – Matthew 16:13-27

Matthew's gospel closes with the command and commission to go make disciples of all nations, to baptize, and to teach them. Christ grounds this injunction with contextual weight by proclaiming His own authority (28:18). Thus we are to fulfill our missionary call as believers fully cognizant of and confidently grounded on the crown rights of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. In light of these concluding words in Matthew, it is clear that we are to understand baptism as a 'rite of naturalization' for the Kingdom of Heaven/God. In 1828, Webster defined 'naturalize': “ to confer on an alien the rights and privileges of a native subject or citizen; to adopt foreigners into a nation or state, & place them in the condition of natural born subjects.”. And so we are initiated visibly and representatively into the Kingdom of God by the authority of Christ in the rite of baptism.