Matthew 28 records what is known as the Great Commission. The command given to them was to make disciples. Attached to this command is the participle phrase, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Question: Who are they to baptize? Would-be disciples or disciples? The text teaches that disciples are made and then, baptized. A disciple is one who follows Christ as a learner. He’s a believer but not necessarily one who is all in and truly committed. In fact, we have an example of two men in the New Testament who were secret disciples. Joseph was one of those men. The text reads, “Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there (John 19:38-42). All that we know about Joseph of Arimathea is what we are told here and in the parallel passages in the other gospels (Matt. 27:57–60; Mark 15:43–46; Luke 23:50–53). We know he was a good and righteous man, a wealthy, respected member of the Sanhedrin. It seems that others in the Sanhedrin believed in Jesus but were afraid to come out in the open, because the Pharisees had threatened that any disciple of Jesus would be put out of the synagogue (John 12:42,43).
Another such disciple was Nicodemus, who is introduced to us in John 3. Both of these men were a part of the Jewish Sanhedrin, and both were involved in the burial of Jesus, a job usually performed by women.  Perhaps they saw Jesus on the cross, but for the first time, they make a public statement to make known what they thought of Him. They chose to honor him and give Him glory over their own status among the Jewish leadership (cf. John 12:40-43). We are not told, but it seems most likely that they were among the 120 disciples gathered together in Acts 1:15. The question remains in our minds — were they among the Jews of Acts 2 who repented and were baptized for the remission of sins?  Given the command of Matthew 28, it certainly is within reason to have expected those two men to finally deny themselves, take up the cross and follow Him, which includes being buried with Him into His death by being baptized. A disciple may yet have sins to wash away. Cornelius, even though he had heard “words whereby he and his household could be saved,” was an accepted recipient of the gospel and believed Christ. He and his household were commanded to be baptized. Again, this fits the order of Matthew 28:18. It seems that many in Christendom are disciples, but not all have answered the call to bury the old man of sin and resurrect a new man. This is one of the major decisions that separate the men from the boys. A majority have this notion that to be baptized eliminates grace and faith. When, in essence, it completes both as it expresses a dependency on the atoning blood (death) of Jesus. Any disciple who is unwilling to be baptized, has neither expressed their faith in Him nor publically acknowledge to all that he is in Christ Jesus. Baptism puts us into Christ and He on us (Gal. 3:27). When a disciple comes to this points and submits his will to Christ’s will, he will always say, “SEE, HERE IS WATER. WHAT HINDERS ME FROM BEING BAPTIZED?”
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