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The use of the words Father, Son and Holy Spirit would put clear water between the baptism Christ was prescribing and what would have been acceptable to Christ rejecting Jews. They would not recognise the Father and the Son; if they had they would have been Christians (1 John 2:22/23).

It is also noticeable that Christ is not projecting Himself. He always honoured his Father and therefore puts Him first (see John 8:49). The reference to the Holy Spirit is important inasmuch as usually following Christian baptism He was received e.g. Acts 2:38; 19:5/6.

It is to be noted that Christ instituted Christian baptism after saying that all power had been given to Him in heaven and upon earth. Even if we allow that the word therefore being in brackets (see above) is questionable, it is clear that Christian baptism links us with one who has all power, not only on earth but in heaven. We become citizens of a powerful kingdom and under its protection. No doubt because of this (we live in a baptised profession for the most part) Christ has not allowed heathen nations to overrun Europe. Neither pagan Huns, Saracens or Mongols have overrun it.

Some take the view that because Christ says we are baptised “to the name...” that there is one name which applies to the three persons mentioned and that we should treat the name as being God and address him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (one God - three Persons). This is an extremely dubious way of reading the passage. It is reading something into it which is not expressly there. There is certainly no instruction to address God at all in the passage. Actually there is a far stronger case for saying that each of the persons mentioned have their own name and it is just that Christ does not repeat ‘name’ before the Son and the Holy Spirit. Name is left out as understood. In Revelation 14:1 we have a statement similar to that in Matthew as follows: “having his name and the name of his Father written upon their foreheads.” The context shows that ‘his name’ refers to the Lamb (i.e. Christ). Note that in this case there are two names spoken of: that of Christ and his Father. Perhaps more significantly there is a parallel passage to that in Matthew in Luke’s Gospel using glory rather than name. Thus we have in Luke 9:26: “he shall come in his glory, and [in that] of the Father, and of the holy angels”. If we say that there is one glory that applies to Christ, the Father and

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