We received the following question via our Facebook page:

Q: May I know the mode and name in which baptize? in which name you give water baptism (immersion)?

A: I suspect your question is really: “Do you use Matthew 28:19 as a ‘formula’ for baptism?” I am attaching a picture file of the Hebrew DuTillet text of Matthew 28:19, where the the text translate to “immerse them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and Set-Apart Spirit.”

In the text, it is the word “Shem” (Name) and not “Shemot” (Names), so we can understand that the Father, Son, and Set-Apart Spirit have but one name (YHWH). Looking at it another way, the concept of “name” can also denote “authority.” A messenger coming in the name of the king, comes in the authority of the king. However, the talmidim did not use Matthew 28:19 as a “formula” for tevillah/mikveh. Rather, they immersed in the name of Yeshua (see Acts 8:12 and Acts 10:48). It doesn’t mean that immersing “b’shem ha’av, haben, v’Ruach HaQodesh” (from Matthew 28:19) should not be done, and if the one being immersed has a strong preference for that terminology, we will oblige. However, immersing in the name or authority of Yeshua HaMashiach seemed to be the practice in the 1st century, CE.