Wait…Hold it…just a second here!
Though there is no explicit statement that the apostles were water baptized, the idea is certainly implicit in the Gospels.
Consider the following passages:
Matthew 3:16 And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him.
Luke 3:21 Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also being baptized and praying, heaven was opened;
Mark 1: 9 And it came to pass, in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
Matthew 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptized by him.
John 3:22 After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea: and there he abode with them, and baptized.
Now does it seem likely that if Our Lord was baptizing people that his own chosen twelve would’ve neglected this sacrament?!
I note with some surprise that this last and most telling passage is in the 3rd chapter of John. All the more reason to read all things in context and not stop at that 16th verse as so many seem to want to do.
As for a symbolism…that also fails to align with the Word of God:
Mark 1:4 John was in the desert baptizing, and preaching the baptism of penance, unto remission of sins.
Luke 3:3 And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins;
1st Peter 3:21 Whereunto baptism being of the like form, now saveth you also: not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the examination of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Acts Of Apostles 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, invoking his name.
Pax tecum,
