Institution Our Lord himself instituted the sacrament of baptism on the eve of his ascension when he gave to his disciples the Great Commission: “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing [βαπτίζοντες, baptizontes] them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). The church has then the sanction of heaven to baptize its members; indeed not to baptize them is disobedience to heaven.