A Beginning With a Double Message
And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:16, 17, RSV.
Jesus' baptism represented the official announcement of the Messiah's arrival and the beginning of His ministry. Not only did it give John the opportunity to openly proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Savior (John 1:29-34), but it also provided God the Father with the opportunity for a public validation.
The Gospels present three events related to the baptism. First, the heavens opened, symbolizing the restoration of communication between heaven and earth. Since the death of the last of the Hebrew prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) some 400 years before, Israel had had no direct visions from the Holy Spirit. The opening of heaven indicated that the period of prophetic barrenness had ended.
Second, "the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him." We should not interpret that event as implying that Jesus did not have the Holy Spirit before. After all, He was the Son of Mary "through the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:18, NIV). Rather, it marks a turning point in the plan of salvation, for only after the Spirit comes does the Messiah's ministry begin. Beyond that, the reception of the Spirit places Jesus in line with several Old Testament heroes, including Gideon (Judges 6:34), Samson (Judges 15:14), and Saul (1 Sam. 10:6). Time after time in the Old Testament, individuals began their work for God after the Spirit rested upon them. So it was with Jesus.
The third post-baptismal event was the voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
That heavenly proclamation had a profound message embedded in it. The words from heaven were a fusion of two Old Testament verses--Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1. All Jews accepted Psalm 2 as a description of the Messianic ruler who was to come. The quotation from Isaiah ("with whom I am well pleased") begins a passage of God's Servant, whose destiny was to suffer abuse and opposition that climaxes in the great Messianic passage of Isaiah 53, in which the Servant is "wounded for...the iniquity of us all" (verses 5, 6, RSV).
Thus Jesus left His baptism with two certainties. (1) That He was indeed the chosen One of God. And (2) that the way in front of Him was that of the cross. He might be King, but His throne would be a cross.
And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:16, 17, RSV.
Jesus' baptism represented the official announcement of the Messiah's arrival and the beginning of His ministry. Not only did it give John the opportunity to openly proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Savior (John 1:29-34), but it also provided God the Father with the opportunity for a public validation.
The Gospels present three events related to the baptism. First, the heavens opened, symbolizing the restoration of communication between heaven and earth. Since the death of the last of the Hebrew prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) some 400 years before, Israel had had no direct visions from the Holy Spirit. The opening of heaven indicated that the period of prophetic barrenness had ended.
Second, "the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him." We should not interpret that event as implying that Jesus did not have the Holy Spirit before. After all, He was the Son of Mary "through the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 1:18, NIV). Rather, it marks a turning point in the plan of salvation, for only after the Spirit comes does the Messiah's ministry begin. Beyond that, the reception of the Spirit places Jesus in line with several Old Testament heroes, including Gideon (Judges 6:34), Samson (Judges 15:14), and Saul (1 Sam. 10:6). Time after time in the Old Testament, individuals began their work for God after the Spirit rested upon them. So it was with Jesus.
The third post-baptismal event was the voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
That heavenly proclamation had a profound message embedded in it. The words from heaven were a fusion of two Old Testament verses--Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1. All Jews accepted Psalm 2 as a description of the Messianic ruler who was to come. The quotation from Isaiah ("with whom I am well pleased") begins a passage of God's Servant, whose destiny was to suffer abuse and opposition that climaxes in the great Messianic passage of Isaiah 53, in which the Servant is "wounded for...the iniquity of us all" (verses 5, 6, RSV).
Thus Jesus left His baptism with two certainties. (1) That He was indeed the chosen One of God. And (2) that the way in front of Him was that of the cross. He might be King, but His throne would be a cross.
RSS Feed
