At his baptism, the Spirit of God descended on Jesus to prepare him for his messianic calling, for he will “baptize in the Spirit” – Matthew 3:7-17.
At the
Jordan River, John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism in water “for
the remission of sins,” and also
announced the imminent arrival of the “one
who is mightier than I.” He was the forerunner of Yahweh’s Messiah, as promised in Isaiah:
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face; he will
prepare your way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.” - [Photo by Pablo Fierro on Unsplash].
John summoned all Israel to repent, including
the Pharisees and Sadducees, whom he warned of
the judgment that would befall them if they did not repent:
- “You offspring of vipers, who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruit
worthy of repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We
have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, that God is able of
these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And
even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees:
every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire.” – (Matthew 3:7-10).
The Pharisees
and Sadducees represented the religious leaders of
Israel. John’s baptism was a summons to the entire nation to repent and prepare
for the arrival of the kingdom and its King.
- (Matthew 3:11-12) – “I indeed baptize you in water for repentance: but he that is coming after me is mightier than I,
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit
and fire, whose
fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he
will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with
unquenchable fire.”
John contrasted himself with the “coming
one” in three ways: might, worth, but especially, in mode of baptism.
His baptism in water was preparatory, not final. Both he
and Jesus “baptized”; however, John baptized in water, but the Messiah would
“baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire.”
The gift of the Spirit was an expectation of
the “last days” and foundational to the New Covenant prophesied by
Ezekiel and Jeremiah. By His Spirit, God would write His laws inwardly on the
hearts of His people - (Isaiah
44:1-4, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel
36:25-27, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:38-39).
“In Holy Spirit and fire.” There was a twofold
aspect to the “baptism” administered by the Messiah. In the Greek
clause, grammatically, “spirit and fire” do not refer to two separate event
or baptisms. Only one preposition, “in” (en), governs both nouns, and “spirit
and fire” are both direct objects of the verb “baptize.” Both
aspects must be due to the one “baptism” that Jesus would give to Israel.
In this context, “fire” can only refer to judgment, whether
for purgation or destruction. The reference to “spirit and fire” was part
of John’s response to the “Pharisees and Sadducees,” the ones warned
about the “axe” poised to cut down fruitless trees. Moreover, the “fire”
would result in the gathering up the “chaff, which he
will burn up with unquenchable fire.”
John’s words were
addressed to Israel, including its leaders. In the Greek sentence, the pronoun “you”
is plural (i.e., “He will baptize ye”). That is, the
words were addressed to the entire group, to the nation.
All who responded
to the call and prepared to welcome the Messiah would experience the “baptism in
the Spirit.” Those who refused would experience the other side of the coin.
This warning was applicable both to individual Israelites, and to the entire nation.
When Jesus arrived, after some hesitation, John baptized him in
the Jordan. Upon leaving its waters, audible and visible signs “from heaven”
confirmed his status as the Messiah, the one who now possessed the Spirit:
- (Matthew 3:13-17) –“Then
comes
Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized of him. But John would have hindered
him, saying, I have need to be baptized of you, and you come to me? But Jesus, answering, said to him, Suffer it now: for thus
it becomes
us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he
was baptized, went up straightway from 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; and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.”
The “opening of the heavens” means that the arrival
of Jesus was an event of cosmic import. In him, access to the realm of God was being
opened, and a new era was dawning.
The Spirit descended “upon him like a dove.” This
marked the commencement of his messianic mission. From then on, Jesus was separated
and anointed to bring the good news of the Kingdom of God to Israel.
The preposition applied to the descent of the Spirit stresses
movement “into” or “onto” something (eis). The Spirit came to rest upon
him. The description is metaphorical. The descent was “like”
that of a dove. It does not say the Spirit was a dove or shaped like a dove;
instead, its gentle descent onto Jesus was analogous to the flight of a dove.
In the Hebrew Bible, the Spirit anointed certain men temporarily
to carry out specific tasks. But according to John’s gospel, when the Spirit
came upon Jesus, it remained on him from that point forward:
- (John 1:32) - “And John
bore witness, saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven;
and it remained upon him.”
- (John
3:34-36)
- “For
he whom God has
sent speaks
the words of God: for he gives not the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and He has given all things
into his hand. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life; but he that obeys not the Son shall not see
life, but the wrath of God remains upon
him.”
The voice from heaven acknowledged Jesus as His “Son.”
In doing so, it combined words from two messianic passages:
- (Psalm
2:7) - “I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh: he said to me, You
are my Son, today, I have begotten you.”
- (Isaiah 42:1) - “Behold,
my servant whom I uphold; my chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have
put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”
Together, they define the identity and mission of the Messiah. He is
God’s royal “Son” destined to reign from David’s throne. But the Spirit
was given to the ‘Suffering
Servant’ from the book of Isaiah. In other
words, he would fulfill his royal role as the ‘Suffering Servant of Yahweh.’
The descent of the Spirit signified the equipping of Jesus to
carry out his mission. The heavenly voice demonstrated divine approval of his messiahship,
and in this context, of his submission to the baptism of John. His ministry
began with an act of obedience to His Father.
Jesus had arrived at the Jordan River “from Galilee.” After
his baptism, anointed and equipped by the Spirit, he would return to Galilee to
commence proclaiming the Gospel – “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
But first, the Spirit would “drive him into the wilderness,” where he
was tested by Satan.
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