A. Jesus’ baptism (3:21–22)
A. Jesus’ baptism (3:21–22)
Luke begins his account of Jesus’ ministry with our Lord’s baptism though without mentioning the Baptist by name; he has moved from John to Jesus. This is the one occasion on which the Baptist is recorded to have been with Jesus. The story is told briefly, but it is very important. It marks the call of Jesus to his public ministry, a call accompanied by the gift of the Holy Spirit and confirmed by a voice from heaven. Unexpectedly, Luke refers to Jesus’ baptism only in a subordinate clause; he prefers to emphasize the opening of heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit. The opening of heaven means that a revelation from God follows. All four Evangelists mention the descent of the Spirit as a dove. Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus saw this and John that the Baptist saw it. Each may have been speaking of a subjective vision, but Luke’s in bodily form shows that there was an objective reality. The symbolism is puzzling, as the dove was not an accepted symbol of the Holy Spirit (though a few late Jewish writings do use it). Rather the dove stood for Israel. However, there is no doubt that here it is a sign of the coming of the Holy Spirit. What happened at Jesus’ baptism led Christians to see the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit; they did not take the symbolism from Jewish or Hellenistic sources. Luke is the only one of the Evangelists who tells us that the descent of the Spirit occurred as Jesus was praying.1 It thus happened not at the baptism but just after it.
It is at first sight puzzling that Jesus should have accepted baptism at the hands of John, for this baptism was ‘a baptism of repentance’ (3). Since Luke depicts Jesus as without sin it is not obvious why he should have undergone this baptism. But Jesus saw sinners flocking to John’s baptism. Clearly he decided to take his place with them. At the outset of his ministry he publicly identified himself with the sinners he came to save.
Luke next tells us of the Father’s approval given in the voice … from heaven. This refers to Jesus as my beloved Son (the similar voice at the transfiguration says ‘my Son, my Chosen’, 9:35). With thee I am well pleased means ‘On you my favour (or pleasure) rests’ rather than ‘I am delighted with you’. Tasker points out that the significance of the words is ‘on whom my plan for the salvation of mankind is centred’.2 We may see in them also a combination of some words from Psalm 2:7 and an echo of Isaiah 42:1. At the threshhold of his ministry, the heavenly voice directed Jesus’ thoughts to the unusual combination of the Son of God and the Suffering Servant. This combination was to determine much of his ministry.