The Baptism of Jesus

 The Baptism of Jesus

MK 1:9-11 (NRSV)

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The Baptism of Jesus

MT 3:13-17 (NRSV)

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” The he consented. And when, Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him, And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.:

The Baptism of Jesus

LK 3:21-22 (NRSV)

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The Lamb of God

JN 1:29-34 (NRSV)

The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for a reason, the he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

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(1) All four periscopes share two things in common: (a) Jesus either gets (GMark and GMatt) or recently has been (GLuke and GJohn) baptized by John the Baptist; and (b) the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus like a dove. GMark says John “saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.” GMatt says that just as Jesus “comes up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he [Jesus, not John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” GLuke says it was after “Jesus had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.” GJohn says “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”

(2) The Synoptic Gospels (GMark, GMatt, and GLuke) are a lot more similar than is GJohn. In the Synoptics there is a voice from heaven that says: “You (GMark and GLuke/This (GMatt) is my son, the Beloved, with you (GMark and GLuke)/whom (GMatt) I am well pleased.” In GMark and GLuke the voice speaks directly to Jesus, in GMatt it is speaking to the entire gathering.

(3) This pericope created some problems. The purpose of baptism is to symbolically wash away one’s sins. But Jesus did not commit sins, so why should he be baptized. GMark does not address the problem. GLuke and GJohn get around it by having the act already done. GMatt addresses the problem head on. In GMatt John wants to talk Jesus out of the act. He says that it is Jesus who should be baptizing John instead of the other way around. But Jesus says it is proper for John to baptize him because it fulfills “all righteousness”.

(4) In the GLuke pericope, John the Baptist is not mentioned. The only way you know that it was John who baptized Jesus is because the pericope comes immediately after the Proclamation of John the Baptist pericope.

(5) GJohn has a number of unique features. (a) John gives Jesus the moniker “Lamb of God”; (b) He says of Jesus, “This is he of whom I said. ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’” What this refers to is JN 1:14-15 (NRSV) “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me” This is part of the introduction to GJohn and is sophisticated theology. Jesus is the “Word”. The Word was there at the beginning. The Word was with God and the Word WAS God. It was through the Word that everything came into being. Many Biblical scholars thought it would take a long time to develop such a sophisticated theology. That is one of the reasons GJohn is dated to 60 to 70 years after Jesus’s death; John testifies that Jesus IS the Son of God.

(6) In the Synoptics the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove onto Jesus, a voice from heaven (God) announces Jesus to be His son. An early sect of Christians (adoptionists) interpreted this pericope to mean that something special happened to Jesus at that time. Prior to the John’s baptism, Jesus was just a regular man like any other. The Holy Spirit enters his body and changes him. He is now worthy of his mission. When God announces that “This/you are my son”, God is actually adopting Jesus at that moment.