John the Baptist “preached good news to the people” (Lk. 3:18);[1] yet, ended up being incarcerated for speaking out against the illicit marriage between Herod Antipas and Herodias (Lk. 3:18).[2] Despite being locked up, John’s mission as herald of the Messiah succeeded.[3] Luke tells us that “when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” (Lk. 3:21-22).
It is upon the occasion of the baptism that Jesus of Nazareth was confirmed as the Christ (Messiah) and Son of God. The following will expound on the epic significance of this pronouncement.
Christ Announced: Luke points out that Jesus was “praying” on the occasion of His baptism (Lk. 3:21). The Lord is witnessed communing with God the Father. In fact, the evangelist informs us that Jesus was witnessed praying throughout His earthly ministry. He prays on the occasions of choosing the twelve disciples (Lk. 6:12-16), the feeding of the five thousand (Lk. 9:16), Peter’s confession of the Christ (Lk. 9:18), the transfiguration (Lk. 9:28, 29), the Last Supper (Lk. 22:17, 19, 31), the night of the betrayal and arrest (Lk. 22:39-54), and the crucifixion (Lk. 23:34, 46). Moreover, Luke tells us that Jesus “would withdraw to desolate places and prayer” (Lk. 5:16). He spent time in solitude praying to the Heavenly Father.
Two spectacular signs are noted to have occurred on the occasion of Jesus’ baptism. First, the Holy Spirit manifested as a dove and descends upon Jesus. Jesus is the servant of the Lord whom the Spirit rests.
Isaiah foretold, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, | and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. | And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, | the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, |the Spirit of counsel and might, | the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (Isa. 11:1-2). Again, says the prophet, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, | my chosen, in whom my soul delights; | I have put my Spirit upon him; | he will bring forth justice to the nations” (Isa. 42:1). The descent of the Spirit signals Jesus’ identity as the long-awaited Messiah (or Christ) expected by Isaiah. Jesus is endowed with the Spirit to minister as the Christ.
Second, the unseen voice from heaven pronounces: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Lk. 3:22). The voice is from the God the Father, who is invisible (1 Tim. 1:17) and unseen (Jn. 1:18; 1 Jn. 4:12). Jesus is then the Son of God — incarnate deity (Col. 1:15-20).
The Son of God: The Father’s identification of Jesus as the “beloved Son” is significant. It alludes to the decree God pronounces upon the His anointed king: “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; | today I have begotten you’” (Psa. 2:7). This makes Jesus out to be Israel’s rightful heir to the throne of David. New Testament writers even cited Psalm 2:7 in reference to Jesus’ resurrection into glory (Acts 13:30-33), superiority to the angels (Heb. 1:5), and appointment as the greater high priest in the line of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:5-6). The voice from heaven would speak again at the transfiguration of Jesus: “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” (Lk. 9:35).[4] Even Jesus self-identified as the Son of God (Lk. 2:49; 10:21-22, 22:70; Jn. 5:1-24).
Jesus’ Sonship is exceptional. Neither among the sons of God who are angels (Job.1:6; 2:1; 38:4-7)[5] nor among the human sons and daughters of God through redemption (Gal. 4:4-6; Eph. 1:5). Christ is the only begotten Son of the Father; yet, the Son is not made but begotten (Jn. 1:1-4, 14).
This analogy of father and son analogy is befitting. A human father begets a human son as opposed to a rat or turnip. Human fathers and sons share common attributes. Both have physical bodies, immortal souls, and intrinsic worth as bearers of the imago Dei (image of God). Likewise, God the Father begets the Son of God in the sense that they share in the same divine essence (nature) and eternality (without beginning nor end).
A caveat still needs to be set for never is there a one-to-one correspondence between human fathers and their sons with God the Father and God the Son. Whereas a human father joins with his wife to bear children, either son(s) or daughter(s), the Son is eternally begotten, He is uncreated, and there was never a time when He was nonexistent.[6] Of course, God the Father begets the Son of God, and the Son of God is begotten of God the Father.
The Trinity: The baptism of Jesus thus offers us a glorious depiction of the Trinity. The Trinity is the biblical teaching of God being one in essence (nature or ousia) yet revealed in three persons (hypostases), the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is one what and three whos — the Trinity.[7] The Father is neither the Son nor the Spirit. The Son is neither the Father nor the Spirit. The Spirit is neither the Son nor the Father. The three persons are distinct. However, there is only one God. Moreover, Jesus is displayed as the perfect union between divinity and humanity. He is fully divine, fully human in one person and having two wills, one human and one divine — the Hypostatic Union.[8]
The Baptism of Jesus: Jesus was sinless without any need to repent and receive forgiveness. Why did He come to receive baptism? The receiving baptism in this instance served as the public assumption of Jesus work as the Messiah.[9] Thus the commencement of Jesus’ earthly mission to establish the way for the repentant to receive forgiveness of sin is signaled through the reception of water baptism.
Submergence in the water pointed forward to Jesus’ crucifixion, death and burial. In fact, Jesus used the word “baptism” in reference to His own suffering and death (Lk.12:50; Mk. 10:35-45). Emergence out of the water anticipates resurrection from the dead on the third day.
When we turn from sin and come alongside of Christ (repentance), we experience life in the Trinity. We follow Jesus in receiving baptism. Entering into the water, we are united with Christ in death, and emerging from the water, we are raised in newness of life. We have become new creations, the old things have passed away, and new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17). We are essentially adopted sons and daughters of God (Gal. 4:1-7). Moreover, together we comprise the temple of God indwelt with the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 1 Pet. 2:4-5). Thus, our union with Christ is life in the Trinity.
What happened at the baptism of Jesus convinced John the Baptist that the one who came out of the water was the “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” and “the Son of God” (Jn. 1:29, 34).
Application: Who is Jesus? Some would figure Jesus to be an enlightened sage, others a philosophical cynic, and still others a zealot revolutionary. Yet, Luke’s portrait of Jesus is beyond audacious, and the Jesus portrayed by Luke never really squares with the enlightened sage, the philosophical cynic or the zealot revolutionary. Luke refuses to put Jesus in the same category as other humans.
What Luke tells us about Jesus from the occasion of His baptism is truly spectacular. Jesus is a man of prayer. He is intimately connected to the Father in heaven. He is endowed with the Holy Spirit for ministry. This indwelling of the Spirit signifies Jesus’ identity as the Anointed One, the Messiah, or the Christ. Moreover. the voice of the Father in heaven declares Jesus to be “my beloved Son” and “with you I am well pleased.” Jesus is thus the Divine Messiah.
Some will say, “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God,” but C.S. Lewis considers this “the really foolish thing that people often say about Him,” and “that is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”[10] Lewis moreover adds, “Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy occupied world in human form.”[11]
Identifiers like enlightened sage, philosophical cynic, and zealot revolutionary simply fall short of the real Jesus. Luke nails it in presenting Jesus as the Holy Spirit indwelt beloved Son of God — the Divine Messiah.
— WGN
[1] All Scripture cited from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).
[2] Mark supplies the specific problem. Herod Antipas married his brother’s wife (Mk. 6:17), which was an illicit marriage (Lev 18:16; 20:21).
[3] Luke employs nonlinear narration. Arranging John’s arrest and incarnation ahead of the baptism of Jesus. The power of mortal men are unable to silence the godly from accomplishing what God has willed them to do.
[4] The Gospel of John tells of a third occasion when the voice from heaven spoke and Jesus’ audiences heard the voice, but the crowds disagreed on what had happened, some though it thundered, others thought an angel spoke (Jn. 12:28-29).
[5] Many have taken the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-4 to be angels; however, a better understanding is to take the “sons of God” as humans. The line of Seth to be specific. The sons of Seth view is supported by the 4th century early church father Ephrem the Syrian (Commentary on Genesis 6.3.1). For further reading on this, see Thomas A. Howe, “Who Are the Sons of God in Genesis 6?” Christian Research Journal, 27, 3 [2004]: https://www.equip.org/articles/who-were-the-sons-of-god-in-genesis-6/
[6] See, Charles Lee Irons, “Begotten of the Father before All Ages: The Biblical Basis of Eternal Generation according to the Church Fathers,” Christian Research Journal, 10, 1 [2017]: https://www.equip.org/articles/begotten-father-ages/
[7] Hank Hanegraaff, Complete Bible Answer Book: Collector’s Edition Revised and Updated (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008, 2016), 51. See also Nathan Jacobs, “Understanding Nicene Trinitarianism,” Christian Research Journal, 41, 4 [2018]: https://www.equip.org/articles/understanding-nicene-trinitarianism/
[8] For further discussion, see Bradley Nassif, “How Was Orthodoxy Established in the Ecumenical Councils,” Christian Research Journal, 40, 6 [2017]: https://www.equip.org/articles/how-was-orthodoxy-established-in-the-ecumenical-councils/
[9] William Hendriksen and Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke, vol. 11, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 216.
[10] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Scribner, 1952), 40-41.
[11] Ibid., 42.
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