Such a brief bit of Scripture accounts for this Feast of the Baptism of Jesus Christ. Yet all four Evangelists testify to this event, and for Matthew, Mark, and Luke, do so in much the same way. Jesus coming out of the waters of the Jordan, the perception of the opening of the heavens, the Spirit descending upon Jesus as like a dove, and the voice of the Father, Who names Jesus as His Beloved Son. I am going to reflect on the shortest bit of this, in terms of words: the Spirit descending upon Him like as dove. But first to speak generally about this feast.
The Baptism of Jesus, celebrates as a feast, is relatively new to the Anglican scene. While this is not the case for me, as I have been an Anglican for only 14 short years, for those of you who precede the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, who cut your teeth on the generally much loved 1928 Prayer Book, this was a Feast brand new. But the newness of this Feast to the Prayer Book tradition is deceptive, in that this is actually a very old feast, one of the most ancient feasts of the Church, probably predating any celebration of Christ’s Nativity (and iconic artwork of Christ’s baptism dates all the way back to AD 220).
Originally, this feast brought together many of the early scriptural events of Christ’s life into celebration of His baptism: the beginning of His public ministry, the manifestation and revelation of God as Trinity, His nativity, the visit of the Magi, even the miracle at the wedding of Cana, all in one grand liturgical celebration. All of these events derive from the one radical change that had come upon the world: God had united Himself to mankind to overcome the dominion of evil and death and to give the Holy Spirit. Evidence of the early idea that all of Christ’s ministry begins with His baptism by the hand of S. John Baptist is seen in the fact that S. Mark’s Gospel account in effect begins with the Baptism, is the first earthly event described in S. John in his Gospel, and is part of the criteria declared by S. Peter in the Upper Room for consideration to replace Judas in the ministry of the Twelve Apostles, that of needing to have witnessed and experienced Christ’s baptism by S. John.
This event is named “the Theophany” historically because it is the first public revelation of God as Trinity. Jesus of Nazareth, proclaimed by the Father (through the Holy Spirit) to be His beloved Son, with the Holy Spirit alighting upon Christ as a dove and anointing Him, all before the eyes of the ever-enlightening heart of S. John the Baptist. Hence the ministry of John Baptist includes being the bearer of the truth of the most holy Trinity, and the confessor of this truth, probably the first.
Now to my focus on the descending of the Holy Spirit as like a dove. The description here of the Holy Spirit as a whole carries with it much significance. For one, it is affirmation that Jesus is in fact the Christ, the prophesied Messiah. Anointing in the Old Testament brought about the descent of the Spirit of the Lord to consecrate someone as a prophet, priest, or king. In 1 Samuel 16.13, Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed David in the presence of his brothers, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.
Secondly, descending upon Christ like a dove. A dove is a gentle, soft, tender bird. In the Song of Solomon the lover associates her beloved with the dove, as beautiful, lovely, perfect, flawless. The dove is also associated with innocence; it is guileless. In Christ’s own words: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as a dove.” Thus to associate the Holy Spirit’s descent with a dove at Christ’s baptism says much about the nature of His coming messianic ministry. It can be seen to describe the tone of Christ’s whole ministry upon earth. He will not be a military commander, conquering the occupying Romans with force as so many contemporary Jews expected the Messiah to do. Instead, Christ is being anointed to conquer with love, and ultimately, with His own sacrifice on the Cross.
Another aspect of the dove is that it was one of the creatures that Jews were allowed to offer for sacrifice at the Temple. Thus the descent of the Holy Spirit like a dove hints at the future sacrifice of the Messiah, though not for Himself, nor only for the Jewish people, but for all.
Another is that a dove brought to Noah the olive branch as evidence that the waters of the great flood were subsiding and therefore that salvation and a new world were at hand. This tells us that Christ’s coming was to usher in a new life, a new creation, like it was for Noah exiting the ark: a new way of being.
Lastly the Spirit remained upon Christ. John the Baptist says that it had been revealed to him that he could identify Christ as the one upon whom he would see the Spirit not only descend but also remain: in John 1.33: “The one who sent me, to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” In the Old Testament, the Spirit would descend upon the prophets to inspire them temporarily, but in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell permanently upon Christ, which means permanently within Christians, and permanently upon us.
Let us therefore, dear brothers and sisters, celebrate this great event of revelation, the advent of Christ, the Theophany of God, and the descent of the Holy Ghost, in Whom we live and move and have our being, all in praise of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs glory unto the ages. Amen.
[Much of the material in this sermon is taken from Aidan Hart’s book Festal Icons and the chapter in it devoted to the Theophany.]
On Descending Like As a Dove upon Jesus