All four Gospels record the baptism of Jesus. It was a special occasion for the Holy Spirit for He came down from heaven in the visible form of a dove. This is our focus in this study.

1. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
Written and edited by Glenn Pease
3. MATT 3:11-12
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But
after me will come one who is more powerful than
I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His
winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear
his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into his
barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable
fire”
It appears that being baptized with the Holy Spirit is like the harvest of wheat being
gathered into the barn. It is a positive and joyful experience calling for celebration.
On the other hand, being baptized with fire is like chaff being gathered up and
burned. It is a picture of heaven and hell. It is a matter of choice. You accept Jesus
for who he claims to be and you go to heaven, or you reject Jesus as your Savior and
you go to the place of fire. Fire here is not a posidtive thing, but the worst of
negative things. It is judgment of the most severe nature.
Therefore we are to crave the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but curse the baptism of
fire and avoid it at all cost. The well known commentator Barnes agrees and writes,
"To be baptized with the Holy Spirit means that the Messiah would send upon the
world a far more powerful and mighty influence than had attended the preaching of
John. Many more would be converted. A mighty change would take place. His
ministry would not affect the external life only, but the heart. the motives, the soul;
and would produce rapid and permanent changes in the lives of people. See Acts
2:17-18.
Barnes in his commentary writes, "With fire - This expression has been variously

2. understood. Some have supposed that John refers to the afflictions and persecutions
with which men would be tried under the Gospel; others, that the word "fire"
means judgment or wrath. According to this latter interpretation, the meaning is
that he would baptize a portion of mankind - those who were willing to be his
followers - with the Holy Spirit, but the rest of mankind - the wicked - with fire; that
is, with judgment and wrath. Fire is a symbol of vengeance. See Isaiah 5:24; Isaiah
61:2; Isaiah 66:24. If this is the meaning, as seems to be probable, then John says
that the ministry of the Messiah would be far more powerful than his was. It would
be more searching and testing; and they who were not suited to abide the test would
be cast into eternal fire."
Gill in his commentary goes along with the idea of fire as judgment. He wrote, "He
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire; referring, either to the
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, to be bestowed on the disciples on the day of
Pentecost, of which the cloven tongues, like as of fire, which appeared unto them,
and sat upon them, were the symbols; which was an instance of the great power and
grace of Christ, and of his exaltation at the Father's right hand. Or rather, this
phrase is expressive of the awful judgments which should be inflicted by him on the
Jewish nation; when he by his Spirit should "reprove" them for the sin of rejecting
him; and when he should appear as a "refiner's fire", and as "fuller's soap"; when
"the day of the Lord" should "burn as an oven"; when he should "purge the blood
of Jerusalem", his own blood, and the blood of the Apostles and Prophets shed in it,
"from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning";
the same with "the Holy Ghost and fire" here, or the fire of the Holy Ghost, or the
holy Spirit of fire; and is the same with "the wrath to come", and with what is
threatened in the context: the unfruitful trees shall be cut down, and cast into the
fire", and the "chaff" shall be burnt with unquenchable fire". And as this sense best
agrees with the context, it may the rather be thought to be genuine."
Coffman, "In fire ... likely refers to the overwhelming of the wicked at last in hell.
This is based on the fact that the term "fire" is the same as that used for the
unfruitful tree and for the chaff in John's great metaphors. McGarvey said, "It is
clearly the wicked who are to be baptized in fire, and the fulfillment of the
prediction will be realized when they are cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 21:8).
BROADUS, "But what is meant by the additional words, and fire? Observe that in
the preceding verse the fire receives the unfruitful trees, and in the next verse the
fire consumes the chaff. Matthew 3:11 evidently teaches the same general lesson,
and it would therefore be natural to understand the fire which ends each of the
three parallel sentences in essentially the same way as a fire which consumes the
wicked. And notice that Luke (Luke 3:16) who also gives 'and fire,' has the other
images of burning the unfruitful trees and the chaff, (Luke 3:9, Luke 3:17) while in

3. Mark 1:8, John 1:33; and Acts 1:5, Acts 11:16, where the other images are not
mentioned, neither are the words 'and fire' given. This would seem to leave no doubt
as to the meaning of these words. The objection is that in the other images (Matthew
3:10, Matthew 3:12) two classes are distinguished, and the destiny of each is
separately stated; while here it is simply 'shall baptize you,' one class of persons, 'in
the Holy Spirit and fire,' without even repeating the preposition before 'fire'—as if
it meant one class and one destiny, though stated by means of two terms. But the
'you' whom John is addressing are not simply the believing and penitent, but the
Jews in general, with special reference at the outset (Matthew 3:7 f.) to the Pharisees
and Sadducees. Now it had been predicted by Malachi (Matthew 3:1 ff.) that the
messenger of the covenant would come and purify the nation (especially the Levites,
who were necessary to a bettered worship and national life), as silver is purified in a
furnace; and this does not simply mean that he would purify individuals by
consuming what was faulty in them, but Malachi 4:1-3 shows it to mean that he
would purify the nation by consuming the wicked individuals like 'stubble,' and
then the truly righteous of the nation would rejoice and prosper. The nation would
be, as it were, thrown into a furnace of fire, which would consume the wicked
among them, and leave a purified nation. In like manner, John says, the mighty
Coming One will 'plunge you,' the Jews whom he is addressing, 'in the Holy Spirit
and fire'; some will be consumed and some preserved, a purified people. Just how
far the 'Holy Spirit' in John's mouth differs from the O. T. and approaches the N. T.
idea, it would be very difficult, and is not necessary, to determine. But it can
scarcely be questioned that John's thought is connected with that of Malachi, and if
so, the explanation just offered is in all probability correct."
Look at the context. Go back to verse 10, ""Now the axe is laid at the root of the
tree; and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire" It is obvious that fire and judgment go together in this passage. But other
commentators like Jamison disagree completely, and he writes, "and with fire—To
take this as a distinct baptism from that of the Spirit—a baptism of the impenitent
with hell-fire—is exceedingly unnatural. Yet this was the view of Origen among the
Fathers; and among moderns, of Neander, Meyer, De Wette, and Lange. Nor is it
much better to refer it to the fire of the great day, by which the earth and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. Clearly, as we think, it is but the fiery character
of the Spirit's operations upon the soul—searching, consuming, refining,
sublimating—as nearly all good interpreters understand the words. And thus, in two
successive clauses, the two most familiar emblems—water and fire—are employed
to set forth the same purifying operations of the Holy Ghost upon the soul."
Many others see here that the baptism with fire is mostly positive rather than
negative. The fire has characteristics that are needed along with the Holy Spirit to

4. make the believer all they can be. Fire can be symbolic of enthusiasm and zeal,
which we all need, and it is a blessing to be filled with such a flame of life that
motivates us to do our best to please our Lord. To be on fire for our Lord is a
positive picture of the ideal believer. Our prayer should always be, "Holy Spirit
warm our cold hearts to be on fire for the will of our Father in heaven. Set us aflame
with devotion to our Savior that we might magify His name in the world." An
unknown poet put it like this-
O Thou that earnest from above,
The pure celestial fire to impart,
Kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my heart.’
Fire also has the power to cleanse and purify. We all need sanctification and that
means we need to be cleansed from our sins and all of the negatives that hinder our
holiness before God. The fire of the Spirit is what will cleanse us from all sins when
we listen to Word and confess our sins. As fire will burn away the chaff in the
harvest, so will the Holy Spirit fire burn away all of the black spots that sill cling to
us from our old nature. Sometimes it is the fire of conviction that makes us change
bad habits because we know they are displeasing to God. Sometimes the fire is the
aflictions that we have to endure that force us to examine our lives, and change our
way of life so as to walk as Jesus walked in full obedience to the Father. The fire has
a twofold purpose, to burn away the bad in believers, and to burn in judgment those
who refuse to believe.
Most people would shudder at the idea of being baptized with fire. John's old
baptism with waters feels good and refreshing, but with fire it sound like torture.
But William Barclay shows us how we can see this firey baptism as a very positive
thing. He wrote, "In the thought of a baptism with fire there are three ideas." The
gist of these are that the fire is illumination, warmth and purification. Fire produces
light and by the fire of the Spirit we are led to understand God's Word, for it is the
Spirit's job to lead us into all truth. The warmth is due to the fruit of the Spirit such
as love and joy which make us relate to others with a kind and warm heart.The
Holy Spirit is gentle and warm as the Comforter, and he warms us to be comforters
of others. The purification comes because the fire burns away the chaff in us and
leaves us with a purer heart. This is often the case with the trials of life. The songs
say it like this:

5. When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flames shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
["How Firm a Foundation"; John Rippon]
Some through the waters, some through the flood
Some through the fire, but all through the blood
Some through great trials, but God gives a song
In the night season, and all the day long.
["God Leads Us Along"; George A. Young]
The following quotes help us grasp more clearly the positives of being baptized with
fire.
1. "To all, sooner or later, Christ comes to baptize them with fire. But do
not think that the baptism of fire comes once for all to a man in some
terrible affliction, some one awful conviction of his own sinfulness and
nothingness. No; with many-and those, perhaps, the best people-it goes
on month after month, and year after year. By secret trials, chastenings
which none but they and God can understand, the Lord is cleansing
them from their secret faults, and making them to understand wisdom
secretly; burning out of them the chaff of self-will and self-conceit and
vanity, and leaving only the pure gold of righteousness." (Charles
Kingsley.)
2. "The manner in which the Holy Spirit enters the heart resembles the
manner in which fire is kindled. This manner is not always uniform.
Sometimes a spark lies smothered for a while, and only after a long
interval bursts out and begins to burn. So with the Holy Spirit. The
spark may have reached the heart, and may remain theres hut the

6. deceitfulness of worldly cares or pleasures, or the remains of unsubdued
sin, stifle it, till at length some providential circumstance occurs which
fans the spark into a flame. Another effect of fire is, to communicate its
warmth to all that come within its reach. And such is also, the effect of
the Holy Spirit upon the soul. The heart of man is by nature cold-cold
towards God, and cold towards his fellow-creatures. Not so the man
whose heart has been touched by the Holy Spirit. I shall only carry this
comparison one step further. We all understand the effect of fire in
restoring comfort to the body. We approach closer to it when we have
been made uneasy through the chilling influence of cold, and the genial
feelings of health and warmth revive within us. So, likewise, the Holy
Spirit cheers the heart and re-animates the languid feelings; gives new
life to the zeal and piety, which, without it, would sicken and decay." (J.
B. Sumner, M. A.)
3. But there is also a fire that, like the genial heat in some greenhouse,
makes even the barren tree glow with blossom, and bends its branches
with precious fruit. (Dr. Maclaren.)
4. "Alexander Maclaren, "The words before us signalise at once John's
lofty conception of the worth of his work, and his humble consciousness
of its worthlessness as compared with Christ's. 'I indeed baptize you
with water, but He with fire.' As is the difference between the two
elements, so is the difference between His ministry and mine -- the one
effecting an outward cleansing, the other being an inward penetrating
power, which shall search men through and through, and, burning, shall
purge away dross and filth."
"The Spirit which is fire is a Spirit which giveth life. So the symbol, in
the special reference in the text, has nothing of terror or destruction but
is full of hope and bright with promise."
"Now, whatever may be the meaning of the emblem in the preceding
and subsequent clauses, it can have but one meaning in our text itself --
and that is, the purifying influence of the Spirit of God. Baptism with
the Holy Ghost is not one thing and baptism with fire another, but the

7. former is the reality of which the latter is the symbol.
"The interpretation which most readers unconsciously supply to the
passages of Scripture where God is spoken of as flaming fire, is that
God's terrible wrath is revealed in them. I am very far from denying
that the punitive and destructive side of the divine character is in the
symbol, but certainly that is not its exclusive meaning, nor does it seem
to me to be its principal one. The emblem is employed over and over
again, in connections where it must mean chiefly the blessed and joyous
aspect of God's Name to men. It is unquestionably part of the felicity of
the symbol that there should be in it this double force -- for so is it the
fitter to show forth Him who, by the very same attributes, is the life of
those who love Him and the death of those who turn from Him. But,
still, though it is true that the bright and the awful aspects of that Name
are in themselves one, and that their difference arises from the
difference of the eyes which behold them, yet we are justified, I think, in
saying that this emblem of fire regards mainly the former of these and
not the latter. The principal ideas in it seem to be swift energy and
penetrating power, which cleanses and transforms. It is fire as the
source of light and heat; it is fire, not so much as burning up what it
seizes into ashes, but rather as laying hold upon cold dead matter,
making it sparkle and blaze, and turning it into the likeness of its own
leaping brightness; it is fire as springing heavenwards, and bearing up
earthly particles in its shooting spires; it is fire, as least gross of visible
things; -- in a word, it is fire as life, and not as death, that is the symbol
of God. It speaks of the might of His transforming power, the melting,
cleansing, vitalising influence of His communicated grace, the warmth
of His conquering love. It has, indeed, an under side of possible
judgment, punishment, and destruction, but it has a face of blessing, of
life-giving, of sanctifying power. And therefore the Baptist spake glad
tidings when he said, 'He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and
with fire.'
5. Meyer writes, "In John's mind, the difference between the two
baptisms, his and the Christ's, expresses accurately the difference
between the two ministries and their effects. As has been truly and

8. beautifully said, he is conscious of something 'cold and negative' in his
own teaching, of which the water of his baptism is a fit representation.
His message is divine and true, but it is hard: 'Repent, do what you
ought, wait for the Kingdom and its King.' And, when his command has
been obeyed, his disciples come up out of Jordan, at the best but
superficially cleansed, and needing that the process begun in them
should be perfected by mightier powers than any which his message
wields. They need more than that outward washing -- they need an
inward cleansing; they need more than the preaching of repentance and
morality -- they need a gift of life; they need a new power poured into
their souls, the fiery steam of which, as it rolls along, like a lava current
through mountain forests, shall seize and burn every growth of evil in
their natures. They need not water, but Spirit; not water, but Fire. They
need what shall be life to their truest life, and death to all the death
within, that separates them from the life of God."
6. R. Tuck, "FIRE-BAPTISM IS THE TYPE OF BURNING OUT THE
SOUL OF SIN, THE LOVE OF SIN. Fire is a cleanser; it is, indeed, the
supreme cleanser, because it searches into the very substance of a thing.
So fire is applied to metals. The fire is to "try every man's work, of what
sort it is." Christ is to deal with that spiritual condition out of which the
acts of sin come. To put the matter sharply, John only dealt with actions
and opinions. Christ deals with feelings, and will; cleansing the very
thoughts of the heart. - R.T.
7. Clarke in his commentary takes us on a different road of
interpretation concerning this bapdtism of fire. He wrote, "Basil and
Theophilus explain it of the fire of hell. Cyril, Jerome, and others,
understand by it the descent of the Holy Spirit, on the day of pentecost.
Hilary says, it means a fire that the righteous must pass through in the
day of judgment, to purify them from such defilements as necessarily
cleaved to them here, and with which they could not be admitted into
glory. Ambrose says, this baptism shall be administered at the gate of
paradise, by John Baptist; and he thinks that this is what is meant by
the flaming sword, Gen_3:24. Origen and Lactantius conceive it to be a
river of fire, at the gate of heaven, something similar to the Phlegethon

9. of the heathens; but they observe, that when the righteous come to pass
over, the liquid flames shall divide, and give them a free passage: that
Christ shall stand on the brink of it, and receive through the flames all
those, and none but those, who have received in this world the baptism
of water in his name: and that this baptism is for those who, having
received the faith of Christ, have not, in every respect, lived
conformably to it; for, though they laid the good foundation, yet they
built hay, straw, and stubble upon it, and this work of theirs must be
tried, and destroyed by this fire. This, they think, is St. Paul’s meaning,
1Co_3:13-15. If any man build on this foundation (viz. Jesus Christ)
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall
be made manifest: and the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort
it is. - If any man’s work be burnt, he shall suffer loss: but he himself
shall be saved; yet so as By Fire."
8. HENRY, "They who are baptized with the Holy Ghost are baptized as
with fire; the seven spirits of God appear as seven lamps of fire,
Rev_4:5. Is fire enlightening? So the Spirit is a Spirit of illumination. Is
it warming? And do not their hearts burn within them? Is it
consuming? And does not the Spirit of judgment, as a Spirit of burning,
consume the dross of their corruptions? Does fire make all it seizes like
itself? And does it move upwards? So does the Spirit make the soul holy
like itself, and its tendency is heaven-ward. Christ says I am come to
send fire, Luk_12:49."
W.F. Adeney, "The fire-baptism. It might have been thought that the
consuming element of fire was better adapted to the ministration of the
terrible prophet of the wilderness, while the gentler purifying water
would be suitable for the milder methods of the Son of man. Yet the
prophecy of the Baptist was fulfilled. We cannot confine his words to the
second advent of Christ in judgment. Christ came in his first
appearance with flames to burn the evil out of the hearts of men in the
consuming power of the Holy Spirit. For here the fire seems to stand for
the Holy Spirit, as it did on the Day of Pentecost, when the Gift came in
cloven tongues of fire. When Christ enters the soul he both burns up the
old evil and kindles the fire of a new life. All life is fire. Even applied

10. physiologically this idea is true; we only live by burning up our own
bodies, and that is why we need food, which is fuel. Christ's baptism is
the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the coming of that Spirit is the lighting of
a fire in a man's heart. Thus it is life." - W.F.A.
Set us afire, Lord, stir us, we pray!
While the world perishes, we go our way
Purposeless, passionless, day after day!
Set us afire, Lord, stir us, we pray!
[Ralph S. Cushman]
'O Thou that earnest from above,
The pure celestial fire to impart,
Kindle a flame of sacred love
On the mean altar of my heart.'
4. MATT 3:16-17
The Holy Spirit and the Baptism of Jesus
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At
that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17, And a voice
from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased.”

11. As soon as Jesus was baptized,
He came out of the water to a surprize.
Heaven opened and he saw the Spirit
Decending like a dove and John could see it.
Heaven was opened and God's Spirit came down,
And Jesus in God's favor was then to be found.
The dove is one of the best known of the Holy Spirit emblems. The Apostle John saw
the same thing in John 1:32 and he is said to be an eye witness to this unusual event
for the text says, "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descendiing from
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. If you look at pictures that are
representiing the Holy Spirit you will notice that the dove is almost always in the
picture. The dove is such a gentle creature, and that image is just right for the most
gentle Person of Trinity. In the Song of Solomon 6:9, the male calls his female lover
"my dove." We can get images of the Father and the Son in our minds, but the Holy
Spirit is just that-a spirit. We have no image of a spirit, and so the Bible gives us the
dove as an image that we can grasp.
We have seen how Matthew and John are witnesses to this dove, and as we check on
the other two Gospels we see that there is a hundred percent agreement on this issue
of the dove. The Gospel writers often have different perspectives they share, but on
this matter of the dove they differ not at all. in Mark we read, "As Jesus came up
out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending
on Him like a dove." (Mark 1:10). Dr. Luke has an even stronger statement, "and
the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on Him like a dove. And a voice from
heaven said, “You are My dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy” (Luke
3:22). The point is, it was not just a vision of a dove, but it was a real dove in bodily
form. God used this gentle bird to land on His Son and convey to Him His love and
full approval.
Jesus knew what doves we like. Later he would say to His disciples, "I am sending
you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent
as doves. (Matthew 10:16 NIV).

12. Worthy Christian Library
"The first emblem under which we see the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is the
dove descending upon the head of Jesus at His baptism on the banks of the Jordan.
The first emblem under which the Holy Spirit is presented in the Old Testament is
also a dove. In the story of creation, in the first chapter of Genesis, second verse, we
read: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness brooded over the face of
the deep, and the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters.” This is the
figure of the mother dove brooding over her nest and cherishing her young. What a
strange background for such a picture: chaos, desolation, the seething waters, the
hissing flames, the wild abyss, the starless night, the reign of ruin, death, and
desolation! This was the scene where the mother dove of eternal love and peace
began to build her nest, and she rested not until out of that scene of wreck she had
evolved a bright and happy world, and a smiling paradise, with its human family
and its pure and heavenly happiness and hope.
We pass over seven chapters, and we come to another scene of desolation and wreck.
The waters of the deluge are sweeping around the world. The work of twenty
centuries is submerged beneath that awful flood, and the world’s countless millions
are lying in death beneath those waves. One solitary ship is riding above the storm
with eight human beings within its walls, the sole survivors of all earth’s population.
Once again we behold the figure of the dove. We read in Genesis 8: 6-12: “And it
came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark
which he had made; and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the
waters were dried up from off the earth. Also, he sent forth a dove from him, to see
if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest
for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were
on the face of the whole earth; then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled
her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet another seven days, and again he
sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and,
lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf, pluckt off; so Noah knew that the waters were
abated from off the earth. “And he stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the
dove, which returned not again unto him any more.”
Back of this dove there is another figure, the black-winged raven, the emblem of
Satan, as the other is of the Holy Ghost.
And now we see three very remarkable stages in the sending forth of this dove, and
they seem to speak of three dispensations of the Holy Spirit. First, we have the dove
going forth from the ark, and finding no rest upon the wild and drifting waste of sin
and judgment. This represents the Old Testament period, perhaps, when the Holy
Ghost visited this sinful world, but could find no resting-place, and ever went back
to the bosom of God. Next, we have the dove going forth and returning with the
olive leaf in her mouth, a symbol and a pledge of peace and reconciliation, a sign
that judgment had passed and peace was returning. Surely this may beautifully
represent the next stage of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation, the going forth in the
ministry and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to proclaim reconciliation to a sinful
world. But, as yet, He is not at liberty to reside in this sin-cursed earth. There is,

13. therefore, a third stage, when, at, length, the dove goes forth from the ark and
returns no more, but makes the world its home, and builds its nest amid the
habitations of men. This is the third and present stage of the Holy Spirit’s blessed
work.
Thus He has now come forth, not to visit this sinful world, returning again to
heaven, but to make it His abiding home. During the ministry of Christ on earth the
Spirit dwelt in Him, and not in men. Jesus said He was with the disciples, but He
adds, “He shall be in you.” Like Noah’s dove, still lingering in the ark, and going
forth only to visit the earth, so the Holy Ghost dwelt in Jesus, and touched the
hearts of men from time to time.
But now Jesus has sent Him forth, and His residence is no longer in heaven, but in
the heart of the believer, and in the bosom of the Church. This earth is now His
home; and here among sinful, suffering men, the same dove is building her nest and
rearing her brood for the celestial realms, where they shall one day soar and sing in
the light of God. Such is the symbolical unfolding of the Holy Spirit in these two first
pictures of the Old Testament. Let its now gather out of the figure itself, some of its
most pointed lessons and suggestions.
The first thought is motherhood. It is the figure of the mother dove. In one of the
recent and most brilliant works of Mr. Drummond, he develops with great fullness
the idea that the goal of nature is always motherhood. In the vegetable creation
everything moves toward seed and fruit. The flower is but the cradle and the
swaddling bands of the living germ. The plant lives simply to develop the life of
another plant, to reproduce itself. Thus, in the natural world, the first appearance of
love is not in the sexual, but in the maternal relations; and in like manner, the great
thought in the heart of God is motherhood, and God Himself possesses in Himself
that true nature which has been manifested in the creation.
There is in the divine Trinity a personality corresponding to human relationships.
Human fatherhood expresses a need which is met in God the Father. Human
motherhood has its origin in the Holy Ghost. Human brotherhood, and the higher,
closer fellowship of the husband and the bridegroom, are met in Christ, the Son of
God, our Brother and our Bridegroom. We cannot reason out the divine Trinity, but
God can make it real to our spiritual instincts.
There are times when we need a father’s strength and love, and our pressed spirits
cry out, “Oh, if my father were only here, how quickly he would help me!” And God
our Father answers that cry.
There are times when the orphaned spirit feels the need of a mother’s more delicate
and tender touch, and we think how mother once used to comfort and help us as no
other friend could do. Then we need the mother heart of God. I envy not the man
who has outgrown the weakness of needing a mother’s love, and whose heart finds
no response to such words as these:
Who fed me from her gentle breast?
Who taught me in her arms to rest?
And on my lips sweet kisses pressed?
My mother.

14. Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My mother.
The Holy Ghost, the author of the mother’s heart and the child’s dependent love, is
able to meet in us the deep need which has outgrown our infant years, and still looks
up to God with its orphaned cry for love and sympathy.
Also there is in every human heart the memory of some brave, true brother, and a
longing for a divine arm that can uphold us with a love “that sticketh closer than a
brother.” Yes, there is a deeper longing for a friendship more intimate and a
fellowship more dear, which Jesus meets as the divine Husband, the Ishi of our
heart.
All the representations which the Scriptures give us of the Holy Ghost are in
harmony with this thought of divine motherhood. The regeneration of the soul is
described as a new birth, and the Holy Ghost is the mother that gives us this birth.
The guidance and nurture of the Spirit after our conversion are described in
language borrowed from the nursery and the home. In the deeper needs of the soul,
the comfort of the Holy Ghost is described to us under the very image of a mother’s
caresses and a mother’s love. “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I
comfort you, and ye shall be comforted, saith the Lord.”
In turn, as we are filled with the Holy Ghost, we ourselves have the mother-heart for
others, and are able to reflect the blessing and dispense the comfort which we have
received. Our prayers for others become maternal longings, travails, and soul-
births, and we learn to say with the apostle, “My little children, of whom I travail in
birth again, until Christ be formed in you,” and to understand such language as
this, “As soon as Zion travailed she brought forth.”
The Holy Ghost in the consecrated heart often gives a yearning for others, and a
prayer for the lost and the tempted, as intensely real as the pangs of maternal
anguish and love; and people are born of us as truly as the children of our
households, and are linked to us by bonds as real as our natural kindred.
The figure of the dove is suggestive of peace. The dove from the ark was the
messenger of peace, and brought back an olive branch as the symbol of
reconciliation. Thus is the Holy Spirit the messenger of peace with God through the
Lord Jesus Christ. He leads the soul to understand and accept the message of mercy
and to find the peace of God. He then brings the deeper “peace of God, which keeps
the heart and mind through Christ Jesus.” Wherever the Holy Spirit reigns there is
peace.
Back of the picture of the dove is the raven, restlessly passing to and fro, to and fro,
to and fro, a type of the troubled spirit of evil, that finds no rest even in the
pleasures of sin, but is driven from excitement to excitement in the vain pursuit of
rest, until at last it is thrown upon the wild billows of a lost eternity, the victim of
everlasting disquietude and unrest.
But the spirit in which the Holy Ghost rules is at rest. It has a peace that nothing
can offend, “the peace of God that passeth all understanding.”

15. THE DOVE IS THE SYMBOL OP PURITY
“Harmless as a dove,” is Christ’s interpretation of the beautiful emblem. The Spirit
of God which is purity itself, cannot dwell in an unclean heart. He cannot abide in
the natural mind. It was said of the anointing of old, “On man’s flesh it shall not be
poured.” The purity which the Holy Spirit brings is like a white and spotless little
plant which grows up out of a heap of manure, or out of black soil, without one
grain of impurity adhering to its crystalline surface, spotless as an angel’s wing. So
the Holy Spirit gives a purity of heart which brings its own protection, for it is
essentially unlike the evil things which grow around it. It may be surrounded on
every side with evil, but it is uncontaminated and pure because its very nature is
essentially holy and divine. It cannot be soiled, because like the plumage of the dove,
which, protected by its oily covering, comes forth from the miry pool unstained and
unsullied by the dark waters, it sheds off every defilement and is proof against the
touch of every stain.
THE DOVE IS THE SYMBOL OF GENTLENESS
The Comforter is gentle, tender, and full of patience and love. How gentle are God’s
dealings even with sinners! How patient His forbearance! How tender His discipline
with His own erring children! How He led Jacob, Joseph, Israel, David, Elijah, and
all His ancient servants, until they could truly say, “Thy gentleness hath made me
great”! The heart in which the Holy Spirit dwells will al-ways be characterized by
gentleness, lowliness, quietness, meekness, and forbearance. The rude, sarcastic
spirit, the brusque manner, the sharp retort, the unkind cut — all these belong to
the flesh. They have nothing in common with the gentle teaching of the Comforter.
The Holy Dove shrinks from the noisy, tumultuous, excited, and vindictive spirit,
and finds His home in the lowly breast of the peaceful soul. “The fruit of the Spirit is
gentleness, meekness.”
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE SPIRIT OF LOVE
The dove is the special emblem of affection. The special object of the divine
Comforter is to “shed abroad the love of God in our hearts,” and to show that “the
fruit of the Spirit is love.” Wherever He dwells there is to be found a disposition of
unselfishness, consideration for others, loving helpfulness, and kindness; and He
wants love from us. He asks not so much our service as our communion. He has
plenty to serve Him; but He wants us to love Him and to receive His tender love for
us. He is longing for our affection and is disappointed when we give Him anything
else.
A very sweet thought connected with the symbol of the dove, and true also of the
Holy Spirit, is that we find in the Scriptures many allusions to the mourning of the
dove. It is a bird of sorrow, and its plaintive notes have more of sadness in them than
the voice of any other bird. Any one who has heard the cooing of the turtle dove will
never forget the plaintive sadness of its tone.
How can this be true of the Holy Spirit? Simply because love is always sensitive to
suffering. The more we love, the more we sorrow, especially when the loved one
disappoints our expectations, or our affection. The lone dove coos for its lost mate,
and mourns for its scattered brood. And so the Holy Spirit is represented as loving

16. us even unto the extreme of sorrow. We do not read of the anger of the Holy Ghost,
but of the grief of the Spirit. “They rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit,” and we are
warned, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.”
There is a beautiful passage in James which has been unhappily translated in our
Revised Version: “The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy.” It ought to be,
“The Spirit that dwelleth in us loveth us to jealousy.” It is the figure of a love that
suffers because of its intense regard for the loved object. The Holy Ghost is so
anxious to accomplish in us and for us the highest will of God, and to receive from
us the truest love for Christ, our divine Husband, that He becomes jealous when in
any way we disappoint Him, or divide His love with others. Therefore, it is said in
the preceding passage, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God?”
Oh, shall we grieve so kind a Friend? Shall we disappoint so loving a Husband?
Shall we provoke so tender and unselfish a jealousy? Shall we not meet the blessed
Holy Spirit with the love He brings us, and give in return our undivided and
unbounded affection? Strange, indeed, that God should have to plead with us for
our love. Strange that He whom all Heaven adores should have a rival in the hearts
of the children whom He has created, and the beings who owe everything they have
to His infinite mercy! Strange that so gentle a Friend should have to plead so long
and so tenderly for our affections! Let us turn to Him with penitential love, and cry:
“Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove,
With all Thy quickening powers;
Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours.”
"What a surprise it would be to see a fish climbing a tree. Yet such a sight is possible
because of the climbing perch of India. These three to eight inch fish have movable
spines on their gills, and by thrusting with their tails and front fins they can scoot up
a slanting tree by the water and catch insects. Some have been seen as high as five
feet up the trunk.
There are a lot of surprising things in this world of infinite variety, and one of the
most surprising is the Son of God coming to John the Baptist to be baptized. To
John this was like a fish out of water, or even worse, up a tree. It just did not fit, and
Matthew tells us he resisted the request.
After all, his was a baptism of repentance where people were confessing their sins.
For the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world to come for a sinners
baptism was out of line, he felt, and many Christians through the ages have felt the
same. It seems incompatible for the sinless Savior to be seeking this symbol of the
sinners surrender to God. From the earliest Christian writings to the latest life of
Christ the question every author has to deal with is why would Jesus be baptized?

17. In the early church this act of Jesus led to a debate over his sinlessness. Jerome,
back in the 300's, tells of the Gospel used by the Nazarenes in which this
conversation is recorded. "The mother of the Lord and his brethren said to Him,
John the Baptist baptizes unto the remission of sins, let us go and be baptized by
him. But he said to them, in what have I sinned, that I should go and be baptized by
him? Unless, by chance, this very thing which I have said is the sin of ignorance."
The hint here is that Jesus may have been guilty of the sin of ignorance, or of
omission. The apocryphal book called The Preaching Of Paul, has Jesus making
confession of His sin at His baptism.
Others suggest that Jesus was not yet aware of His sinlessness, and so was just doing
what He felt was right for all Godly Jews to do. The point is Jesus created a problem
for a lot of people by His coming to John for baptism. What we need to see is that
Jesus was doing this as an act of identification. G. Campbell Morgan, The prince of
expositors, says of this act of Jesus, "In that hour he repented. He confessed sin. But
the repentance was not for Himself, the sin was not His own. In that hour He
identified Himself with the multitude who had been thronging out to baptism." In
other words, Jesus did not wait to take the place of the sinner on the cross, but He
began His public ministry by taking the place of the sinner in baptism. He started as
one with the masses of repentant sinners.
This identification with the least, the lowly, and the last, confirms the conviction of
many, who like Howard Marshall says, "The evangelical wing of Christianity has a
strong temptation to concentrate its attention on the crucified and risen Lord Jesus,
and to ignore His earthly life." He says we tend to have a Christmas and Easter
Christology. We go from the manager to the cross, and the rest is just filler. But this
is a denial of God's revelation.
What Jesus does here at the very start of His ministry is recorded by Matthew Mark
and Luke, and is a vital part of our understanding of our Lord. His baptism, of
course, was not His first act of identification with man. His birth was first, and then
He was dedicated in the temple, and He lived a life of identification with the
common man. He labored as a carpenter; attended the synagogue every Sabbath;
went to the temple to worship and sacrifice. He paid his tax, and just lived a life for
30 years that was not enough different than anyone else's life, so that neither His
family nor His community noticed anything highly unusual about Him. He so
identified with man that He was one with His time and culture.
Now, at His baptism, Jesus goes one step further in His identification. This is a first
sign that Jesus was going to identify with man as a sinner. We know Jesus in His
first 30 years did not run with a wild bunch and break laws or defile Himself with
wine, women, and song. He did not do anything that would be considered a sin. He

18. lived a life of righteousness, for only as a spotless lamb would He be an acceptable
sacrifice for sinners. But here in His choice to baptized with the baptism of
repentance, Jesus is taking that first step that will make Him so one with sinners
that He will become the supreme sinner as the only way by which He can become
the supreme Savior.
Jesus was sinless, yet nobody ever had to pay the penalty for more sin than He did.
He who knew no sin became sin for us. On Him was laid the iniquity of us all. He
died for the sins of the whole world. He actually experienced the full penalty of sin
which is separation from God. The paradox is that the sinless Savior experienced
more of the penalty of sin than do millions of sinners whom He saves. You and I who
trust Jesus as our Savior do not need to experience hell and separation from God.
We are, therefore, incomplete sinners. We do not take the destiny of sinners all the
way, but Jesus did . He went all the way to hell to save us, and thus, the sinless one
was the complete sinner. He never once sinned or violated the will of God. He had to
be a perfect and spotless lamb to atone for our sin. But the cost was to become sin,
and take on Himself the wrath of God against all sin.
This complete identification with the sinner began with His baptism. He had a
choice. He could have said," I'll not get involved. I am sin free and do not need to be
baptized. But God is calling His people to repent through John, and I can chose to
identify with this movement of sinners back to God. I'll make that choice," said
Jesus, "and I'll be one of them."
People watching Jesus being baptized would see Him as another sinner repenting
and confessing His sins. But He was confessing our sin and repenting for our sin. It
was a tremendous act of humility for Jesus to identify Himself with sinful men. And
God the Father said He was well pleased with His Son's choice, for He knew Jesus
would get the job done He had set out to accomplish. Wilbur Smith, one of the
greatest Christian scholars of the 20th century said this is the most sound of all the
theories as to why Jesus was baptized.
Jesus had two choices. He could stand with the self-righteous who said we do not
need to repent, and there by reject John's baptism, or He could stand with sinners
who said we will repent and return to God. He chose the second, and however many
problem this creates in the minds of those who do not understand his choice, it was
pleasing to God the Father, and that is all that mattered to Jesus. God sent Him to
identify with fallen man, and Jesus shows He came to obey by His baptism which
was His first public act of identification with sinners. He never went back on His
choice, but went all the way to the cross. J.D. Jones wrote, "If we want to
understand the full meaning of the baptism, we must see in it an anticipation of
Calvary." It was the same boundless love that sent Him to the cross that was

19. motivating Him into the waters of baptism. The second thing we want to see is His
baptism was-
II. AN ACT OF INAUGURATION.
I have always known this was the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, but I did
not realize that it was His inauguration into the office of Messiah. Christ means the
anointed one. When was He anointed to be the Christ-the Messiah of Israel? It was
right here at His baptism. The Holy Spirit came upon Him as a Dove, and the
Father gave His words of approval, and from this point on Jesus was no longer a
carpenter, but was the King-the Anointed One. As John was baptizing His humanity
in water, God was baptizing His deity in the Holy Spirit. This empowered Jesus to
exercise His deity in history, which He never did before He was baptized.
The parallels with the Old Testament story Joshua are amazing. Jesus and Joshua
are the same name. Jesus is the Greek word for the Hebrew name of Joshua. Is it
just coincidence that Joshua began his leadership of Israel at the Jordan River? We
read in Joshua 3:7, "And the Lord said to Joshua today I will begin to exult you in
the eyes of all Israel." This was right in the context of their preparing to cross over
Jordan. In 3:12 God said to him, "Now then chose twelve men from the tribes of
Israel...." Is it mere coincidence that Joshua and Jesus were each to chose twelve
men of Israel to be leaders?
Then God says as soon as they enter the Jordan, the water will be divided and the
people will cross over on dry ground. But you say there is no parallel there, for the
Jordan did not divide for Jesus. That is true, but I want you to look closely at what
Jesus saw when He came up out of the water of baptism. Verse 10 says, "He saw
heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him as a Dove." There was no
need for the water to divide for Jesus was not leading His people over into a new
earthly kingdom. What Jesus saw was heaven divide, for He was to lead His people
over to a heavenly kingdom.
The Greek word here is schizo, from which we get schizophrenia, the split
personality. Jesus saw the heavens split apart and rent asunder. That is the same
word all the Gospel writers use to describe the veil in the temple when it was rent in
two. Here, heaven is torn in two, and for the first time man is exposed to the
presence of the trinity. What a paradoxical picture: The heavens are literally ripped
apart like a cloth violently torn in half, and then the Holy Spirit comes down in the
form of a gentle Dove. It is one of the most momentous moments in all of history.
Heaven and earth are linked, and all three persons of the triune God are on the
stage of history for the first time.
It always seemed a minor incident in the life of Jesus, but like everything in His life,

20. the more you meditate on it and study it, the more significant it becomes. Now, it
seems impossible to exaggerate the importance of this event. Though Luther did by
saying Jesus was here a substitute for all men, and buried the sin of the world in
Jordan. This goes too far and makes the cross unnecessary. Luther was just trying to
give it a place of great importance. It was that. It was the inauguration of the King
of Kings, the greatest leader the world has ever known. He would not merely lead
God's people over Jordan into the promise land, but as the new Joshua he would
lead God's people from earth to heaven where He will reign forever and ever.
From this moment on Jesus was the anointed one, and began to demonstrate His
power over the kingdom of darkness.
In the ancient world some peoples would select their king by letting a bird loose
before the aspiring candidates, and the one on whom the bird landed was considered
the choice of the gods. We do not know that Jesus knew of this practice, but the
decent of the Dove did mean that to Him. He was the chosen one, and God
confirmed it by a verbal message as well as by the symbol of that Dove. The Dove of
the Holy Spirit revealed just what kind of a king Jesus was to be. Almost every king
in history has had to be violent to defeat his foes and maintain his kingdom. Jesus
went right from His inauguration to face His fiercest foe, and even there he fought
and won by the power of dove-like gentleness. He won by the sword of the word, and
that would be the weapon by which He would conquer all the powers of darkness.
The Old Testament Joshua wiped out the enemies of righteousness by the sword of
metal. This new Joshua never used the sword of metal, but only the sword of the
spirit. He took his enemies captive, and made them part of his army. No other king
in history has been able to conquer so much territory with the power of gentleness.
The Dove descended on the Lamb of God, and this Dove-filled Lamb became the
world greatest conqueror. He sent forth his army telling them to be wise as serpents
and harmless as doves, and the church only wins when they follow these instructions
of the Lamb. The third thing we want to see is that His baptism was-
III. AN ACT OF ILLUMINATION.
There is a lot of speculation about the silent years of Jesus from age 12 to 30. Many
wonder if Jesus fully understood that He was the Messiah. We do not know for sure,
but we do know that if there was any doubt, it was all eliminated at His baptism, for
His eyes were opened and He saw and heard what no eyes have ever seen and no
ears have ever heard. He was given the full light of heaven on His path, and however
dark it might get God assured Him He was pleased with His Son.

21. This is the key to any man's success in life. He has to know that He is loved by those
who matter most. Jesus had to take a lot of rejection and a lot of sorrow, but He
could always look back at His baptism where He heard His heavenly Father's words
of approval. Every father owes this to his children: This assurance that however
rough life gets they have won who loves and cares for them. God gave His Son this
kind of illumination at His baptism.
Alexander White commenting on the Father's words from heaven, "Thou art my
beloved Son," said this: "Think of it, my brethren. Never once since the fall of Adam
and Eve had the Maker of men been able to say these words till he said them to
Jesus Christ that day at the Jordan. Almighty God had often looked down from
heaven to see if there were any that did good and sinned not. But when his eyelids
tried the children of men, it was always with the same result. Not one. Not Noah, not
Abraham, not Jacob, not Joseph, not Moses, not David; no, not one single patriarch,
or prophet, or psalmist, or saint, in all the house of Israel. But here at last is a man
after God's own heart. Here at last is the second Adam, with whom God is well
pleased."
Jesus would also be illumined by the decent of the Dove as to the nature of His
kingdom. We have already referred to this. But consider further that the first image
of the Holy Spirit in the Bible is in Genesis 1:2, where He is hovering over the
waters, and God said let there be light, and with this illumination the Holy Spirit
began creating of the universe. Milton wrote of the Holy Spirit, "...Thou from the
first wast present, and with mighty wings outspread Dove-like sat'st brooding on the
vast abyss."
At the baptism of Jesus we see the Holy Spirit again hovering over the waters, and
again God gives this illumination, let there be light, and the Lord Jesus, the Light of
the world is installed as Messiah. The Holy Spirit descends again to begin a new
creation. Jesus received a clear message as to His mission at His baptism. He was to
be a gentle ruler, and one whose goal was to be to make all things new. A new
Genesis begins at His baptism-a new beginning for a new creation.
Jesus was illumined and enlightened by this event like none other. He had emptied
Himself of equality with God, and we do not know all the limitations He endured in
those silent years, but God knew He needed this experience. From this point on
Jesus begins to do miracles. There is not a hint of a miracle before His baptism. This
illumination was also His inspiration, and His motivation to portray by action who
He really was.
John the Baptist in John 1 emphasizes that he saw the Holy Spirit come down and

22. remain on Jesus, and that this was the sign God gave him that the one on whom this
would happen was the Messiah. The Holy Spirit came upon many in the past, but on
no one but Jesus did he abide. Godet remarks, "This luminous appearance, then,
represents and inspiration which is neither partial as that of the faithful, nor
intermittent as that of the prophets." In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came and
went, but at the baptism of Jesus he came down to abide on earth in Jesus, and
when Jesus ascended he sent the Holy Spirit to abide in His body the church. The
baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of a special relationship of the Holy Spirit and
man.
At His birth God the Son came to dwell with man.
At His baptism God the Holy Spirit came to dwell with man.
At His betrothal God the Father came to dwell with man.
We read this in Rev. 21:2-3, "I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband
and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, now the dwelling of god is with
men, and He will live with them." The goal of God is to dwell with men, and each
person of the Godhead accomplished this goal at different times. The baptism of
Jesus was when the Holy Spirit entered history to dwell here. He came first into to
Jesus and later into His body the church. The baptism of Jesus was his Pentecost,
and like his body later, when He was filled with the Holy Spirit He began His public
ministry in power.
The Holy Spirit made Jesus His temple, and then Jesus shared the abiding spirit
with His whole body. One of His missions was to baptize with the Holy Spirit that all
of His followers might also have the spirit abiding in them. That which makes all
Gods people one, in spite of all their many differences, is the abiding Holy Spirit.
Every Christian is a temple of the Spirit, and it all began at the baptism of Jesus and
the decent of the Dove. The fourth thing we see is the baptism of Jesus was-
IV. AN ACT OF ILLUSTRATION.
He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. It was fitting that He take this step of
obedience and become and illustration of what all believers are to do. Obey God in
all of His ordinances because it pleases God more than anything when we have a
spirit of obedience.

23. Jesus left His church two ordinances-baptism and the Lord's Supper. Objectively
they both point to the finished work of Christ in His death and resurrection. We
could argue that both are really unnecessary because they add nothing to His
finished work. But Jesus wants us to keep these two ordinances as acts of
obedience." UNKNOWN
Matt. 3:16;
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment
heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and
alighting on him.
BARNES, "The dove, among the Jews, was the symbol of purity of heart,
harmlessness, and gentleness. The form chosen here was doubtless an emblem of the
innocence, meekness, and tenderness of the Saviour. The gift of the Holy Spirit, in
this manner, was the public approbation of Jesus Joh_1:33, and a sign of his being
set apart to the office of the Messiah. We are not to suppose that there was any
change done in the moral character of Jesus, but only that he was publicly set apart
to his work, and solemnly approved by God in the office to which he was appointed.
CLARKE, "The heavens were opened unto him - That is, to John the Baptist and
he, John, saw the Spirit of God - lighting upon him, i.e. Jesus. There has been some
controversy about the manner and form in which the Spirit of God rendered itself
visible on this occasion. St. Luke, Luk_3:22, says it was in a bodily shape like to a
dove: and this likeness to a dove some refer to a hovering motion, like to that of a
dove, and not to the form of the dove itself: but the terms of the text are too precise
to admit of this farfetched interpretation. This passage affords no mean proof of the
doctrine of the Trinity. That three distinct persons are here, represented, there can
be no dispute.
1. The person of Jesus Christ, baptized by John in Jordan. 2. The person of the Holy
Ghost in a bodily shape, (σωµατικω ειδει, Luk_3:22) like a dove. 3. The person of
the Father; a voice came out of heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, etc.
The voice is here represented as proceeding from a different place to that in which
the persons of the Son and Holy Spirit were manifested; and merely, I think, more
forcibly to mark this Divine personality.
GILL, "And Jesus, when he was baptized,.... Christ, when he was baptized by John
in the river Jordan, the place where he was baptizing,
went up straightway out of the water. One would be at a loss at first sight for a

24. reason why the Evangelist should relate this circumstance; for after the ordinance
was administered, why should he stay in the water? what should he do there?
Everyone would naturally and reasonably conclude, without the mention of such a
circumstance, that as soon as his baptism was over, he would immediately come up
out of the water. However, we learn this from it, that since it is said, that he came up
out of the water, he must first have gone down into it; must have been in it, and was
baptized in it; a circumstance strongly in favour of baptism by immersion: for that
Christ should go down into the river, more or less deep, to the ankles, or up to the
knees, in order that John should sprinkle water on his face, or pour it on his head, as
is ridiculously represented in the prints, can hardly obtain any credit with persons
of thought and sense. But the chief view of the Evangelist in relating this
circumstance, is with respect to what follows; and to show, that as soon as Christ
was baptized, and before he had well got out of the water,
lo the heavens were opened: and some indeed read the word "straightway", in
connection with this phrase, and not with the words "went up": but there is no need
of supposing such a trajection, for the whole may be rendered thus;
and Jesus, when he was baptized, was scarcely come up out of the water, but lo,
immediately, directly, as soon as he was out, or rather before,
the heavens were opened to him; the airy heaven was materially and really opened,
parted, rent, or cloven asunder, as in Mar_1:10 which made way for the visible
descent of the Holy Ghost in a bodily shape. A difficulty arises here, whether the
words, "to him", are to be referred to Christ, or to John; no doubt but the opening
of the heavens was seen by them both: but to me it seems that John is particularly
designed, since this vision was upon his account, and for his sake, and to him the
following words belong; "and he", that is,
John, saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: for this is
what was promised to John, as a sign, which should confirm his faith in Jesus, as the
true Messiah, and which he himself says he saw, and upon which he based the
record and testimony he bore to Christ, as the Son of God; see Joh_1:32 not but that
the descent of the Holy Ghost in this manner might be seen by Christ, as well as
John, according to Mar_1:10. The Spirit of God, here said to descend and light on
Christ, is the same, which in the first creation moved upon the face of the waters;
and now comes down on Christ, just as he was coming up out of the waters of
Jordan, where he had been baptized; and which the Jews (r) so often call , "the
Spirit of the king Messiah, and the spirit of the Messiah". The descent of him was in
a "bodily shape", as Luke says in Luk_3:22 either in the shape of a dove, which is a
very fit emblem of the Spirit of God who descended, and the fruits thereof, such as

25. simplicity, meekness, love, &c. and also of the dove-like innocence, humility, and
affection of Christ, on whom he lighted; or it was in some other visible form, not
expressed, which pretty much resembled the hovering and lighting of a dove upon
anything: for it does not necessarily follow from any of the accounts the Evangelists
give of this matter, that the holy Spirit assumed, or appeared in, the form of a dove;
only that his visible descent and lighting on Christ was ωσει περιστερα, as a dove
descends, hovers and lights; which does not necessarily design the form of the
creature, but the manner of its motion. However, who
can read this account without thinking of Noah's dove, which brought in its mouth
the olive leaf, a token of peace and reconciliation, when the waters were abated from
off the earth? Give me leave to transcribe a passage I have met with in the book of
Zohar (s);
"a door shall be opened, and out of it shall come forth the dove which Noah sent out
in the days of the flood, as it is written, "and he sent forth the dove", that famous
dove; but the ancients speak not of it, for they knew not what it was, only from
whence it came, and did its message; as it is written, "it returned not again unto him
any more": no man knows whither it went, but it returned to its place, and was hid
within this door; and it shall take a crown in its mouth, and put it upon the head of
the king Messiah.''
And a little after, the dove is said to abide upon his head, and he to receive glory
from it. Whether this is the remains of some ancient tradition, these men studiously
conceal, concerning the opening of the heavens, and the descent of the Spirit of God,
as a dove, upon the Messiah; or whether it is hammered out of the evangelic history,
let the reader judge.
JAMISON
, "Mat_3:16, Mat_3:17. Descent of the Spirit upon the baptized Redeemer. And
Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water — rather, “from
the water.” Mark has “out of the water” (Mar_1:10). “and” - adds Luke (Luk_3:21),
“while He was praying”; a grand piece of information. Can there be a doubt about
the burden of that prayer; a prayer sent up, probably, while yet in the water - His
blessed head suffused with the baptismal element; a prayer continued likely as He
stepped out of the stream, and again stood upon the dry ground; the work before
Him, the needed and expected Spirit to rest upon Him for it, and the glory He would
then put upon the Father that sent Him - would not these fill His breast, and find
silent vent in such form as this? - “Lo, I come; I delight to do Thy will, O God.
Father, glorify Thy name. Show Me a token for good. Let the Spirit of the Lord God
come upon Me, and I will preach the Gospel to the poor, and heal the broken-
hearted, and send forth judgment unto victory.” While He was yet speaking lo, the

26. heavens were opened — Mark says, sublimely, “He saw the heavens cleaving”
(Mar_1:10). and he saw the Spirit of God descending — that is, He only, with the
exception of His honored servant, as he tells us himself (Joh_1:32-34); the by-
standers apparently seeing nothing. like a dove, and lighting upon him — Luke says,
“in a bodily shape” (Luk_3:22); that is, the blessed Spirit, assuming the corporeal
form of a dove, descended thus upon His sacred head. But why in this form? The
Scripture use of this emblem will be our best guide here. “My dove, my undefiled is
one,” says the Song of Solomon (Son_6:9). This is chaste purity. Again, “Be ye
harmless as doves,” says Christ Himself (Mat_10:16). This is the same thing, in the
form of inoffensiveness towards men. “A conscience void of offense toward God and
toward men” (Act_24:16) expresses both. Further, when we read in the Song of
Solomon (Son_2:14), “O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rocks, in the secret
places of the stairs (see Isa_60:8), let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice;
for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely” - it is shrinking modesty,
meekness, gentleness, that is thus charmingly depicted. In a word - not to allude to
the historical emblem of the dove that flew back to the ark, bearing in its mouth the
olive leaf of peace (Gen_8:11) - when we read (Psa_68:13), “Ye shall be as the wings
of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold,” it is beauteousness
that is thus held forth. And was not such that “holy, harmless, undefiled One,” the
“separate
from sinners?” “Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy
lips; therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever!” But the fourth Gospel gives us one
more piece of information here, on the authority of one who saw and testified of it:
“John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and
IT ABODE UPON HIM.” And lest we should think that this was an accidental thing,
he adds that this last particular was expressly given him as part of the sign by which
he was to recognize and identify Him as the Son of God: “And I knew Him not: but
He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou
shalt see the Spirit descending AND REMAINING ON HIM, the same is He which
baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of
God” (Joh_1:32-34). And when with this we compare the predicted descent of the
Spirit upon Messiah (Isa_11:2), “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,”
we cannot doubt that it was this permanent and perfect resting of the Holy Ghost
upon the Son of God - now and henceforward in His official capacity - that was here
visibly manifested.
COFFMAN, Spirit of God descending as a dove ... This referred to the sign by which
John was inspired to recognize the Messiah (John 1:32-34). Thus, it is clear the Holy
Spirit adopted the shape of a dove on that occasion, otherwise John could not have
seen and borne witness. As in all Scriptural symbolism, the dove was a creature

27. most admirably suited to serve in that situation as a vehicle for suggesting the Holy
Spirit. Note: (1) The dove was a "clean" creature under the ceremonial laws of the
Jews; (2) it was used in their religious sacrifices, two, in fact, being offered upon the
presentation of our Lord in the temple (Luke 2:24); (3) it is a monogamous creature!
(4) it is a symbol of peace; (5) it is a marvel of gentleness, love, and affection; (6) it is
a messenger (the homing pigeon is a dove); and (7) the dove has no gall, suggesting
that there is no bitterness in the service of God. Brownville wrote, "It has been
suggested that one reason for the gentleness of the dove is that the bird has no gall,
the gall having been considered by naturalists of old as the source and fount of
contention."[7]
CALVIN
, "16.And, lo, the heavens were opened to him. The opening of the heavens
sometimes means a manifestation of heavenly glory; but here it means also a cleft, or
opening, of the visible heaven, so that John could see something beyond the planets
and stars. The words of Mark can have no other meaning, he saw the heavens cleft
asunder (296) An exact inquiry into the way in which this opening was made, would
be of no importance, nor is it necessary. It is sufficient for us to believe, that it was a
symbol of the Divine presence. As the Evangelists say that John saw the Holy Spirit,
it is probable that the opening of the heavens was chiefly on his account. Yet I do not
hesitate to admit that Christ also, so far as he was man, received from it additional
certainty as to his heavenly calling. This appears to be the tendency of the words of
Luke: while Jesus was praying, the heaven was opened, (Luke 3:21 :) for, though his
prayers were always directed towards the benefit of others, yet as man, when he
commenced a warfare of so arduous a description, he needed to be armed with a
remarkable power of the Spirit.
But here two questions arise. The first is, why did the Spirit, who had formerly
dwelt in Christ, descend upon him at that time? This question is answered by a
passage of the prophet Isaiah,
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord God hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,”
(Isaiah 61:1.)
Though the grace of the Spirit was bestowed on Christ in a remarkable and
extraordinary manner, (John 3:34,) yet he remained at home as a private person, till
he should be called to public life by the Father.
Now that the full time is come, for preparing to discharge the office of Redeemer, he
is clothed with a new power of the Spirit, and that not so much for his own sake, as
for the sake of others. It was done on purpose, that believers might learn to receive,

28. and to contemplate with reverence, his divine power, and that the weakness of the
flesh might not make him despised.
COKE, "Matthew 3:16. The heavens were opened unto him— That is to say, to
John; to whose view, as well as to that of the Saviour, this wonderful vision was
presented. St. Mark has so expressed it, as plainly to refer the seeing it to Christ;
and John the Baptist has in another place assured us, that he saw it, and took
particular notice of it, as the sign he was directed to observe, as the distinguishing
characteristic of the Messiah. See John 1:32; John 1:34. The Greek word ευθυς,
rendered straightway in our version, denotes the immediate opening of the heavens
after our Lord's baptism.
The Spirit of God is said here to have descended like a dove: in St. Luke it is added,
σωµατικω ειδει, in a corporeal form; a phrase which might have been used with
propriety, though there had not been, as is generally supposed, any appearance of
the shape of the animal here mentioned, but only a lambent flame falling from
heaven, with a hovering, dove-like motion, which Dr. Scott and others suppose to
have been all. But Justin Martyr says expressly, that it was in the form of a dove;
adding that all Jordan shone with the reflection of the light; and Jerome calls it, the
appearance of a dove. It resembled a dove, says Wetstein, both in appearance and
flight.
BURKITT, "Here we have the solemn inauguration of Christ into his prophetic
office, accompanied with a threefold miracle.
1. The opening of the heavens.
2. The descent of the Holy Ghost upon him, like as a dove descends.
3. God the Father's voice concerning his son.
The heavens were opened to shew that heaven, which was closed and shut against us
for our sins, is now opened to us, by Christ's undertaking for us. As the first Adam
shuts us out of heaven, the second Adam lets us into it; he opened heaven, to us by
his meritorious passion, and he keeps it open by his prevailing intercession.
Christ, on whom he lighted, is comparable to a dove; he is said to have doves' eyes,
Son_5:12, and he has all the fruits and graces of the dove like Spirit of God, which
rested on him; like the dove, he is humble, meek, and lowly; in which characters, he
is to be followed and imitated by his people: and as that creature is a very loving one
to its mate, so is Christ to his church; whom he has so loved, as to give himself for
her: and as that is a lovely beautiful creature, so is Christ; he is altogether lovely;

29. and especially his eyes of love, as they are set and fixed upon his church and people.
Luke 3:22;
SIMEON, He was, moreover, actually engaged in prayer. On three different
occasions did the Father bear testimony to Jesus by an audible voice from heaven;
and every time was either in, or immediately after, prayer [Note: At his baptism (see
the text), at his transfiguration (Luke 9:29; Luke 9:35.), and just before his death
(John 12:28.).]. What an evidence does this afford us of the importance and efficacy
of prayer! And who that lives nigh to God in the exercise of that duty, has not found
that promise realized, “Thou shalt call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry,
and he shall say, Here I am [Note: Isaiah 58:9; Isaiah 65:24.]?” Audible voices,
indeed, we are not to expect; but we are sure that “God has never said to any, Seek
ye my face in vain.”]
There was something peculiar also in the manner of it—
[It was of great importance that the attestation thus publicly given to the character
of Jesus should be such as could admit of no doubt. Accordingly “the heavens were
opened,” just as they afterwards were at the time of Stephen’s death [Note: Acts
7:55-56.], so that the very throne of God, as it were, became visible to mortal eyes;
and the Holy Ghost descended visibly, in a bodily appearance, and abode upon him.
Whether the Holy Ghost assumed the shape of a dove, or only appeared in a
luminous body with a hovering motion, like that of a dove, we do not take upon us to
determine [Note: We rather think the latter. See Doddridge on the place.]: but the
appearance was such as could leave no doubt in the minds of the spectators that
there was a special communication to Jesus from heaven, even such a
communication as had never before been vouchsafed to mortal man.]
But the ends of the Spirit’s descent are most worthy of our attention—
[We are sure that it was designed to confirm the Baptist’s mind. The providence of
God had so ordered events, that John and Jesus, though related to each other, had
lived thirty years in the world without forming any acquaintance with each other.
Had they been intimate with each other, it might have been thought that an
agreement had been formed between them to deceive the world: but John had no
knowledge of the person of Jesus, till he was inspired to point him out as “the Lamb
of God, that was to take away the sin of the world:” and this very sign was promised
to John, as the means whereby his mind should be satisfied that the testimony which
be had borne was true: and John himself declares, that his own conviction of
Christ’s Messiahship was grounded on this very thing [Note: John 1:32-34.].
But there was another end, even the inauguration of the Messiah himself to his high

30. office. The Jewish kings and priests, and in some instances the prophets also, were
anointed with oil at the time of their consecration to their work: and therefore it
behoved Jesus, in whom all these offices were to be combined, to be set apart for
them by a nobler unction. Accordingly he was “anointed with the oil of joy and
gladness above his fellows [Note: Psalms 45:7.].” It had been expressly foretold that
he should be so anointed [Note: Isaiah 61:1.], and that “the Holy Spirit should rest
upon him [Note: Isaiah 11:2.]; and he himself mentioned, in his very first sermon,
that these prophecies were then accomplished; and that he was
197
then executing the very office for which he had been commissioned and qualified by
that peculiar unction [Note: Luke 4:17-21.].]
Besides this visible attestation to his character, we are called to notice also,
II. The audible testimony of the Father to him—
In many different ways did the Father bear witness to his Son: every miracle that
was wrought by Jesus was a seal whereby the Father attested the truth of his divine
mission. But on this occasion he addressed his Son by an audible voice; and therein
bore witness to,
COKE, "Luke 3:22. Thou art my beloved Son;— See on Matthew 3:17. The epithet
beloved given to the Son on this occasion, marks the greatness of the Father's
affection for him, and distinguishes him from all others to whom the title of God's
Son had been given. Accordingly we find our Lord alluding to it with peculiar
pleasure, in his intercessory prayer, John 17:26. It was therefore the voice of God
the Father which was heard at Christ's baptism; probably loud like thunder, as in
the instance recorded by John 12:29 making a sound which no
human organ of speech was able to form, and consequently it could not be mistaken
for the whispering voice of any of the multitude present, see Proverbs 8:30 to which
it is thought the voices allude. The Son of God was one of the Messiah's known titles,
founded on Psalms 2:7. Isaiah 7:14 where it is expressly attributed to him; and
therefore, according to the received language of the Jews, Jesus was on this occasion
declared from heaven to be their long expected Deliverer, and his mission received a
most illustrious confirmation from the Father Almighty; a confirmation, on which
Jesus laid great stress, as absolutely decisive, John 5:37. For, lest the people might
have applied the words of the voice to the Baptist, the Holy Spirit alighted upon
Jesus, and remained visible for some time in that singular symbol, see John 1:33
which probably surrounded his head in the form of a large glory, and pointed him
out as God's beloved Son, in whom the richest gifts and graces resided. Thus all

31. present had an opportunity to hear and see the miraculous testimony; particularly
the Baptist, who, as soon as he beheld the Spirit remaining upon Jesus, is supposed
to have made use of the words, This is he of whom I spake, &c. John 1:15. The
descent of the Spirit on Jesus was predicted Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 61:1. In like manner,
the voice from heaven is supposed to be predicted Psalms 2:7.
BURKITT, "Observe here, the solemn investing of Christ into his office, as
Mediator, is attended with a threefold miracle; namely, the opening of the heavens,
the descending of the Holy Ghost, and God the Father's voice concerning the son.
The heavens were opened; to show, that heaven, which was closed and shut against
us for our sins, is now opened to us, by Christ's undertaking for us.
Next, The Holy Ghost descends like a dove upon our Saviour. Here we have a proof
and evidence of the blessed Trinity; the Father speaks from heaven, the Son comes
out of the water, and the Holy Ghost descends after the manner of a dove, hovering
and overshadowing him. But why did the Holy Ghost now descend upon Christ?
First, for the designation of his person, to show that he was the person set apart for
the work and office of a mediator.
Secondly, for the unction and sanctification of his person for the performance of
that office. Now was he anointed to be the king, priest, and prophet of his church.
Lastly, we have here the voice of God the Father, pronouncing.
1. The nearness of Christ's relation: This is my Son.
2. The endearedness of his person: This is my beloved Son.
3. The fruit and benefit of this near relation unto us: In thee I am well pleased.
Learn hence, 1. That there is no possibility for any person to please God out of
201
Christ; neither our persons nor our performances can find acceptance with God,
but only in and through him, and for his sake.
2. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the ground and cause of all that love and good will
which God the Father showeth to the sons of men.
In Christ, God is well pleased with us as a reconciled Father; out of him a
consuming fire; Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.
CONSTABLE, "This was a theophany, God appearing in corporeal form. The dove

32. is a biblical symbol of peace (Genesis 8:8-12; cf. Genesis 1:2). Primarily it signified
the coming of God's peaceful Spirit to empower Jesus for His ministry (Isaiah 42:1;
cf. Isaiah 64:1). Secondarily it represented the peace that Jesus would impart to
those who believed on Him. [Note: See L. E. Keck, "The Spirit and the Dove," New
Testament Studies 17 (1970-71):41-67.] Only Luke wrote that the Spirit came "in
bodily form" thereby giving the theophany more substance. The voice from heaven
identified Jesus as God's beloved Son (cf. Luke 1:32; Exodus 20:1; Psalms 2:7;
Isaiah 42:1). God announced that His favor rested on Jesus, not that He as the
Father felt delight in His Son. [Note: Morris, p. 100.] With this guarantee of divine
enablement, Jesus was ready to begin His ministry.
"The risen Jesus connects the beginning of the apostles' mission with the coming of
the Spirit upon them (Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8), and the Pentecost scene shows that
the coming of the Spirit leads immediately to the first preaching and expansion of
the community. Thus in both Luke and Acts the descent of the Spirit initiates the
central sequences of events which dominate these writings." [Note: Tannehill, 1:57.]
"The primary application of this text comes in its Christology. Many in our culture
respect Jesus, regarding him as a religious teacher of great significance and even
placing him among the top religious teachers of all time. Others even acknowledge
him as a prophet, giving him a seat in a rather limited club of divine revealers. But
as high as these notes of respect are, they pale in comparison to the biblical portrait.
Luke shows that Jesus is not like anyone who came before him or anyone since. The
Hall of Religious Fame into which he is placed has only one portrait in it-his. There
have been other great teachers, prophets, and kings, but there is only one who has
combined all of those roles as God's Son." [Note: Bock, Luke, pp. 119-20.]
John. 1:32,
The Dove of God We have here I. THE CORONATION OF THE KING. 1. The
actual descent of the Spirit. It is unnecessary to ask what was the objective material
reality here. It is enough that this was no fancy, born in a man’s brain, but an actual
manifestation, whether through sense or apart from sense, to consciousness of a
Divine outpouring and communication. 2. The purpose of this descent. The
anointing of the Monarch. But a man is king before he is crowned. Coronation is the
consequence and not the cause of royalty. And so the first purpose of this great fact
is distinctly stated as having been the solemn pointing out of Messiah for the Baptist
first, but in order that he might bear witness of Him to others. But this was not the
beginning of His Messianic
consciousness, nor of His Sonship. Before His baptism, and ere the heavens opened,
or the dove fluttered down, He from everlasting was Son in the bosom of the Father.
Christ’s baptism was an epoch in His human development inasmuch as it was His

33. first public assumption of His Messianic office, and inasmuch as an advance was
made in the communication to his manhood of the sustaining Spirit as fully
equipped Him for new calls. His manhood needed the continual communication of
the Spirit, and because it was sinless it was capable of a complete reception of that
Spirit. So we see in Christ the realized ideal of manhood. 3. The meaning of this
symbol. To John the coming of the King was first and chiefly a coming to judgment.
John sees two wonders: the Messiah in his Carpenter Cousin and the Spirit, which
he thought of as searching and consuming, like a dove. The same as in Gen_1:2,
where the word employed describes accurately the action of the mother bird with
her soft breast and outstretched wings quickening the life that lies beneath. What
then does it proclaim as to the character of the King. (1) Purity, as the very
foundation of His royalty. (2) Meekness and gentleness, as the weapons of His
conquest and the sceptre of His rule. The dove will outfly all Rome’s eagles, and all
rapacious unclean feeders with their strong wings, talons and beaks. II. THE GIFTS
OF THE KING TO HIS SUBJECTS. 1. Christ has nothing that He keeps to Himself.
He received the Spirit that He might diffuse Him through the whole world.
Salvation is more than escape from wrath, more than pardon. We must rise higher
and feel if we would understand the “unspeakable gift” which is the totality of the
gifts of His indwelling Spirit. 2. Therefore Christian met, are spoken of in the same
language which is used in reference to their Master. “Sons of God,” “Priests,”
“Lights of the World,” “Anointed.” 3. How full of rebuke and instruction is the
symbol in reference to ourselves. The dove-like Spirit is offered to us. (1) Our hearts
are like the wild chaos; but He will come, if we will let Him, and brood over our
nature and recreate the whole. (2) The dove again was pure and fit for sacrifice: the
heavenly dove comes as the Spirit of holiness, and then there is purity in the receiver
and self-sacrifice. (3) The Dove that crowned the King dwells in the subjects and
makes them, too, meek and gentle, and imparts the true force of Christian
character. (4) Noah’s dove came back with one leaf in his beak—the prophecy of a
whole world of beauty and verdure. The Dove that comes to us, bearing some leaf
plucked from the tree of life, is the earnest of our inheritance until the day of
redemption. All the gifts of that Divine Spirit—gifts of holiness, gentleness, wisdom,
truth—are forecasts of heavenly perfectness. To us sailing over a dismal sea, He
comes bearing with Him a message that tells of the far-off land and the fair garden
of God in which the blessed shall walk. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
As a dove did at that time bring tidings of the abating of the water, so doth it now of
the abating of the wrath of God upon the preaching of the gospel. (Augustine.)
The Holy Spirit manifested Himself here as a Dove; and at the day of Pentecost in
tongues of fire; in order that we may learn to unite fervour with simplicity, and to
seek for them both from Him. (Augustine.)

34. The dove, the symbol of innocence and purity (Mat_10:16), the abiding and the
tranquil hovering over Christ, expressed the tranquil and equable movement of the
power of the Spirit in Him, in contrast with the detached impulses given to the
prophets (Isa_11:2). (Tholuck.)
The Great A toner the Great Baptizer The work of Christ, according to the
Baptist,was to take away the sin of the world and to baptize with the Holy Ghost. It
is not possible for believers to think too much of the first part; but it is quite possible
for them to think too little of the second. These are the two pillars of our faith. The
atoning sacrifice was offered and completed on Calvary once for all; but the baptism
of the Holy Ghost is ever going on. Our Saviour died to be the Atoner; He lives to be
the Baptizer. And our Saviour lives and reigns to baptize us not occasionally, but
permanently; not fitfully and uncertainly, but surely. Were this baptism fully
realized, there would be a vast increase of holiness, power, and success in ministers
and churches: of Christian unity and charity. What encouragement have we for
expecting this baptism? The announcement that Christ is as much Baptizer as
Atoner, not the one without the other, or He would have laid the foundation and
built nothing upon it. The atonement is the rock: the baptism builds the Church. So
the gospels run up to the atonement, but the Acts start from the baptism. And so as
the sinner seeks the one for salvation, so should the saint seek the other for service
and testimony. (C. Clemance, D. D.)
The four baptisms There are four baptisms mentioned in the Bible. The baptism of
water, of repentance, of the Holy Ghost, and of fire. The baptism of water is the
emblem of all, but that would be nothing without the baptism of repentance which it
was intended to express; and the baptism of repentance will be unavailing for peace,
holiness, heaven, unless it is accompanied by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and
that is never far separated from the baptism of fire. The four make one complete
whole, and are the basis of the Christian life. (J. Vaughan.)
32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a
dove and remain on him.
BAR ES, " Bare record - Gave testimony. I saw the Spirit ... - See the notes at
Mat_3:16-17.
CLARKE, " I saw the Spirit descending, etc. - See the notes on Mat_3:16, Mat_
3:17.
GILL, " And John bare record,.... The same day that he said the above things, and
at the same time:

35. saying, I saw the Spirit; that is, of God, as is said in Mat_3:16 and which Nonnus
here expresses; and the Ethiopic version reads, "the Holy Ghost",
descending from heaven like a dove; at the time of his baptism; see Gill on Mat_
3:16.
And it abode upon him; for some time; so long as that John had a full sight of it, and
so was capable of giving a perfect account of it, and bearing a certain and distinct
testimony to it. ` HE RY ` 2-34, " That this was he upon whom the Spirit descended
from heaven like a dove. For the confirming of his testimony concerning Christ, he
here vouches the extraordinary appearance at his baptism, in which God himself
bore witness to him. This was a considerable proof of Christ's mission. Now, to
assure us of the truth of it, we are here told (Joh_1:32-34), (1.) That John Baptist
saw it: He bore record; did not relate it as a story, but solemnly attested it, with all
the seriousness and solemnity of witness-bearing. He made affidavit of it: I saw the
Spirit descending from heaven. John could not see the Spirit, but he saw the dove
which was a sign and representation of the Spirit. The Spirit came now upon Christ,
both to make him fir for his work and to make him known to the world. Christ was
notified, not by the descent of a crown upon him, or by a transfiguration, but by the
descent of the Spirit as a dove upon him, to qualify him for his undertaking. Thus
the first testimony given to the apostles was by the descent of the Spirit upon them.
God's children are made manifest by their graces; their glories are reserved for their
future state. Observe, [1.] The spirit descended from heaven, for every good and
perfect gift is from above. [2.] He descended like a dove - an emblem of meekness,
and mildness, and gentleness, which makes him fit to teach. The dove brought the
olive-branch of peace, Gen_8:11. [3.] The Spirit that descended upon Christ abode
upon him, as was foretold, Isa_11:2. The Spirit did not move him at times, as
Samson (Jdg_13:25), but at all times. The Spirit was given to him without measure;
it was his prerogative to have the Spirit always upon him, so that he could at no time
be found either unqualified for his work
himself or unfurnished for the supply of those that seek to him for his grace. (2.)
That he was told to expect it, which very much corroborates the proof. It was not
John's bare conjecture, that surely he on whom he saw the Spirit descending was the
Son of God; but it was an instituted sign given him before, by which he might
certainly know it (Joh_1:33): I knew him not. He insists much upon this, that he
knew no more of him than other people did, otherwise than by revelation. But he
that sent me to baptize gave me this sign, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit
descending, the same is he. [1.] See here what sure grounds John went upon in his
ministry and baptism, that he might proceed with all imaginable satisfaction. First,
He did not run without sending: God sent him to baptize. He had a warrant from
heaven for what he did. When a minister's call is clear, his comfort is sure, though

36. his success is not always so. Secondly, He did not run without speeding; for, when he
was sent to baptize with water, he was directed to one that should baptize with the
Holy Ghost. Under this notion John Baptist was taught to expect Christ, as one who
would give that repentance and faith which he called people to, and would carry on
and complete that blessed structure of which he was now laying the foundation.
Note, It is a great comfort to Christ's ministers, in their administration of the
outward signs, that he whose ministers they are can confer the grace signified
thereby, and so put life, and soul, and power into their ministrations; can speak to
the heart what they speak to the ear, and breathe upon the dry bones to which they
prophesy. [2.] See what sure grounds he went upon in his designation of the person
of the Messiah. God had before given him a sign, as he did to Samuel concerning
Saul: “On whom thou shalt see the Spirit descend, that same is he.” This not only
prevented any mistakes, but gave him boldness in his testimony. When he had such
assurance as this given him, he could speak with assurance. When John was told this
before, his expectations could not but be very much raised; and, when the event
exactly answered the prediction, his faith could not but be much confirmed: and
these things are written that we may believe. 4. That he is the Son of God. This is the
conclusion of John's testimony, that in which all the particulars centre, as the quod
erat demonstrandum - the fact to be demonstrated (Joh_1:34): I saw, and bore
record, that this is the Son of God. (1.) The truth asserted is, that this is the Son of
God. The voice from heaven proclaimed, and John subscribed to it, not only that he
should baptize with the Holy Ghost by a divine authority, but that he has a divine
nature. This was the peculiar Christian creed, that Jesus is the Son of God
(Mat_16:16), and here is the first framing of it. (2.) John's testimony to it: “I saw,
and bore record. Not only I now bear record of it, but I did so as soon as I had seen
it.” Observe, [1.] What he saw he was forward to bear record of, as they, Act_4:20 :
We cannot but speak the things which we have seen. [2.] What he bore record of was
what he saw. Christ's witnesses were eye-witnesses, and therefore the more to be
credited: they did not speak by hear-say and report, 2Pe_1:16. CALVI , " 32.I saw
the Spirit, descending like a dove. This is not a literal but a figurative mode of
expression; for with what eyes could he see the Spirit ? But as the dove was a certain
and infallible sign of the presence of the Spirit, it is called the Spirit, by a figure of
speech in which one name is substituted for another; not that he is in reality the
Spirit, but that he points him out, as far as human capacity can admit. And this
metaphorical language is frequently employed in the sacraments; for why does
Christ call the bread his body, but because the name of the thing is properly
transferred to the sign? especially when the sign is, at the same time, a true and
efficacious pledge, by which we are made certain that the thing itself which is
signified is bestowed on us. Yet it must not be understood that the dove contained
the Spirit who fills heaven and earth, (Jeremiah 23:24,) but that he was present by
his power, so that John knew that such an exhibition was not presented to his eyes in

37. vain. In like manner, we know that the body of Christ is not connected with the
bread, and yet we are partakers of his body. A question now arises, why didthe
Spirit at that time appear in the form of a dove ? We must always
hold that there is a correspondence between the sign and the reality. When the Spirit
was given to the apostles, they saw cloven tongues of fire, (Acts 2:3,) because the
preaching of the gospel was to be spread through all tongues, and was to possess the
power of fire. But in this passage God intended to make a public representation of
that mildness of Christ of which Isaiah speaks in lofty terms, The smoking flax he
will not quench, and the bruised reed he will not break, (Isaiah 42:3.) It was then,
for the first time, that the Spirit was seen descending on him; not that he had
formerly been destitute of him, but because he might be said to be then consecrated
by a solemn rite. For we know that he remained in concealment, during thirty years,
like a private individual, because the time for his manifestation was not yet come;
but when he intended to make himself known to the world, he began with his
baptism. At that time, therefore, he received the Spirit not only for himself, but for
his people; and on that account his descent was visible, that we may know that there
dwells in him an abundance of all gifts of which we are empty and destitute. This
may easily be inferred from the words of the Baptist; for when he says, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, it is he who baptizeth
with the Spirit, his meaning is, that the reason why the Spirit was beheld in a visible
form, and remained onChrist, was, that he might water all his people with his
fullness. What it is to baptize with the Spirit I have already noticed in a few words;
namely, that he imparts its efficacy to baptism, that it may not be vain or useless,
and this he accomplishes by the power of his Spirit.
PINK, “"And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven
like a dove, and it abode upon him" (John 1:32). This has reference, of course, to the
occasion when Christ Himself was baptized of John in the Jordan, when the Father
testified to His pleasure, in the Son, and when the Spirit descended upon Him as a
dove. It manifested the character of the One on whom He came. The "dove" is the
bird of love and sorrow: apt symbol, then, of Christ. The love expressed the sorrow,
and the sorrow told out the depths of His love. Thus did the heavenly Dove bear
witness to Christ. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples on the Day of
Pentecost, we read "there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it
sat upon each of them" (Acts 2:3). "Fire," uniformly signifies Divine judgment.
There was that in the disciples which needed to be judged—the evil nature still
remained within them. But, there was nothing in the Holy One of God that needed
judging; hence, did the Holy Spirit descend upon Him like a dove!
BARCLAY, “THE COMING OF THE SPIRIT (John 1:32-34)