BAPTISM AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

Jesus’ baptism at the hands of his kinsman is a story both amazing and unlikely. It is amazing because of all the impressive ingredients: two young men launching a New Age met for the first time at a public initiation service; the heavens open; the Holy Spirit descends; a voice from heaven proclaims Jesus to be the Son of God. That is amazing! The story is so unlikely that it becomes a testimonial to the integrity of Scripture, for no one would ever have fabricated such an event. Even now it is rather difficult to explain why Jesus should have been baptized, for baptism has always been for sinners, for those who needed to be cleansed. It was so unlikely that even John shrank from baptizing the sinless one who had come.

But the most amazing part of the story -- and again the unlikeliest? -- is that Jesus received the Holy Spirit at the time of his baptism. We might suppose he came into the world endowed by God’s Spirit, or that by -- his very nature he was infused with it. It was certainly the Father’s intention that the Spirit would constantly monitor the Son’s life: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted,” promised the Messianic prophet (Isa. 61.1), and in Lk. 4:18 Jesus, while teaching in his home synagogue, applies the prophecy to himself. The apostle Peter later explained that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38).

Jesus was anointed the Messiah, or formally became the Christ (which means anointed) when he was baptized, at the time he received the Spirit. Not only did this fulfill the Scriptures, but it empowered him to do all that lay before him. It is noteworthy that no sooner was Jesus baptized that he was led away by the Spirit to be tempted of Satan. His baptism was thus an initiation into the work he had come to do, and it was accompanied by God’s anointing, the endowment of the Holy Spirit.

This was John’s sign that the one who came to him was indeed the one John was looking for: “I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’” So once he saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven and settle on Jesus, he could add: I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.

While the rabbis, like the Old Testament before them, anticipated that the coming Messiah would be endowed with the Spirit, there is nothing in Jewish tradition to the effect that the Messiah would be baptized. And certainly no suggestion that he would receive the Spirit in connection with his baptism! This is one more instance where the God of heaven did not allow Himself to be second-guessed by the clergy, who were supposed to know everything of course. Jesus was clearly not the Messiah called for in rabbinic teaching.

We may suppose that John himself was never baptized, for he came to initiate people into the coming kingdom, not to be a part of that new reign himself. He was nonetheless a witness to one of heaven’s most dramatic moments on earth. He not only was favored of God to baptize Jesus with his own hands, an experience so awesome in its implication that he sought to escape it, but he actually witnessed the Messiah’s endowment of the Holy Spirit, which might be called a baptism of the Spirit. While he baptized Jesus with water, God baptized him with the Holy Spirit. John sees all this. There is the dove, dispatched by God out of somewhere as if it knew exactly what to do, that lighted on him and settled there. I would guess that it settled on his upper back since Luke, the master of intimate detail, tells us that Jesus was praying.

That itself was enough to mesmerize John, to see the long-looked for dove do its thing like that, remaining (as if forever?) on him, and the prophet realized that this dove was the Holy Spirit in bodily form. Talk about drama! But that was not all, for the heavens opened and a voice proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased” (Mt. 3:17). Luke indicates that God addressed the Son directly, “Thou art my beloved Son, with thee I am well-pleased” (Lk. 3:22). We cannot be sure about this detail. What is significant is that it was at his baptism that Jesus received the Holy Spirit, and it was at that moment that he was publicly proclaimed God’s own Son from heaven itself -- from the opened heaven, mind you.

This says some important things to me about baptism. That Jesus -- the one person in the world that did not need baptism -- should be baptized should end once for all any put-down of the significance of baptism. One who takes this story seriously cannot dismiss baptism with a wave of the hand, as if it does not really matter. And does this not give us the supreme motive for being baptized, because Jesus was. To be his disciple is to follow him. We begin that discipleship by being baptized like he was. What is wrong with that reason, however many other good reasons there are? Since our minds tend to be legalistic or exacting regarding external ordinance, there are those who will surely ask, did Jesus have to be baptized? It is interesting that he never indicates that. While John said, protesting, “I need to be baptized of you,” Jesus simply said, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” What is wrong with that reason? Can we think only in terms of something being essential or absolutely necessary. So one can approach baptism with this attitude: It is appropriate or it is fitting, in view of all that Scripture says.

Another thing this story says to me is that there is a significant relationship between baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit is for me as well as for Jesus, would it not be reasonable for me to suppose that if Jesus received the Spirit at his baptism that is when I will receive it? Jesus did not receive the Spirit by “praying through” or when others laid hands on him, praying that he would “receive.” The Spirit did not come only after long, agonizing “seeking” on the part of the Son of God. It was by simple, humble obedience. He was baptized and received the Spirit. You would think that the “charismatic” of our day would be influenced by this profound incident and advise people to be baptized like Jesus was so as to receive the Spirit like he did.

It is worth noting in passing that even though Jesus had the Spirit without measure, apparently more than anyone else ever, according to Jn. 3:34, he did not speak in tongues, or at least there is no indication of this. This should help us to see that one may have an outpouring of the Spirit today and yet not be “charismatic” in that sense.

Apart from the fact that Jesus received the Spirit at baptism, there is evidence elsewhere in Scripture that the Spirit is related to baptism in this way. The seven ones of Eph. 4 include both “one baptism” and “one Spirit,” and these are often joined in Scripture, such as in Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” While Jesus’ baptism could not have been for the forgiveness of sins, the passage is otherwise reminiscent of Jesus’ baptism.

Titus 3:5 couples baptism and the Spirit: “He saved us … by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Eph. 5:26 is suggestive of the same idea, “the washing of water with the word,” while I Cor. 12:13, “By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,” may be as good a commentary on what happened at Jesus’ baptism as can be found. Through baptism Jesus, by the Spirit, was ushered into a new age relationship. The Spirit likewise initiates us into the new community, the Body of Christ.

Acts 10:47-48 is especially interesting in that it indicates that the earliest church automatically connected baptism and the Spirit. Even when the house of Cornelius received the Spirit before and without baptism, the apostle Peter raised the question about their baptism, insisting that they be baptized. Acts 8:14-17 is just the reverse in that the Samaritans had been baptized but had not received the Spirit. But in both instances the connection is made, sooner or later: baptism and the Spirit are connected. These unusual cases tend to confirm what was usual. Ordinarily believers were baptized and received the Spirit like Jesus, and there is a recognized irregularity when this was not the case.

A concluding point is as vital as any. Baptism and the Spirit was followed by a life of power. Acts 10:38 reveals that Jesus was anointed with power as well as or in conjunction with receiving the Spirit, while Luke 4:14 refers to “the power of the Spirit” that was with Jesus. This is the sure mark of the Christian, for a believer without power is a contradiction: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Rom. 15:13). -- the Editor

The way of the world is to praise dead saints and persecute living ones. -- Nathaniel Howe

Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need. I live more simply now, and with more peace. -- Richard Byrd