Luke 3:21-22
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
This brief description of Jesus’ baptism – as with the other gospel accounts –occasioned significant controversy in the early church. The question at the heart of it all was simple: why was Jesus baptized?
John’s baptism was one of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. But according to church teaching, Jesus was sinless? Why, then, baptism?
Many have answered over the years that he did so to identify with us. Jesus may be sinless, but we are not, and so he undergoes baptism now at the outset of his ministry just as everyone else is baptized and in this way stands in complete solidarity with us. Similarly, his being baptized even though he doesn’t need to be foreshadows his death on the cross for sins he did not commit. Throughout his life, from his birth and baptism to his suffering and death, Jesus stands both with us and for us.
It’s a good answer.
I don’t know, though, if it’s Luke’s answer.
What strikes me in Luke’s account are two details. First, the voice from heaven speaks to him directly and intimately: “You are my Son, the Beloved. With you I am well pleased.” What child does not long to hear that from a parent? Jesus, from this point of view, is baptized because in his baptism he receives his identity – “you are my beloved Son” – and affirmation of his person, ministry, value, and worth – “with you I am well pleased.” No words could have been more important to hear at the outset of his ministry.
Second, in Luke’s account in particular John seems to have faded away. Whether you take the verses immediately preceding these as a narrative of recent events – that is, John has now been imprisoned – or as a later remembrance – as in, although John is baptizing now, we know that later he will be imprisoned – for all intents and purposes John has disappeared. All that is left is Jesus…and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is baptized so that he may receive the gift and power of the Holy Spirit tangibly and visibly as he is about to embark on his mission.
Identity, affirmation, Spirit – this is why Jesus is baptized, I think, and also why we are, too.
Prayer: Dear God, in Baptism you declared that we also are you beloved children with whom you are well pleased. Let us remember that… and act like it, too. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
1- Thanks for all your writings, they are such a breath of fresh air in the theological turmoil of today’s world.
2- Thanks for your word of thanks to us (clergy) and uplifting comments in articles you write for workingpreacher.com. Each week I feel as if I crawl into a downy feathered nest where I can rest and be fed.
3- I wonder if Luke is pointing us to Jesus as redeemer even in the baptism. When he is baptized, he brings the Holy Spirit; when he touches the blind, he brings sight; when he talks to the woman at the well, he brings wisdom; when he encounters the demoniac, he brings freedom. In his own death, he brings life. So, then, our baptism becomes an invitation to redemption and transformation.