Category Archives: Scripture

The Witnesses

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As noted above, this gospel lays out the story of a new creation that flows through the “next day” of our gospel reading and into the remainder of the first chapter. In that vein, Flannagan notes that a similar story is unfolding as witnesses to Jesus are gathered. It is the “new creation” of the people of God. No longer defined by ethnic association, but by belief in Jesus as the Son of God. Flannagan continues:

“There is another purpose that John, a man of rich creative genius, may have intended. His list of characters in this first act/period of seven days seems to typify the basic personal elements of the Christian community. In order there appear: (1) John the Baptist, precursor to the new creation, whose sole function is to witness; (2) the Savior; (3) disciples who hear, follow, look for, and stay; (4) Peter, the rock; (5) missionaries like Andrew arid Philip who spread the good news; (6) Nathaniel, the true Israelite in whom there is no guile, who, as some Jewish traditions expressed it, studied law under a fig tree and was rewarded. With this, the founding elements of the community are assembled.”

The Testimony. The Baptist makes clear that until seeing the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus, he did not know Him. This is not to say he had no idea about who Jesus was – after all they were cousins. Given that Jesus was brought up in Galilee and John in the Jerusalem area, perhaps they never met, or perhaps it had been since they were children and so Jesus was not recognizable. But by the time of this testimony, it is clear that the Baptist knows of Jesus and has a sense of his mission – even indicating “he existed before me…” We know the baptist is older than Jesus (cf. the Visitation story in Luke). Does the Baptist have an idea of the existence of Jesus before time itself? With all that is being revealed to the Baptist (by the Spirit?) it is no wonder that he remarks: “I did not know him” akin to “who is this guy, my cousin, I guess I really didn’t know him! But now I see…”

but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” 32 John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him.  33 I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ 34  Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

Unlike the Lukan account, this gospel does not say whether the sign of the dove was included in the original revelation, or whether he simply recognized the dove for what it was when he saw it alight on Jesus. But what is clear is that he was given a divinely appointed sign, and that he knew Jesus by that sign. The Baptist is the one disciple who received true illumination about Jesus; every other disciple is dependent on another human witness.

John goes on to describe him as “the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” The other three gospels make this point; Jesus came that people might be brought into contact with the divine Spirit who leads people into the infinite divine spiritual resources. This had not been possible previously, for there is a quality of life that Christ and none other makes available. Baptism with water in John’s time was a form of cleansing and an outward sign of repentance. Baptism with the Spirit portends a new thing. It is the bestowal of new life in God. In the Catholic understanding of Sacramental Baptism, both are accomplished. A person is cleansed of all sin and given the Spirit. It is an outward sign of an inward reality.

Image credit: Saint John the Baptist Preaching to the Masses in the Wilderness | Pieter Brueghel the Younger | Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris | Wikimedia Commons, PD-US

The Gospel

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29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 30  He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” 32 John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. 33 I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’ 34  Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34)

After John’s interrogation by priests, Levites and Pharisees, the evangelist proclaims Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ This is but the start of a short, compact testimony by the Baptist witnessing to the One he had just baptized.

  • “Behold the Lamb of God… (1:29)
  • who takes away the sin of the world.” (1:29) 
  • The one who existed before John (1:30-31) 
  • The one on whom the Spirit came from the sky and remain upon him (1:32-33) 
  • “he is the Son of God.” (1:34) 

The Fourth Gospel does not record, as the Synoptic Gospels do, the baptism of Jesus by John. However, the coming of Jesus mentioned in this verse was not his coming for baptism, because, as the reading implies, John had already witnessed the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus when he had baptized him. John already knew who Jesus was, and therefore said to those around, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” 

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The Beginning of “Ordinary Time”

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The celebration of the Baptism of the Lord marks the end of the Christmas season and the entry of the Church into “ordinary time,” so called not because it is the regular, nothing-special liturgical season, but it is the season when we number the weeks. The word ordinary in this liturgical context comes from the Latin ordinalis, meaning “ordered,” “numbered,” or “arranged in sequence.” Ordinary Time is simply the part of the liturgical year counted by ordinal numbers: 1st week, 2nd week, 3rd week, and so on.

Each year as we enter Ordinary Time, no matter which year, the gospel for the 2nd Sunday is taken from the first chapter of the Gospel according to John. The purpose for this is essentially the same – following the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, which reveals the relationship of the Father to the Son and to the Holy Spirit – this week’s gospel reveals the relationship of Jesus to the world.  And perhaps no one does so more robustly than the Fourth Evangelist.

The fourth Gospel is a book of “signs;” namely things, events, and people who point to something else. Such “intermediaries” are the means by which people prepare and come to faith. The “lamb of God” is a sign in this sense. Even Jesus is a type of intermediary as the logos — the “Word” or “Revealer” of God. The theme and purpose of the “signage” becomes clear in John 20:31 – “But these are written that you may (come to) believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” This entirety of the gospel itself is a “sign” to point us to the Messiah, who is a “sign” who points us to God. As O’Day (John, NIB, 524) states about this gospel: “… the story of Jesus is not ultimately a story about Jesus; it is, in fact, the story of God.” 

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The Lamb of God

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The exact expression “lamb of God” does not appear in the Old Testament, however, the idea and imagery behind that title, especially when read through the lens of the New Testament, is deeply rooted in several Old Testament sacrificial themes. The primary image is that of the Passover lamb described in the Book of Exodus. In Exodus 12 each family is to take “a lamb, one for each household” (v.3). The lamb must be “a year-old male and without blemish” (v.5). Its blood is placed on the doorposts so that the Angel of Death passes over the house (v.13). The Passover lamb is the lamb appointed by God for Israel’s deliverance; in this way it is the “Lamb of God.” Another way to describe this imagery is a divinely appointed lamb whose blood saves God’s people from death. The Baptist’s use of the phrase anticipates Jesus’ death on the Cross which saves God’s people from something far worse than death.

Exodus 29 and Numbers 28 point to a daily morning and evening offering of lambs understood as offerings to the LORD, commanded by Him as an ongoing and atoning sacrifice on behalf of God’s people. Again, although not titled “Lamb of God,” the imagery is clear when seen through NT lenses.

The reference with the most theologically charged background comes from Isaiah 53 and is associated with Lent and Good Friday. “Like a lamb led to slaughter, or a sheep silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth.” Isaiah 53 describes the Suffering Servant whose life becomes an offering for sin as “The LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all” (v.6) and “He shall take away the sins of many” (v.12). This lamb is not literally a sacrificial animal but a figure of a person who fulfills the role of a sacrificial lamb given by God for sin.

In Genesis 22 we read the account of the binding of Isaac the son of Abraham. The father tells his son: “God himself will provide the sheep for the burnt offering.” (v.8) And indeed, God provides the lamb for the offering that will redeem all humanity. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

When the Baptist proclaims “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” – there is a whole story of promise, covenant, and redemption that is being announced. It is time to prepare.

Image credit: Saint John the Baptist Preaching to the Masses in the Wilderness | Pieter Brueghel the Younger | Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris | Wikimedia Commons, PD-US

In the Wilderness

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The Gospel of John begins with the well known prologue that proclaims Jesus as the preexistent and incarnate Word of God who has revealed the Father to us: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The rest of the first chapter forms the introduction to the gospel proper and consists of the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus. John is presented as “a man sent from God” who “came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.” (John 1:6-8) That naturally raises the question – who exactly is this wilderness character? Which is exactly what the Jerusalem delegation asks of him. They want to know if he is some end-time figure: the Christ, Elijah, the promised great prophet like Moses (cf. Deut. 18:15, 18)? After denying each one of those identities he finally tells the delegation who he is. He is the end-time figure spoken of in Scripture. He is “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” (1:23) 

That phrase often heard in the season of Advent is taken from Isaiah 40:3 which, interestingly, reads slightly different than the Baptist’s response. In John 1:23 it is the voice of the one crying out in/from the wilderness – in other words, telling us the location of the messenger.  In Isaiah the messenger cries out, “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.” – in other words the messenger is speaking to those who are in the wilderness. Why the difference? The Hebrew version of Isaiah 40:3 is slightly different from the Greek translation of Isaiah in the Septuagint (LXX). John 1:23 is clearly taken from the LXX.

John the Evangelist adapts Isaiah’s message to the person of John the Baptist. If God intends people to be prepared in the wilderness, it makes sense for the voice to cry in the wilderness to call for such preparations. Another important part of the message is that God will come to his people through the wilderness. The wilderness reference echoes many such OT references, for example, Habakkuk 3:3 – “God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth.” Both Teman and Paran are wilderness areas. In particular, Paran is connected to Israel’s wandering in the wilderness after the events in and around Mt. Sinai (Num 10:12; 12:16). Paran is described as the place from which God’s glory “shone forth” in Moses’ Blessing (Deut 33:2). The wilderness is a fitting figure for the desolate condition of God’s people in the Baptist’s day. There is a sense that the Spirit of God that Ezekiel saw leaving the Jerusalem Temple during the Babylonian siege of Jerusaleam almost 600 years prior, is now returning – not to the Temple – but to the people.

How are God’s people to prepare the way for this moment in salvation history? While, again, not explicitly stated, the probable answer is by way of repentance. If Yahweh is to return, his people must prepare the way by repenting of the sins that caused them to be led into exile. This is borne out clearly by the Baptist’s own message: “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.” (Mt 3:8). As Isa 40:1–2 makes clear, God’s ultimate purpose for his people is not judgment but salvation, life rather than death (cf. the Fourth Evangelist’s words in John 3:17–18; and Jesus’ words in John 12:47). According to the Johannine Gospel, the Baptist’s witness centered on Jesus’ role in the divine plan of salvation as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29, 36). At its very heart, the purpose of John’s baptism and ministry is described as being bound up with revealing Jesus’ true identity to Israel.

Image credit: Saint John the Baptist Preaching to the Masses in the Wilderness | Pieter Brueghel the Younger | Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris | Wikimedia Commons, PD-US

What does all this mean?

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This coming Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. As already mentioned, Matthew’s primary focus is not on the baptism itself, but on the events that immediately follow: the heavens opening up, the descent of the Spirit and the voice of God. But let’s return for a moment to consider the meaning of John’s baptism. John’s baptism was not a sacramental baptism, but rather was a preparatory, symbolic, prophetic action. It was a sign of repentance (Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:4), a ritual preparation for the coming Messiah, a public acknowledgment of one’s desire to turn away from sin, and a way of awakening Israel to expect God’s imminent saving act.

This was not Jesus’ baptism – He did not need purification. He did not become holy by the waters. Rather, He made the waters holy by entering them. (cf. St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Ambrose, St. Thomas Aquinas) By descending into waters used for repentance, Christ prepares them to become the instrument of rebirth. In this He was baptized to reveal Himself as Messiah and sanctify the waters for Christian baptism.

Importantly, Jesus identifies Himself with humanity. John’s call for repentance was a call for the people to remember that they were people in Covenant with God. His wilderness ministry called them to the Jordan River at the spot where the people first crossed into the land promised in the Abrahamic covenant. They are called to return to the beginning, reenter the land, and once again be a covenant people. By his baptism, Jesus shows that he stands with the covenant people.

But at the water’s edge it is revealed that he is the Son of God and thus at the same time is the maker of the Covenant, the means by which God has chosen to redeem us. At the water’s edge Jesus inaugurated His public ministry, fulfilled all righteousness and so began the saving plan of the Father.

Image credit: The Baptism of Christ, Juan Fernández de Navarrete, “El Mudo” | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Commons | PD-US

The Baptism of Jesus

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This coming Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. The scene is filled with eschatological overtones. The heavens are opened, a voice comes from heaven, the Spirit is given. The Judaism of Jesus’ day  tended to regard all of these elements as the revelatory gifts of God that happened in now-past OT times and that no longer occurred. But they also believed those signs would reappear in the “last days.”  What becomes clear is it is not the baptism that is central to Matthew’s  narrative, but the events that follow. Those events reveal the beginning of the long awaited eschatological events of salvation.

Different scholars will give varying accents and background to the three signs – mostly surrounding the idea of fulfilling all righteousness. In Jesus’ baptism, he and John fulfilled the OT by revealing the Messiah to Israel. This baptism, an inauguration of Jesus’ ministry to Israel, led immediately to OT fulfillment in that the Spirit, as a dove, came upon the Messiah and the Father endorsed his Son in the voice from heaven. In baptism, Jesus as the servant proclaimed and exemplified the righteousness envisioned by the prophets. Additionally he identified in baptism with the repentant righteous remnant within the nation of Israel (Mt 3:5–6). His baptism reveals his humility and anticipates his ministry to lowly but repentant people..

The Spirit. The Baptism, with all its import and significance, is followed by a quite revelatory event: “ …and behold, the heavens were opened (for him), and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove (and) coming upon him.” (Mt 3:16).

The opening of heaven is familiar elsewhere in the NT as an expression for a visionary experience occurring in John, Acts, and Revelation. In the OT, perhaps the significant parallel is Ezekiel 1:1. Standing beside a river, Ezekiel sees heaven opened and receives a vision and hears God’s voice commissioning him for his prophetic role, later giving him the Spirit (Ezek 2:2). In Isaiah 63, the prophet pleads with God to tear open the heaven, come down, and save his people. There is ample precedence for the opening of heaven to be the prelude to the divine communication and the giving of the Spirit.

The descent of the Spirit of God echoes the well-known messianic prophecies in Isaiah which say that God will place his Spirit upon his chosen servant. As R.T. France points out, this does not mean that before now Jesus has been without the Spirit, since Matthew has attributed his birth to the Spirit (1:18, 20). But now as the Spirit descends on Jesus, He is visibly equipped and commissioned to undertake his messianic mission. (Matthew, 121)

One wonders if Mathew also has in mind the hovering of the Spirit above the water of creation in Genesis. Does Matthew understand Jesus’ baptism as a “new creation,” a genesis? The word “genesis” is the word and idea with which Matthew begins the genealogy (1:1, 18).  

When the Spirit comes upon people in Acts it is evident in their subsequent behavior, speaking in tongues and preaching boldly rather than in any visible “descent.” But such is not the case at Pentecost. (Acts 2:2–3) when we read of both audible and visible phenomena, wind and fire. The Baptism of Jesus is the only occasion when we hear of the Spirit appearing in visual, corporeal form, “like a dove.” Is there an OT precedence for this? There is certainly no direct connection, but some scholars think that perhaps Matthew has in mind a “fusion” of water, new creation, and the flood narrative when all begins again with Noah sending out the dove. Interesting, but speculative.

Image credit: The Baptism of Christ, Juan Fernández de Navarrete, “El Mudo” | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Commons | PD-US

All Righteousness

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This coming Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. 14 John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” 15 Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Righteousness (dikaiosýnē) is a complex concept rooted in the Hebrew ṣedeq-ṣĕdāqâ and mišpāṭ.  In short, as used by Matthew, dikaiosýnē refers to right conduct before God. This is the consistent usage in Matthew. Jesus is baptized so as to do what is right with God (3:15). The hungering and thirsting of 5:6 is for a right state before God. Yet this righteousness is God’s gift (6:33). It is to be sought with his kingdom. It brings persecution (5:10). It includes the practice of piety (6:1). The way in which the Baptist came is that of right conduct (21:32).

Boring (Matthew, New Interpreters Bible, 160) comments on the phrase:

Both righteousness and fulfillment are key Matthean theological themes. Righteousness here means, as often elsewhere, doing the revealed will of God. Here, fulfill seems to mean simply “do, perform,” and the meaning is that it is necessary for both John and Jesus to do God’s will, which includes the baptism of Jesus. The plural “us” links John and Jesus together as partners in carrying out God’s saving plan (11:2-19). 

The First Temptation of Christ. Brian Stoffregen has an interesting insight about righteousness as “do, perform” what God requires of us.  

John, by trying to prevent the baptism, tempts Jesus not to do all that God requires of him. He tempts Jesus to assume his proper position now: to be the more powerful one; to baptize with the judgmental Holy Spirit and fire; to meet John’s need. I don’t think that these are too dissimilar to the devil’s temptations that occur immediately after the baptism (4:1-11) — temptations for Jesus to use his power now, for his own glory; and avoid his emptying and eventually the pain and suffering of the cross.

What does God require of Jesus? Is it just the baptism? I think that baptism is only part of the picture of Jesus identifying with sinful humanity: the Sinless One is baptized for the forgiveness of sin; the Holy One eats/fellowships with unholy sinners; the Immortal One dies on a cross as a criminal. It is part of the emptying of himself — the God who becomes truly human.

In fact, the “emptying,” occurs even earlier in Matthew. We have been told that the child has been conceived from the Holy Spirit. We have been told that “Jesus” will save his people from their sins. We have been told that he will be called “Immanuel” — God is with us. What happens to this very special child after his birth? He has to flee for his life. The one, who will save his people, has to be saved from Herod. The one who is “God-with-us” has to flee from the Promised Land. He (and his parents) are acting as people who have been emptied of power.

This thought is highly reflective of Philippians 2:6-11 in which Jesus empties himself “becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”  This passage from Philippians strongly echoes Is 53:12 which speaks of the “Suffering Servant” of God – one who does what is right before God and thus fulfills all righteousness.

Image credit: The Baptism of Christ, Juan Fernández de Navarrete, “El Mudo” | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Commons | PD-US

John and Jesus in Dialogue

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This coming Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. As John the Baptist mysteriously appeared in the wilderness, so too Jesus. John appeared proclaiming: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (3:2).  It was a very public appeal to which people responded: “Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins” (3:5–6.) Jesus appears on the scene and Matthew makes it clear that Jesus’ purpose is to be baptized by John (v.13).

These verses are found only in Matthew: “…to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?’ Jesus said to him in reply, ‘Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed him” (vv.13b-15).  It seems as though John has recognized the nature of Jesus’ mission. Matthew gives us no clue of the means by which John recognized Jesus (it is Luke who reveals the family connection between Mary and Elizabeth).  The intention of Jesus to be baptized ignites an oppositional tone in the dialogue between John and Jesus. Clearly John tries to dissuade Jesus from being baptized at John’s hand. The verb (diakoluo) is imperfect, implying a continued action in the past (“was preventing”); in other words, it could have been an extended argument.  

What gave John pause?  At a minimum John recognizes Jesus as the one “coming after me [who] is mightier than I” (3:11).   At the level of operative culture, it is not John’s place to baptize Jesus. That being said, it is not clear that John is aware of the full nature of Jesus or his mission (cf. 11:3).  Later Christians would raise the specifically theological question: why does the sinless Son of God submit to John’s baptism?  John is clear that his baptism is associated with repentance (v.2), that people were acknowledging their sins (v.6) and were required to show the fruit of their repentance (v.8).  Perhaps this is on John’s mind – what is clear is that John did not view his baptism as worthy of or appropriate to Jesus. In any case, Matthew makes clear that John is not superior because he had baptized Jesus. 

Jesus’ baptism is not a prefiguring of Christian baptism, it is not a gateway to prepare people for baptism in Spirit and fire (v.11).  What is it then?  In this first public appearance in Matthew’s narrative, Jesus is identifying himself with the faithful remnant of people who recognize their own sinfulness and their dependence upon the mercy of God. This becomes the active symbol of Christian life viewed as a relationship with God through God’s chosen people. It was this relationship which John’s baptism demanded (cf. 21:32), and which now requires Jesus to identify himself with the penitent people of God in order to fulfill his mission. So Jesus regards his baptism among repentant Israel as a necessary step in his accomplishment of God’s purpose of salvation – to fulfill all righteousness” (v.15).

Image credit: The Baptism of Christ, Juan Fernández de Navarrete, “El Mudo” | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Commons | PD-US

The Ministry of John The Baptist

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This coming Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. The story of Jesus in the larger context of Matthew 3:1–4:16 is bracketed by John the Baptist’s ministry. 

  • In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea (and) saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (3:1-2).  
  • From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (4:17)

John prepared the way for Jesus and his ministry. Where John’s proclamation is that the kingdom is “right around the corner,” Jesus announces that the kingdom is here in the person of the Messiah, the Son of God.  The “inauguration” of the in-breaking of the kingdom (kairos) into Time (chromos) occurs at the baptism of Jesus which serves as the occasion for the coming of the Spirit and the Father’s approval of his beloved son. 

And all of this is then immediately tested by Satan (4:1) in the periscope that follows our text. There Matthew continues to show Jesus as the fulfillment of the Covenant – where Israel failed in the dessert, giving into temptation, Jesus is obedient and faithful to his Father.  Tested, Jesus then becomes the “new Moses” announcing far more than the promised land – announcing the presence of the Kingdom of God.

That Jesus was baptized by John is undoubtedly a historical fact. According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus received from John a baptism connected with the forgiveness of sins. It is inconceivable that the early Christians, who held Jesus in such high esteem, would have invented a story in which Jesus received something from John and that this reception would involve the baptism of repentance.

Matthew uses this scene to bring the adult Jesus onto the narrative stage for the first time, to present him and his mission to the reader in terms of his own Christology.  By bringing Jesus into the on-going story of John (3:1-12) Matthew preserves the continuity of salvation history from the OT through John to Jesus. It is clear that the continuity is at the initiative of Jesus.

The gospel text naturally divides into two parts: (1) the discussion that precedes the baptism, and (2) the scene following the baptism when he came up from the water (v.16).  Within the first division there is one question which begs to be answered – why did Jesus receive the baptism of John?  The ancillary context is “….Jesus had no sin, and so had no need for baptism – did he?”  Within the second division is the more basic question – “What does all that happened – the voice from heaven, the coming of the Spirit – what does it mean?”

Image credit: The Baptism of Christ, Juan Fernández de Navarrete, “El Mudo” | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Commons | PD-US