III.-The Baptism Of Jesus And The Witness From Heaven (continued)
We now come to the testimony rendered to Jesus from heaven in the hour of His baptism. This witness was of a double character, viz. (1) the visible descent of the Spirit upon Him, and (2) the audible voice out of the heavens acknowledging Him. And in this character the witness was to be considered as valid and adequate from a legal Standpoint, since, as the Lord reminded the Jews on a subsequent occasion, it was a written axiom of their law that the testimony of two persons is true (John 8:17). Here then the Father and the Spirit attest the Son. Can such witness be exceeded? The Spirit witnessed to the unblemished and impeccable humanity of Jesus, and anointed Him for service. The Father acknowledged the Man, Christ Jesus, to be His dearly-loved Son. Thus we see in this context the Evangelist establishing on divine testimony the titles given to Jesus in the opening sentence of the Gospel, viz. (1) Christ (the “Anointed”), and (2) the Son of God (1:1).
Considering then first of all the outpouring of the Spirit upon Jesus, we may remark how it witnessed (1) to His holy humanity, and (2) to His anointing for service. In lowly grace He submitted to the baptism of repentance, but with no need for repentance. He publicly joined those who had confessed their sins, having no sins Himself to confess. Will unbelieving and carnal hearts think otherwise of Him, misconstruing the act of grace? To check such a hateful imputation, immediately as He emerged from the water the heavens were rent asunder, and the Father, jealous for the glory of the Son, gave the Holy Spirit to abide upon Him. Of all others baptized, though sins were confessed, their consciences were still unpurged from dead works and sinful stains, and must remain so until He came who had power on earth to forgive sins. But Jesus was the Anti-type of the meal-offering of fine flour mingled, and anointed, with oil, apart from the cleansing and atoning blood, and was thus in contrast with the Aaronic priests who received the anointing oil subsequent to an application of the blood. Here was a holy temple in which God the Holy Spirit could and would dwell. He was the Second man, the Lord from heaven, and on Him alone in this polluted earth the dove-like Spirit found a resting-place, as God the Father's seal (John 6:27), altogether apart from atonement.
But the descent of the Spirit had an official as well as a personal significance. The formal induction of kings, priests, and prophets into office was by anointing with oil, and prophecy as well as type indicated that the promised One would be so distinguished. Indeed He was expected in that character. Accordingly, when Andrew heard the testimony of the Baptist that the Holy Spirit had descended upon Jesus, he communicated the good news straightway to Simon, his brother, saying, “We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ“ (John 1:32, 41). The Samaritans had a similar hope, hence the woman said of Jesus, “Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29).
The “Anointed” was the burden of the oracle of prophecy. Hannah looked forward to the day when the horn of Jehovah's anointed would be exalted (1 Samuel 2:10). The royal Psalmist foresaw a dark day when the rulers of Israel and Gentile kings would enter into an unholy alliance against Jehovah and His Anointed (Psalm 2:2; Acts 4:25-27). Daniel predicted the date of the coming of Messiah the Prince, and its result (Daniel 9:25, 26). According to another Psalm, God would anoint Him “with the oil of gladness above His fellows” (Psalm 45:7; Hebrews 1:9). As the “Rod out of the stem of Jesse,” it was predicted that “the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah” (Isaiah 11:1, 2). It was also stated specifically that Jehovah's Servant should receive the Spirit. In words fulfilled at the Jordan, Jehovah said, “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him” (Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:18). The dove-like form symbolized the meekness, lowliness, and absence of self-assertion, which were the particular characteristics in which the energy of the Spirit would manifest itself in Jesus.
And all this came about. God “anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power” (Acts 10:38). And the Lord made allusion to the unimpeachable credentials furnished by this unction, when He announced at Nazareth the fulfillment of another prophecy concerning Himself “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek [poor],” etc. (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18).
The Servant of Jehovah therefore entered upon His ministry in the full consciousness that everything was in due order according to the scriptures. This is indicated here, so far as the anointing is concerned, by a statement peculiar to this Gospel. Jesus Himself is said to have seen the Spirit given: “Coming up out of the water, he [Jesus] saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him.” John the Baptist also saw (though we know of none besides), as we find in John 1:32, 34, and Matthew 3:16, no witness being named in Luke 3:22. John bare record of what he saw, and others believed because of his testimony.
But let us pass on to consider the testimony of the heavenly voice out of the opened heavens, succeeding and silencing the voice crying in the wilderness. The heavens were not opened to disclose an object there, as in the case of Stephen. On the contrary, heaven had found an object upon earth—the sinless and obedient Jesus. To Him came the voice, not of an angelic choir as to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem, but of the Father Himself, saving, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.” As Man He was hereby assured of the divine complacency in Himself, and thus He commenced His ministry as the Servant of Jehovah in the full personal consciousness of His own Sonship. “Though he was Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8), and He continued to abide in the sense of His Sonship throughout (John 10:33). He said to the Pharisees, “I know whence I come, and whither I go,” and, again, speaking of His Father He said, “I know him, for I am from him, and he sent me” (John 8:14; 7:29). So that the whole of His multifarious service was ennobled and enriched by His divine nature as Son of God, which gave it a character absolutely unique.
The voice from heaven was, in Old Testament times, familiar as a vehicle of direct communication from Jehovah. That voice was known in Eden, and is there associated with the presence of the Lord God Himself (Genesis 3:8). Moses reminded the Israelites of the manner in which Jehovah promulgated His law; “the LORD spake unto you,” he says, “out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of words, but saw no form; only ye heard a voice” (Deuteronomy 4:12, R.V.). The glory and majesty of this voice is the subject of Psalm 29. It came to Elijah and Isaiah as servants of Jehovah (1 Kings 19:9-18; Isaiah 6:8). Now it is heard saluting the newly-baptized Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God.
It will be observed, that as it is here stated that Jesus saw the descent of the Spirit, so it is also stated, as in Luke, that the voice was addressed to Him. On the mount of transfiguration, the voice which then came forth from the cloud, the “excellent glory” (2 Peter 1:17), spoke of Him to the auditors— “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” It is so also in the account in Matthew of His baptism (3:17). But in Mark and Luke the words recorded are, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.”
This personal address was in accordance with Messianic prediction in the Second Psalm: “I will declare the decree; Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee” (ver. 7). Paul, in his discourse at Antioch, applied the passage to the “raising up" of Jesus (Acts 13:33), as he did again in his Epistle to the Hebrews in two connections (1:5; 5:5). The divine Sonship is therefore predicated of Him at His birth in time (Luke 1:32, 35), throughout His service, and also in resurrection.
But in Mark an addendum is made to the declaration, “Thou art my Son.” He is also styled” the dearly-loved"; “in thee,” says the voice, “I have found my delight.” God had found His good pleasure (εὐδοκία) in man, according to the angels' song (Luke 2:14, R.V.). And who shall measure this ineffable joy between the Father and the Son, from which the Spirit was not excluded? No wonder we read, “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand” (John 3:35; 5:20).
The words of another, by way of brief summary, may well conclude our meditations on this passage. “Though truly God, He was man; though a Son, He became a servant, and was now about to enter on His ministry. He receives the Spirit as well as the recognition of His Son-ship. He had justified God's sentence on, and call to, Israel—yea, He had in grace joined the souls who had bowed to it in the waters of Jordan; but this could not be without the answer of the Father for His heart's joy in the path He was about to tread. The one was the fulfillment of every kind of righteousness, and not legal only (this in grace, for there was no necessity of evil in His case); the other was His recognition thereon by the Father in the nearest personal relationship, over which His submission to baptism might have cast a cloud to carnal eyes. “
[W. J. H.]
(To be continued)