Mateus 3

Mateus 3

Garland writes "the redemption in view [in Rev 5:9] is both soteriological -- individual souls are reconciled to God and eschatological -- the original creation will be restored at last.") Behold (2400) (idou) is a word used to grasp the reader's attention. See short excursus on this word below. Opened (455)(anoigo from ana = again + oigo = to open) means to open, to open up, to open again, to give access to and is the verb used by Luke in Luke 3:21+. Mark (Mk 1:11+) uses a different verb schizo which also describes the "opening" (tearing) of the veil of the Temple when Jesus died on the Cross (See discussion of schizo). While Matthew and Luke say the heavens opened using the aorist tense, Mk 1:10+ uses the present tense (He saw the heavens opening) which vividly describes this opening as a process as if the heavens were being split apart like a garment (cf use of schizo in Lk 5:36+ and King Hezekiah in Lxx of Isa 37:1 "tore his clothes"). Humanistic rationalization speculates the heavens were opened as everything from flashes of lightning to clouds moving and exposing the sun. No, it was not natural but supernatural! God in effect "tore" open the heavens! Imagine what must have gone through the minds of all those present to witness this dramatic event! Lk 3:21+ adds the detail that this opening of the heavens occurred "while He was praying"). The verb schizo used by Mark is more vivid than the other two synoptists and is the same verb used for tearing of the Temple veil from top to bottom (Mt 27:51, Mk 15:38. Lk 23:45+). Griffith says that "Just as the veil of the Temple was rent in twain to symbolize the perfect access of all men to God (Hebrews 10:19,20+), so here the heavens are rent asunder to show how near God is to Jesus, and Jesus is to God." OTHER HEAVENLY OPENINGS - As Stephen was about to be martyred he declared "Behold, I see the heavens opened up (dianoigo) and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56+) In Acts 10:11+ Peter "saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground." In the Revelation the apostle John writes "And I saw heaven opened (anoigo), and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war." (Rev 19:11+, cf also Rev 4:1+, Rev 11:19+) It is interesting to note Isaiah's prayer for divine intervention, which some think will be the type of prayer that the redeemed remnant of Israel will be praying during the Great Tribulation days, the Time of Jacob's Trouble/Distress (Jer 30:6+). "Oh, that You would rend (Lxx = anoigo) the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence" (Isa 64:1) And he saw the Spirit of God descending (katabaino) as a dove and lighting on Him - Luke 3:22+ has " in bodily form like a dove." Matthew says John the Baptist saw the Spirit. Did everyone present see the Spirit? I do not know. The text does not say. The descent of the Spirit as a dove indicates He was not a literal dove ("AS" IS A TERM OF COMPARISON KNOWN AS A SIMILE. Mark 1:10+ has "LIKE A DOVE"). In some way, the coming down of the Spirit was made visible to John, or otherwise he would have been able to see Him (cf Jesus' description of Him in John 3:8+ where Jesus indicates we cannot see the Spirit just as we cannot see the wind). Clearly John saw this most amazing event for the apostle John writes John (THE BAPTIST) testified (martureo = GAVE A WITNESS) saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit (IN OTHER WORDS THE SIGN JOHN WITNESSED WAS SUPERNATURAL PROOF OF JESUS' MESSIAHSHIP - JUST AS GOD HAD TOLD HIM).’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (Jn 1:32-34+) Comment - Note the description that the Spirit "remained upon Him." Was this "remaining" something that was visible, like a "halo" over Jesus' head??? There is nothing in the NT which would suggest that Jesus walked around with a halo or an aura or a dove-like glow over His head. The idea if that the Spirit's abiding presence was with the Man Jesus, continually empowering His ministry. In that sense the Spirit remained upon Jesus. Notice also that this statement by John in essence fulfills the prophecy uttered by Isaiah... The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him (Lxx = anapauo used figuratively here of the Spirit's resting in place, remaining -- anapauo is used in this same sense in 1 Pe 4:14+), The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:2+) (Isaiah's point is that that He would be supernaturally energized by the Spirit!) The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; (Isaiah 61:1+ quoted in Luke 4:18+) “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. (Isaiah 42:1) NET NOTE - Isaiah 42:1–7 contain the first of Isaiah's "servant songs," which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God's purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. So the Spirit of God came upon Jesus, an event Peter (see below) describes as an anointing from the Father. This anointing signified the inception of Jesus' ministry, that the Spirit was on/in Jesus and Jesus was supernaturally empowered by the Spirit (Acts 10:38+ below). He was given this supernatural power at the beginning of His public ministry and it was primarily in reliance on the power of the Spirit that Jesus carried out His ministry (even to the bitter end "Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself" Heb 9:14+) To be sure, there were some unique events such as walking on water, reading minds of men, performance of miracles like water to wine, etc. But what Peter says below is that Jesus ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit. See also Luke 4:1+ and Luke 4:14+ which describe the role of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of Jesus' ministry just after His baptism by John. 🙏 THOUGHT - Here is why I am belaboring this point -- Jesus did this to give us His perfect example to follow, the very thing we are commanded to do, Paul writing "Be (present imperative/ - command to continually be) imitators of me, JUST AS I AM OF CHRIST." (1 Cor 11:1+). Yes, Paul was unique and undoubtedly the greatest of the apostles, but even he states that he imitated Jesus' example of the need to be filled with and rely on the power of the Spirit to live the supernatural life. Beloved, if you are experiencing less that the John 10:10b "abundant life," perhaps it could be because you have never really understood that you had been commanded to imitate Jesus and that when you did His Spirit would enable you to live a supernatural, abundant life! So how can you obey Paul's command to be an imitator of him as he was of Christ? The simple answer is by the Spirit and ONLY BY THE SPIRIT! There is NO PLAN B (so to speak) for living the supernatural Christian life! See discussion of the Need for the Holy Spirit to obey NT commands (or "How to Keep All 1642 Commandments in the New Testament!") See also The Holy Spirit-Walking Like Jesus Walked! See more discussion of this vitally important topic below. The question is what is the significance of the Spirit descending upon Jesus? Did Jesus not have the Spirit indwelling Him? Of course He did, for Jesus always had the Spirit. So while there may be several answers, one that strikes me is that this event presents a pattern for believers to live a supernatural life. Spurgeon affirmed that “It was the Spirit of God who gave success to Jesus Christ’s ministry.” In short, the descending of the Spirit on Jesus demonstrates that from the outset of His public ministry Jesus is giving us His pattern of perfect reliance on the empowering presence of the Spirit to fulfill ministry. As discussed below, for believers to successfully fulfill the "good works" ministry that God has pre-prepared for them in Christ Jesus (read Eph 2:10+, cf 2 Ti 2:21+), they need to learn the secret of relying wholly on the Holy Spirit! F B Meyer rightly points out the analogy - “What this scene was in the life of the Lord, Pentecost was for the Church. Then she was anointed for her divine mission among men; the unction of the Holy One rested upon her, to be continued and renewed as the centuries slowly passed.” (From "Behold My Servant" Isaiah 42:1) Peter in essence summarizes Jesus' 3 year ministry and in so doing alludes to the Spirit's anointing of the God-Man Jesus: Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. 36 “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)(ED: THE WORDS OF ALL WOULD HAVE MUSIC TO THIS GENTILE'S EARS!)– 37 you yourselves know (MEANS TO KNOW BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT) the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee (SO HERE PETER STATES THE BEGINNING OF JESUS' MINISTRY), after the baptism which John proclaimed. 38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, (SEE NOTE BELOW ON ANOINTED) and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him (ED: YES THE FATHER WAS WITH HIM, BUT THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS ALSO WITH HIM EMPOWERING HIM). 39 “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. (HERE PETER DESCRIBES THE CULMINATION OF JESUS' 3 YEAR MINISTRY) 40 “God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, 41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. (WHAT PETER HAS JUST DESCRIBED IS THE ESSENCE OF THE GOSPEL) 42 “And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify (WHY SOLEMNLY? READ ON - A JUDGMENT IS COMING!) that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 “Of Him all the prophets (REFERRING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT MESSIANIC PROPHECIES) bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” (Acts 10:34-43+) Comment - Anointed in Acts 10:38 is chrio which means to consecrate/set apart for sacred work as by unction. The idea is to assign a person to task, with implication of supernatural sanctions, blessing, and endowment. And so fittingly Jesus is also given the title of Christos (from chrio), also called the Messiah - Anointed One. John uses the related word chrisma describing the believer's anointing in 1 John 2:20+ and 1 John 2:27+ which in context refers to our "anointing" with the Holy Spirit, this "anointing" occurring the moment we were regenerated by grace through faith. Have you ever considered yourself to be an anointed saint? You are! See interesting CARM.org article 1 John 2:27, You are anointed of God and here is a brief quote to "wet your appetite" - "It is this anointing that opens your mind, teaches you, guides you, calls you to pray, empowers you, and enables you to be stronger Christians, more powerful Christians. Not just people who are saved, but people who are saved, indwelt, and empowered." The question arises whether the Spirit descended while Jesus was still in the water? Mark's reading would suggest that is the case, but read Matthew's version "After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold (idou = calls for special attention to this event!), the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him." (Mt 3:16) The word "from" is apo which speaks of separation and thus it would support the interpretation that the Spirit descended on Jesus after He had departed the water. This is not a major theological high-water mark (pun intended), but it does bring into question the accuracy of paintings such as the one by Grigory Gagarin. One other point - While the Spirit came on Jesus after His baptism, this in no way means that the Spirit comes upon men or women in association with water baptism. The Spirit comes upon (and in) believers the moment they are saved/regenerated by the Spirit, and this occurs when by grace they believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith alone saves a soul from Hell. The act of water baptism absolutely does not save a soul. However performing this act can deceive a soul into thinking they are saved if they have been instructed by someone they respect that they need to undergo water baptism in order to be saved. I was baptized 3 times, first as an infant, next after completing Lutheran confirmation (age 12), and finally at age 40 after I had personally received Christ as my Lord and Savior (about 3 weeks earlier). My third baptism was in essence a testimony and celebration of the redeeming work of Christ performed several weeks prior. It was a testimony that I had been saved by grace through faith. R C Lenski on Jesus' baptism - The truth is: no new relation was established; what happened was an act of God, that great act by which he inaugurated Jesus into his mighty office of Prophet, High Priest, and King....We are not told what became visible when the heavens were suddenly opened as we are told in the cases of Ezekiel and of Stephen. We may say that the heavenly glory became visible, and that Jesus, John, and any others who were present beheld its radiance (cf Jn 1:32-34) (BORROW The Interpretation of St. Mark's Gospel PAGE 48) Related Resources: Why was Jesus baptized? Why was Jesus' baptism important? Is baptism necessary for salvation? Does 1 Peter 3:21 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation? Does Galatians 3:27 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation? Does the Bible teach believer's baptism/credobaptism? Does John 3:5 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation? What does the Bible say about infant baptism / paedobaptism? Does Mark 16:16 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation? Behold (2400) (idou) is a word used to grasp the reader's attention. See short excursus on this word below. is the second person singular aorist middle imperative of eidon which means to see, perceive, look at. In the NT idou is used as a demonstrative particle that draws attention to what follows. Idou in the middle voice means "you yourself look, see, perceive!" The aorist imperative is a command emphasizing "Do it now! Don't delay!"