Luke's account of the Baptism of Jesus is a rewriting of the Marcan account in Mark 1:9-11. What Luke does is to give it an introduction (3:15-20) and to modify it in such a way as to highlight the presentation of Jesus as "the Son, the Beloved." What emerges is an image of Jesus who in anonymity has united himself with those who receive the baptism of repentance and who undergoes a disclosure experience from the Father while in prayer.
Outline of the Text
Luke 3:15-22 can be outlined as follows:
- vv. 15-17 The Baptist dispels the confusion of the people regarding the Christ by announcing "The One Stronger" than he
- vv. 18-20 Summary description of the ministry of John and his imprisonment
- vv. 21-22 Jesus revealed as the Christ, Servant Messiah
It should be noted that although vv. 21-22 refer to the Christ announced in vv. 15-17 as the one stronger than John, Luke -- following Mark before him -- uses allussions to Messianic texts and the Servant oracles in referring to the identity of Jesus. Second, differently from Mark, Luke emphasizes the revelation about Jesus and not the baptism itself which he relegates to the background. Finally, Luke tells us that the revelation of the voice occurs while Jesus is praying. From v. 15, the Lucan narrative points the reader to the figure of Jesus who's identity is manifested through the Voice from heaven. In the meanwhile, the figure of John recedes into the background through the summative account in vv. 18-20. Thus, the main character of the narrative and the whole gospel is introduced to the reader. He -- not the Baptist -- is the one awaited.
The One Stronger than John
It has been noted that v. 15 may perhaps reflect a situation during the time of Luke when there was a confusion as to the identity of the Messiah, whether it was John the Baptist or Jesus of Nazareth. The situation is not hard to imagine since it is Luke who also tells us that followers of the Baptist still existed during the years that his narrative in Luke-Acts covers. We also know that polemics between the messianic groups following either the Baptist or Jesus are reflected in the chapters of the gospel of John. We also know of the subsequent incorporation of the Baptist group into the Jesus movement (an example is that of Apollos, as narrated in Acts), showing how ultimately the confusion reflected in verse 15 was resolved. In Luke's narrative (as well as in the gospel of John), it is the Baptist himself who tells the people whom to await. It is the One Stronger Than the Baptist.
The statements of the Baptist about the Christ can be divided into two parts. Verse 16 is on the differences in the kind of baptism that will be administered by both and the Baptist's inferiority in relation to the Christ. Verse 17 is on the mission of the Christ as Judge, couched in the language of the prophets. In both of these statements, the idea of the Christ as "The One Stronger" is made explicit: He is stronger because of the baptism he confers and because he is the fulfillment of the words of the prophets.
John compares the kind of baptism he gives and the one given by the Christ: his is by water, the other by the Holy Spirit and with fire. Both water and fire have the ability to cleanse, though in different ways. Water washes dirt away; fire burns the dirt and purifies through the destruction of unwanted matter. The phrase "Holy Spirit and with fire" refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit in tongues of flames (cf. Acts). In Luke-Acts, the baptism of the Church in Holy Spirit and with fire inaugurates the time of the Church, the time of waiting for the Parousia, the definitive establishment of Christ's reign.
John's reference to the sandals of the Christ may as well be about the rights of Redemption with matrimonial nuances involved. In the book of Ruth, we find a case where the right of redemption involves marriage. Boaz wanted to marry Ruth, the Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi, but to do so, he had to redeem Naomi. He was not the relative with the right of redemption though, so in order to acquire it, he had to convince the rightful redeemer (go'el) in court to cede to him the right of redemption. In short, Boaz does acquire the right to redeem Naomi, but in the process the relative who cedes to him the right of redemption gave to him also his sandals as proof. So in the end, Boaz does redeem Naomi and gives her a son through Ruth, Obed, the grandfather of king David. The Baptist describes his inferiority to the Christ by saying that he is not worthy to even untie the sandals off the feet of the one who has the right to Redeem. In the gospel of John (3:29), the matrimonial motiff emerges: here the Baptist describes himself as the friend of the groom who rejoices at the voice of the groom himself. In other words, the Christ has the right to redeem, he is the designated go'el, and the Baptist will not take that privilege from Him.
Finally, John describes the work of the Christ in agricultural imagery: the act of winnowing. The grain is separated from the husk through the winnowing fan, with the wind's action as the agent that separates the husk from the grain that is allowed to fall to the ground. After winnowing, the grain is stored while the husks emptied of their content are burned. The Christ comes as Judge to separate the just from the unjust; the former will be gathered up and placed in the store room, while the latter are gathered up to be burned. In the description of the Baptist, however, the gathering of the unjust is given more emphasis. It is an image of judgment that is intended to frighten and to shock people to repentance. But the subsequent narrative will show that the words of the Baptist will not be fulfilled during his time, but at a later date when Jesus will come again to establish his kingdom definitely.
The Baptism of Jesus
After Luke's summary account of the rest of the work of the Baptist, the baptism of Jesus is narrated in vv. 21-22. Here, however, the event of the baptism at the background of a still greater event: the presentation of Jesus as "the Son, the Beloved." In the narrative, the main action is presented in the opening of the heavens, the descent of the Holy Spirit and the voice that reveals who Jesus is. The genitive absolute that introduces the section paints a static image of a crowd that has been baptized with Jesus among them, praying.
The image of Jesus praying is a favorite of Luke; it is one of the key themes of his gospel. Jesus is shown praying in the significant moments of his ministry. Here, the revelation occurs while he is in prayer. For Luke, the presentation of Jesus as "the Son, the Beloved" is a divine revelation grasped in a moment of prayer. Perhaps, it would be better to say that the significance of this moment was told by Jesus to his disciples in terms that Mark, as followed by Luke and Matthew later, re-expressed in the way we find it now. It is a revelation that will influence the whole of Jesus' ministry until the moment of his self-giving on the cross.
The theophany has three elements: the opening of the heavens, the descent of the Holy Spirit in the bodily form of a dove, and the voice from heaven. The elements are based on what we find in Marcan narrative. The opening of the heavens manifest the opening of communication lines with humanity from the side of God. The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove -- writes Spinetoli -- may as well be a re-evocation of the image of the Spirit of God as it hovered over the primordial waters of the Creation. If so, then we have here the beginning of the new creation which will be carried out through Christ. At the same time, one cannot discount the fact that the Spirit descends to empower Jesus in his prophetic mission. Finally, the Voice from heaven validates the mission of Jesus, identifying him as the Servant-Christ. In the designation "the Son, the Beloved", the figure of the Davidic King (Messianic Psalms) is combined with that of the Suffering Servant of the Book of Consolations (Isaiah 40-55).
