Luke uses only two verses to record Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist. I was reading some commentaries on these few words and was amazed at how many opinions there were on pretty much every phrase.

For example, there are numerous opinions as to why was Jesus baptized in the first place. He had no sin to repent of or to be forgiven for. That was what John’s baptism was all about. Was Jesus identifying with the people? Was He repenting of the sins committed by the people? Did He do what He did in order to confirm John’s message to the Nation of Israel? Was He showing that He was the true Israel and that He would succeed where the Nation of Israel had failed? Was He giving us an example of humility?

Luke is the only Gospel that says Jesus was baptized “while He prayed.” Why was He praying? He is God and does not need anything. Was He voluntarily placing Himself under the Father, showing His need of the Father in order to accomplish His ministry? In His humanity, did He need that assistance? Was He simply giving us an example to follow, showing that we need to pray even though He didn’t?

At His baptism, the “heaven was opened”? Did this mean revelation was coming from heaven? Did it mean, as with Jacob’s ladder in Genesis, that heaven and earth met in the Person of Christ? Was it simply a way for the Holy Spirit to come down?

Then, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. Why? Many say this happened because Christ would accomplish His ministry through the power of the Spirit. But why was this power needed if Jesus was God? Did Jesus allow this in order to show us that we need to rely on the Spirit for our Christian walk? Did the Spirit fall upon Him to show that the Trinity was involved in Christ’s work—The Son in the water, the voice of the Father from heaven, and the Spirit coming down? Does it go back to the creation of the world, when the Spirit hovered like a bird over the waters in Gen 1:2?

And why did the Spirit take the form of a dove? Did it show–because birds were used as sacrifices in the OT–that Christ would be the sacrifice for the sins of the world? Did the dove represent purity, showing that Christ would be a perfect sacrifice? Did the dove represent peace, showing that Christ would provide peace with God to the one who believes in Him (Rom 5:1)? Did the dove point us to Jonah, since the Hebrew word for Jonah means “dove”? Does this mean that just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, then figuratively rose from the dead, so Christ would be in the ground for three days and literally rise from the dead?’

What about the Father’s voice from heaven? Most believe the words come from the OT. But which verses? Exodus 4, Genesis 22, Isaiah 42, and 2 Samuel 7 are all candidates. The Father calls Jesus His Son. Does this mean that Christ is God, the King of Israel, or the true Israel? Do the Father’s words point to Jesus’ suffering on the cross or to the truth that He is loved by the Father?

It is tempting to look at every phrase in these two verses and say that all the interpretations are true. Christ is all of these things. He is so great that in each case it is impossible to narrow the truths about Him to a single phrase. Regarding the OT allusions to Him, for example, He is the fulfillment of all of the OT, so it is to be expected that multiple passages refer to Him, sometimes with similar words.

While I don’t think Luke meant all these things–I think he probably had something specific in mind–it is exciting to consider all the things to which the Lord’s baptism points. As we watch Him submitting to John’s baptism, the heaven opening, His coming out of the water, the Spirit coming down like a dove, and the Father’s approving words, it is wonderful to meditate on the One who loves us.