Luke. Diane G. Chen
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others envisioned a Messiah to be a prophetic figure like Moses or Elijah.93 John’s denial redirects the crowd’s focus on the real Messiah who is to come (3:16–17). First, John highlights the power differential between him and the Messiah in the most emphatic of terms. He construes his relationship to the Messiah as that of a slave before his master. By claiming that he is unworthy to untie the thong of the latter’s sandals, John places himself lower than the lowest, for this demeaning task is normally left to gentile slaves (b. Qidd. 22b). That which Luke implies in the step-parallel pattern of the birth narratives, that the Son of the Most High is far greater than the prophet of the Most High, is now made explicit in John’s admission.94
Second, John’s baptism pales in comparison to the Messiah’s baptism. While this is not meant to devalue the significance of John’s baptism, it anticipates the greater impact of Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire (3:16). An outpouring of the Spirit upon God’s people is a sign of the last days.95 In the Greek, there is only one preposition governing both nouns, en pneumati hagiō kai puri (“with the Holy Spirit and fire”), so one single baptism is in view. But is this a baptism of judgment or of blessing?
The theme of judgment looms large in the immediate context, as fruitless trees and chaff are about to be burned (3:9, 17). Since the Greek word for Spirit, pneuma, also means wind, the combination of Spirit, wind, and fire recalls Isaiah’s description of God’s judgment as a fiery wind (Isa 29:5–6). Whoever refuses water baptism for forgiveness of sins will have to face the Messiah’s baptism of judgment (12:49–53). Although the Holy Spirit judges the wicked, it also blesses the righteous through purification, refinement, and empowerment.96 For Luke, receiving the Holy Spirit is a gift from God (11:13; 24:49). From this angle, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire anticipates the outpouring of the Spirit in tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost, interpreted by Peter as a sign of the last days (Acts 1:5; 2:1–21).97
Perhaps it is best to let both positive and negative images of the Messiah’s baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire stand without privileging one over the other. According to Simeon, Jesus is “destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel” (2:34). There will be a mixed reception. For those who welcome the Messiah, the baptism of Spirit and fire will be a guarantee of the Spirit’s empowerment now and an assurance of salvation in eternity. But for those who reject him, final destruction is their end.98
Third, using yet another farming analogy, John stresses the judging function of the Messiah (3:7–9, 17). John pictures a scene after the wheat harvest. Threshing is the process by which bunches of wheat are beaten with a flail so that the grains fall off the stems. Then a winnowing fork is used to toss the grains into the air, separating out the light, dry, but inedible chaff. The grains are then collected into the granary and the useless chaff is burned. Winnowing is a common image found in the OT for judgment.99 As God’s emissary, the Messiah will be the one to separate the righteous from the wicked, and the saved from the doomed. John’s message is clear: “This fire is unquenchable; it portends eternal torment. Repent before it is too late.”100
The section on John’s baptizing ministry closes with a fleeting mention of Herod Antipas’s imprisonment of John (3:19–20). Luke makes a cryptic reference to John rebuking the king concerning his brother’s wife Herodias. In brief, Herod did not appreciate John’s criticism of his adulterous actions in taking Herodias from his brother and marrying her (Mark 6:17–29).101 Although the ordering of events seems awkward, that Luke should speak of Herod throwing John into prison prior to his account of Jesus’ baptism by John, this inverted order allows the author to “remove” John from the narrative stage and shine the spotlight exclusively on Jesus in the next scene.
Baptism and Commissioning of Jesus (3:21–22)
In recounting the baptism of Jesus, Luke is more interested in the supernatural events that follow than the baptism itself. John’s baptizing of Jesus is not even described, but simply implied, to make way for this revelatory moment: “The heaven was opened, . . . the Holy Spirit descended” (3:21–22a). The reason why Jesus needs to go through a baptism that denotes repentance is not provided.102 Noting that “all the people were baptized” before adding that “Jesus also had been baptized” (3:21a), Luke situates Jesus’ baptism as the climax of John’s ministry.
Of the four Gospels, only Luke shows Jesus to be in prayer when the heavens open (3:21b). Aside from his baptism, prayer is also highlighted at various pivotal moments of Jesus’ life: before calling the Twelve (6:12), at the transfiguration (9:28), at the garden before his arrest (22:41–42), and on the cross (23:34, 46). For Luke, prayer is a key indicator for understanding the Father-Son relationship between God and Jesus.
The opening of the heavens is associated with visions of God or special revelations from God.103 The descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus “in bodily form like a dove” (3:22a) signifies Jesus’ empowerment and equipping for everything else Jesus will do from this point onwards (4:1, 14, 18; cf. Acts 10:38). Although Luke stresses the material nature of the Spirit’s anointing, we need not assume that the Holy Spirit appears literally in the shape of a dove. Regardless of its form, the Spirit’s presence upon Jesus is unmistakable.
The voice from heaven declares, “You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased” (3:22b). This is the Father’s commissioning of the Son of God and Messiah to his redemptive mission, endowing him with the authority and power of the Holy Spirit as the Father’s representative par excellence and agent of salvation. The declaration itself comprises a juxtaposition of Ps 2:7, Isa 42:1, and echoes of Gen 22:2, yielding rich layers of meaning that explain Jesus’ identity and mission.
The wording, su ei ho huios mou (“you are my Son”), in 3:22 is essentially the same as huios mou ei su (“my son you are”) in Ps 2:7 in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT. Since this psalm is recited at the coronation of a new monarch, the use of the father-son metaphor to describe the relationship between God and Israel’s king hearkens back to the Davidic covenant. In 2 Samuel, God promised David that a king from his line will always sit on Israel’s throne, and that God will be a father to the king and the king a son to God (2 Sam 7:14). As son of God (metaphorically), Israel’s monarch is responsible for leading the people, the children of God, to serve and obey their Father in heaven.
When applied to Jesus, Ps 2:7 takes on a double meaning. As we already know from the infancy narrative, not only is Jesus the messianic king from the line of David, he is also the divine Son by virtue of his conception by the Holy Spirit (1:32–35). The modifying phrase in 3:22, ho agapētos (“the beloved”), is reminiscent of Isaac’s description as Abraham’s beloved son (Gen 22:2). Given that Abraham factors prominently in Luke 1, this echo lingers in the background. Isaac was Abraham’s beloved son, yet Abraham was willing to sacrifice him in obedience to God (Gen 22:9–13). Might there be a hint of YHWH commissioning his Son to a saving mission knowing that it will culminate in the death of his beloved?
The last part of the heavenly declaration, en soi eudokēsa (“in you I am well pleased”), recalls the language that describes the servant of the lord in Isaiah: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights” (Isa 42:1a). The verb in Isaiah is prosdechomai (“to receive” or “to welcome”), not eudokeō (“to be well pleased”). Even though the verbs are different, both texts convey divine joy and