Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:13-17 – NRSV).
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Introductory notes
General
“In the account of Jesus’ baptism by John, Matthew rejoins his Markan source (see Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22). He has inserted into it a dialogue between John and Jesus (Matt 3:14–15) that explains why Jesus underwent baptism by John. The narrative ends with an identification of Jesus in terms of prominent biblical figures: Son of God, Isaac, and God’s Servant.
“That Jesus was baptized by John is among the most certain historical facts in the Gospel tradition. Since it assumes a dependence upon and inferiority to John on Jesus’ part, it is clearly not the kind of story that early Christians would have invented. The dialogue inserted in Matt 3:14–15 indicates that early Christians felt some embarrassment about the episode and needed an explanation of how it came about.
“When modern Christians read Matt 3:13–17 and parallels, they instinctively draw connections between the baptism of Jesus and Christian baptism, thus treating Jesus’ baptism as supplying the prototype of their own. This ecclesiastical approach leads to debates about the relation between water-baptism and Spirit-baptism as well as other theological controversies.
“Rather than focusing on the historicity of Jesus’ baptism or its significance for Christian baptism, it is better to recognize that the focus for Matthew and the other evangelists was the person of Jesus. More specifically Matt 3:13–17 serves to establish Jesus’ identity before he begins his public ministry. It does so by having the heavenly voice make clear who he is and why he is significant” (Daniel Harrington SJ, The Gospel of Matthew, Liturgical Press, 2007, 62-63).
Specific
John would have prevented him: “The dialogue between John and Jesus appears only in Matt 3:14–15 and indicates some embarrassment over Jesus’ baptism. The embarrassment can be traced either to the intrinsic superiority of Jesus and his baptism to John (see Matt 3:11) or to the character of John’s baptism “for repentance” (see Matt 3:11). John’s explanation in Matt 3:14 is ambiguous, and so the text is not a clear statement of Jesus’ sinlessness” (Harrington, op cit, 62).
the heavens were opened etc: “The opening of the heavens signifies the new possibility of communication between God and humankind (see Ezek 1:1; 2 Macc 3:24 ff.; 2 Baruch 22; Jn 1:51; Acts 7:55–56; 10:11; Rev 11:19; 19:11–21). … The idea of open communication between God and humankind is further developed by the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus. The description of the Spirit’s descent is presented in an adverbial phrase (“dove-like = like a dove does”) that may evoke the OT creation account (“the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters,” Gen 1:2) (Ibid).
righteousness: “The righteousness that both John and Jesus are concerned to establish involves being restored to a right relationship with God and living this out in a quite tangible righteousness of life. The righteousness that both John and Jesus have their eyes set on is the righteousness of the kingdom of God: that state of affairs in which all is right between God and his world. This is what John and Jesus are concerned to see anticipated in the lives of God’s people in the present” (J Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: a commentary on the Greek text, W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005, 154).
A voice from heaven said etc: This represents “The baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan River is the occasion for the identification of Jesus by the voice from heaven. Matthew agreed with the other evangelists in this Christological emphasis” (Harrington, op cit, 64).
Questions and answers
In today’s Gospel – Matthew 3:13-17 – we have a revealing interplay of questions and answers as Jesus and John meet by the Jordan River. The first question, albeit implicit, is: Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? John the Baptist assumes he knows the answer to this question, although Matthew will throw some doubt on this when he reports John sending his disciples to ask Jesus whether he is the Messiah – see Matthew 11:2-6. At this point however, John, assuming Jesus is the Messiah, answers the second question – namely, who should baptise whom? – by resisting Jesus’ request. Jesus’ answer is somewhat mystifying: “‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.’” We are prompted to ask the question: What might this answer mean? The interchange between John and Jesus closes with an answer “from heaven”: “‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’”.
Matthew not only leaves many questions unanswered about Jesus’ life to this point, he leaves us with questions over the precise meaning of this encounter between John and Jesus. Without explanation, he simply announces: “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan.” As one commentator points out, we do have one answer: “That Jesus was baptized by John is among the most certain historical facts in the Gospel tradition. Since it assumes a dependence upon and inferiority to John on Jesus’ part, it is clearly not the kind of story that early Christians would have invented” (Daniel Harrington SJ, The Gospel of Matthew, Liturgical Press, 2007, 62). The other two synoptic Gospels in reporting this event – see Mark 1.9–11 and Luke 3.21–22 – have no reference to any exchange between John and Jesus. It seems reasonable to assume, therefore, that questions had arisen within Matthew’s community concerning Jesus’ baptism. Daniel Harrington writes: “The dialogue inserted in Matt 3:14–15 indicates that early Christians felt some embarrassment about the episode and needed an explanation of how it came about” (Ibid). Matthew’s “explanation” however, leaves us wondering: In what sense can we say Matthew has answered the question those early followers of Jesus asked?
Whatever the precise details of the question Matthew is attempting to address, it puts before us a profound and practical truth concerning our personal lives in Christ and our communal life as Church: That the community of believers has never had a complete set of answers to all the questions that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus raise. Learning to live with questions may be more important than being committed to finding answers.
The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council used an image given by St Augustine to describe the Church: The Church is “‘like a pilgrim in a foreign land’” (Lumen Gentium, 8). The compulsion to find answers can in fact divide and imprison us. The willingness to question in good faith can unite and liberate us.