In the Old Testament, cleansing rituals were required for, say, people who touched a corpse or leper before they can enter and sacrifice in the temple. This ritual usually consists of washing with water. The ritual was later expanded to also include welcoming those who wish to convert to Judaism by requiring them to undergo a ritual cleansing, (together with circumcision).
John the Baptist however carried out a different kind of baptism, that of the "baptism of repentance."* His brand of baptism required not just performing the ritual, but behaving accordingly afterwards based on God's precepts. Those who went to John to be baptized were expressing their intention to repent and reform.
This brings us to the way Matthew introduces Jesus: he is the humble servant of Yahweh. Matthew tries to explain the awkward, if not incomprehensible, act of Jesus submitting to John's baptism. The roles are reversed, and it is Jesus that is acting as a repentant sinner. Yet, Jesus insists on it in order to "fulfill all righteousness" (Mt 3:15). Biblical experts interpret this phrase to mean as willing "to do whatever is right because one is obedient to the will of God." **
The Spirit received by Jesus is the same Spirit who inspired the prophets of the Old Testament. We know this because the verse "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" is a lift from the Isaiah 42:1: "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit."***
This is the Jesus in Matthew's gospel: guided by the Spirit, He is humble and absolute in his obedience to God's will.
Other Trivia:
- It is in this passage that Jesus speaks for the first time in Matthew's Gospel.
- We often imagine this scene as happening before a crowd. Note that Matthew does not mention any reference to a crowd. Moreover, in Matthew 3:16, it was Jesus ALONE who "saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove"; not a crowd. Matthew intended to say that the vision was a personal experience of Jesus and not revealed to the rest.
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GOSPEL TRIVIA is a series of Gospel commentaries I'm starting in 2014. Trivia refer to details or information of usually very little value. This series, posted every Friday, highlights details of the Sunday gospels that are often missed but provide meaningful insight to a better understanding of the message of the gospel.
* For more on the history of baptism, see http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/asktheexpert/mar14.html
** Raymond E. Brown et al (eds), The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990), 637.
*** Nil Guillemette, SJ, A Kingdom for All (Makati: St. Paul's Publications), 137.
This brings us to the way Matthew introduces Jesus: he is the humble servant of Yahweh. Matthew tries to explain the awkward, if not incomprehensible, act of Jesus submitting to John's baptism. The roles are reversed, and it is Jesus that is acting as a repentant sinner. Yet, Jesus insists on it in order to "fulfill all righteousness" (Mt 3:15). Biblical experts interpret this phrase to mean as willing "to do whatever is right because one is obedient to the will of God." **
The Spirit received by Jesus is the same Spirit who inspired the prophets of the Old Testament. We know this because the verse "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased" is a lift from the Isaiah 42:1: "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit."***
This is the Jesus in Matthew's gospel: guided by the Spirit, He is humble and absolute in his obedience to God's will.
Other Trivia:
- It is in this passage that Jesus speaks for the first time in Matthew's Gospel.
- We often imagine this scene as happening before a crowd. Note that Matthew does not mention any reference to a crowd. Moreover, in Matthew 3:16, it was Jesus ALONE who "saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove"; not a crowd. Matthew intended to say that the vision was a personal experience of Jesus and not revealed to the rest.
=========
GOSPEL TRIVIA is a series of Gospel commentaries I'm starting in 2014. Trivia refer to details or information of usually very little value. This series, posted every Friday, highlights details of the Sunday gospels that are often missed but provide meaningful insight to a better understanding of the message of the gospel.
* For more on the history of baptism, see http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/asktheexpert/mar14.html
** Raymond E. Brown et al (eds), The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990), 637.
*** Nil Guillemette, SJ, A Kingdom for All (Makati: St. Paul's Publications), 137.
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