All four Gospel accounts refer to the baptism of Jesus by John at the Jordan and all four refer to the descending of the Spirit like a dove. This anointing of the Holy Spirit was prophesied in the context of his human nature (Psalm 45:7; 61:1 cf. Acts 10:38) with the purpose of empowering Him for the ministry that He was ordained for.
1. The Dove illustrates How the Holy Spirit Operates – gently and without guile. The dove is an emblem of purity and harmlessness (Matthew 10:16) and the form of the dove was assumed on this occasion to signify that the Spirit with which Jesus would be endowed would be the Spirit of purity and innocence (Isaiah 42:2-3). The secret and gentle work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of men is no spiritual Jihad. There is nothing clamorous and contentious about the working of the Spirit in the heart. He convicts and confronts men and gently makes them willing in the day of his power (Psalm 110:3).
2. The Dove also illustrates what the Holy Spirit produces (Galatians 5:22). The work of the Holy Spirit produces the same qualities in the believer that He did in the life of the Lord Jesus. It should not be ignored that the first action of the Spirit of gentleness was to lead the Lord Jesus into a head-on collision with the arch enemy. Here we see the manner in which the Spirit of gentles operates in the face of unparalleled temptation and difficulty – by a robust, blunt and persistent application to Scripture, although calmly and confidently.
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Aaron Dunlop, who is originally from Northern Ireland, graduated from the Geneva Reformed Seminary, SC. He pastored for ten years in Victoria, British Columbia and is currently preparing to move to Kenya with his family to work with the FAME Reformed Theological College.
