What I’m Thinking: Baptized by the Holy Spirit

Luke’s description of Jesus’ baptism actually begins after the baptism, when Jesus was praying. It’s then that the Holy Spirit comes to him in the form of a dove. For Luke – and for us? – it’s the Holy Spirit that matters.

Here’s a transcript:

I’m thinking about the baptism of Jesus, as described in the third chapter of Luke’s Gospel (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22).

It’s a fairly short and simple account. It lacks the argument between Jesus and John over who should baptize whom (that you find in the Gospel of John).

But after Jesus had been baptized and was praying, Luke says, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, and there was the voice from heaven that said, “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”

The gift of the Holy Spirit, for Luke, was a central and vital reality of the Christian Church. Luke, after all, was the one who went on to tell the story of the early Church in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and it begins with that Pentecost story, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So in our life as baptized people, or in our life as newly baptized people, or in our life as people who seek an ongoing baptism of the Holy Spirit, let us constantly seek that presence. Let us constantly seek that power and that energy. Let us constantly seek that direction and that guidance.

Let us constantly seek so that we might hear the words, “This is my beloved Child. In you I am well pleased.”

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear about what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below; I’d love to hear from you.