THE MEANING OF JESUS' BAPTISM

The Solidarity ofJesus

With God's Chosen People
By submitting Himself to John's
baptism,Jesus came forward publicly
to be identified with sinners, I.e., the
chosen, but fallen, people of God.
The Inauguration of Jesus Into
.. His PriestlyCalling
At Jesus' bap-
tism He is publicly
called by God to
bear the sins and to
become obedient
unto death as the
and
mediatdrdfthenew
covenant.
The Bestowal
on Jesus
of the Holy
Spirit Whom He
Would Bestow
on His Church
At His baptism Jesus was anointed
with the Holy Spirit, not only for His
own sake, I.e., to be fully equipped to
carry out His mediatorial vocation;
but also for the sake of His church
which He would "baptize with the
Holy Spirtt" on the Day of Pentecost,
(Acts 1-2).
The Relation of the Baptism
ofJesus and the Crucifixion
of Jesus
1
At the moment of jesus' baptism
He received the divine commission to
undertake the role of the Suffertng
Servant of God, who takes upon
Himself the sins of God's chosen
people. "OtherJewscome to Jordan to
be baptized by John for their OWN
sins. Jesus, on the contrary, at the very
moment when he is baptized like other
people hears a voice which
fundamentally declares: THOU an
baptized not for THINE OWN sins but
for those of the whole people. For
Thou art He of whom Isaiah
prophesied, that He must suffer
representatively for the sins of the
people, (Isaiah 42, 53). This means
that Jesus is baptized in view of His
death, which effects forgiveness of
sins for all men. Forthis reason Jesus
must unite Himself in solidartty with
Hiswholepeople,andgodownHimself
to jordan, that 'all righteousness might
be fulfilled," Mat. 3: 15.
"In this way, jesus' answer to the
Baptist, 'to fulfill aU righteousness' ...
acqUires. a precise meaning. The
Baptism of jesus is related to
DIKAIOSUNE, (rtghteousness), not
only His own but also that of the whole
people. The word PASAN, (all), is
probably to be underlined here. jesus'
reply ... acquires a concrete meaning:
Jesus will effect a general forgiveness.
Luke, like Mark, does not use this
word, but he emphasizes in his own
way the same fact at Luke 3:21: 'Now
when ALL the people were baptized,
Jesus also was baptized.' It is clear in
view of the voice from heaven why
Jesus must conduct himselflike other
18 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon l' July/ August, 1994
people. He is distinguished from the
mass of other baptized people, who.
are baptized for their own sins, as the
One called to the office of the Servant
of God who suffers for all others ---
"Thus the Baptisffi of Jesus points
forward to the end, to the climax of His
life, the Cross, in which alone all
Baptism will find its fulfillment. There
Jesus will achieve a general Baptism.
In His own Baptism in Jordan He
received commission to do this.
"This explanatidn isconfirmed by
the meaning which the
BAPTIDZEIN has
forJesus. Wehave
seen thatJesus did
not Himself
baptize. Now we
understand better
the reason for this
. abstinence. Far
Him, to 'be
bap.tiztd' from
now on meant to
suffer, to die for
His people. This
is not a JJ1;1re guess;
it Is confirmed by
each of the two
sayings in which
Jesus used thewordBAPTIDZESTHAI:
Mark 10:38 and Lukt; (pages
18-19) In both these passages "be
baptized" means "die." Obviously Jesus
is referring to His own death as a
"baptism". "Itishe,jesus, who will nOt
only baptize Individualmen with water
like John the Baptist but Will complete
the GENERAL Baptism, for all men,
and once for all, at the moment of His
atoning death. It belongs to the essence
of this general Baptism effected by
Jesus, that it is offered in entire
Independence of the decision of faith
and understanding of those who benefit
from it. Baptismal grace has its
foundationhere,anditisinthestrictest
sense 'prevenientgrace,mLe., itis grace
that 'goes before' man's action, in fact,
producingman's action.(pages 19-20)."
The Relation of the Baptism
of Jesus and Christian Baptism
The Center of Christian Baptism: the
Person of jesus Christ'
"Between John's baptism which
Jesus received and baptism 'in the name
ofjesus Christ for the forgiveness of
sins'istheministry,death, resurrection
and exaltation ofJesus followed by the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Baptism
in the name ofjesus Christ could not
fail to be influenced by the
but rather in the sense that the gift,
promise and demand 'sealed' in
baptism center in Him. The Church's
baptism points backward to His
ministry of deeds and teaching and
vicarious identification and suffering;
it points to Him, the living Lord, risen
in victory over sin and death, who
mediateS the gift of the Holy Spirit; it
points to the Lord of all whose lordship
will be made manifest in the
consummation of the Kingdom.
Christ Himself. He is the link between
water-baptism (whether John's or the
Church's) and Spirit-baptism which
remains a free act of God. His own
baptism was of John and of God, of
water and of Spirit. The normal
Christian experience, according to the
N.T. reports, was that those baptized
in water in the name ofjesus Christ
received through Him the gift of the
Spirit. The power of baptism is notthe
power of water or its 'natural' or even
inner content of His own
baptism unfolded in His
vocation. More truly, what
"Jesus Christ is the center
of Christian Baptism.
'prophetic' symbolism, but
rather the free power of the
crucified and living Jesus
Christ. --
He did and what He is are
inseparable. As the Fourth
Christian Baptism means:
"When the Church
baptizes, its intention is to
point to the living Lord as the
Baptizer acting through its
baptism of water. Through
the working of the Spirit,
Gospel makes clear, the
difference between John's
baptism and Christian
baptism is not a difference in
rite but the difference between John
andJesus. Jesus Christ is the center of
Christian Baptism. Christian Baptism
means: To be incorporated into
Christ. ...
The Past and Future Orientation
of Christian Baptism
"The baptism ofJesus (understood in
this inclusive sense of the baptism itself
and the baptism fulfilled in His ministry,
death and resurrea:ion,and the bestowal
of the Spirit) is of central importance
for an understanding of the Church's
baptism. In that inclusive sense, His
baptism is both the source for the
meaning of the Church's baptism and
a criterion for the understanding of
Christian baptism. The baptism
administered by the Church 100llS both
bacltward and forward to jesU5---the
one baptized in the Jordan and
endowed with the Spirit, baptized in
the crudfixion and raised from the
dead, through whom the disdples are
given a share in the new order.
"jesus Christ is the origin of
baptism; not, of course, in the sense
thatJesus originated the rite ofbaptism,
To be incorporated
into Christ."
The Transformation of Baptism by
jesus Christ
"The new content of Christian
baptism is Jesus Christ. He who
submitted to John's baptism
transformed baptism by viltue of His
own person. In Him, God was and is
acting for man's renewal. In Him,
representatively, (elect) man
responded faithfully to God. In Jesus
of Nazareth, baptized by John, God
was 'reconciling the world to himseIP ....
God's gracious and decisive initiative
inJesus for the recondliation and the
renewal of the world is the very
foundation of Christian baptism as it is
of the whole Christian message. The
acknowledgment of the divine, decisive
action in Jesus is the tap-root of the
Church's faith in the incarnation; and
it is the ground of the understanding
of Christian baptism as the sacrament
of prevenient grace. ---
The Linh Between Water-Baptism &
Spirit-Baptism the Person
of] esus Christ
"Thus the true link betweenjohn's
baptism and Christian baptism is Jesus
Christ in baptism gives the assurance
to the baptized that he is given new
life. Baptism is Christ's testimony to
the baptized that His vicarious death
and His resurrection for all men, (I
would prefer to say for all the
elect --J CMIll) , are also for him; that in
Christ, this man is given sonship and
eternal life. -- This rite, which from
the time ofthe N.T. has been a rite of
initiation into the Church, signifies to
the one baptized that Christ has united
him to Himself. By the Spirit, Christ
incorporates him into His Body, the
Church."
The Relation of Christian Baptism
and Faith
"The inseparability of God's
gracious action and man's responsive
action was actuality in Jesus Christ.
Through Him the Father's word of
forgiveness was heard; in Him the
kingdom was inaugurated; in Him God
dwelt, recondlingtheworldto Himself.
And Jesus was utterly loyal and
obedient to the Father; He trusted
wholly in God; He loved men with a
self-sacrificial love. Jesus is much more
July! August, 199-+ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon * 19
than an example fot His disciples; but
He is the example for Christians, the
nOlmativeman, manashe
He is the pattern of the Christian life;
and that pattern is essentially a life
responding in faith, in love and in
obedience to the Father.
"Baptism belongs in this total
context. lIt its complete signification
man's response to God's action is
included. But even in the N.T.
Church ... man's responsive action was
not complete in the human action of
receiving baptism any more than was
God's act complete in His action at the
moment of baptism. The Church's
water-baptism, administered to a
particular candidate, is an act at a
particular time. But Iieither the divine
nor the human action iscircumscribed
by the time of the baptismal rite. That
present act of administering baptism
signifies God's action in our past, in
our present and in our future. It also
signifies the act of the candidate with
his past, his present and his future.
The believer who coines to baptiSm
signifies his repentance and present
faith in the gospel he has heard and
commits himself to live the' Christian
life. What the one baptized does in the
rite of baptism is to give a sign and
even a proleptic (anticipatory) sign of
his faith in and commitrilent to God's
saving deed in Christ.
"In the practice oftheN.T. Church,
the baptismal rite signified both God's
action and man's . response. In the
practice of infant baptism, the
baptismal rite . does not signify the
. response of the baptized either
preceding or at the time of the
observance. The rite ofbaptism in this
respect can only anticipate that the
infant baptized will respond in faith,
owning as his own what was done to
him in being brought to be baptized.
"Whatever may be the temporal
relation between the administration of
baptism and the responsible action of
the baptized,fai!h is inseparable from
baptisnL -- Thedivinegift(ofsalvatlon)
is inseparable from faith; a'nd
sacramental teaChing must not obscure
this inseparability. (To think of infant
baptism as a different sacrament from
believers' baptism would obscure the
inseparability of the power of God for
salvation and faith.) --- In theN.T.,
baptismsigilifies the baptized person's
participation in the new life as well as
his reception of it. Both receptivity
and panicipationareintlmatelyrelated
to each other in the Christian life. --.
'We bave emphasized the motif of
,incorporation into Christ and His
Church; we have qtlled attention to
baptism as the rite ofinitlation into the
Church. As the rite of initiation into
the community, baptism signifies that
the candidate is given the status of a
member in the community, as
naturalization means that a person is
given the status of a citizen; and as that
same ceremony of naturalization
includes profession of loyalty and
al:ceptance of obligations to the
political community, baptism, in its
completeness, includes a profession of
loyalty to the community's Head and
acceptance of responsibilities towards
His Body. The Christian life is personal
but not it is life in a
corporate body---the Church, the
people of God. -- Baptism signifies
accepting the Church as the mother
who instructs, guides, nourishes;
sustains, disciplines and surrounds the
baptized with love. -- Baptism means
the abandonment of the self-enclosed
life. -- Baptismincludesacommitment
not only to live in and to receive froll
the community, but also to contribute
to the life of the community." - (pages
32-57).
THE 'MODE OF JESUS' BAPTISM
The Absence of Immersion
The comments ofLenski, the great
Lutheran commentator of the N.T.,
ate wise and to the point: "Matthew's
20 , THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon July! August, 1994
(or Luke's) EBAPTIDZONTO says
absolutely nothing regarding themode
ofbaptism whiCh the Baptist employed.
Nothing regarding . the mode can be
obtained from the added preposition
EN, "in the river Jordan; for which
Mark 1:9 uses EIS, Withno difference
in meaning. This EN is locative, stating
where the baptism took place; it
denotes place and nothing more. The
readiness With whiCh the multitudes
submitted to baptism is explained by
. the fact that purificatory rites by the
application of water were not new nor
strange to the Jews; and these rites
were not administered by inunersion,
Lev. 14:7,27; Num. 8:7; 10:13; Heb.
. 9: 13; Exod. 19:10;Lev. 15;l.eV. 16:26;
28; 17:15; 33:6; Dt. 23:10. These were
washings, rinsings, and bathings and
NOT immersions. The Jews expected
that, when the Messiahcame, he would
use a purificatory rite such as this; see
the question on this point put to the
Baptist by the Pharisees in John 1:25.
Instead; therefore,. of seeking to explain
Matthew's verb 'were being baptized'
by some later fixed practice obtaining
in the Christian ChurCh at the time
when Matthew wrote, the Christ
practice must explained by. the
pUrificatory riteS used by the jews
since the days of Moses. Sinc\! none of
these were immersions, immersion was
not the mode of either the Baptist's or
Jesus' baptism.
"The verb BAPTIPZO, as . all
lexicons agree, refers to any mode of
applying water. It is linguistically
unwarranted to restrict it to one mode
to theexc1usion of aU other modes,
and that a mode for which Jewish
practice furnishes no evidence. How
could immersions be administered on
the desen journey and in a,city like
Jerusalem, where water was never
abundant? But did not the BaptiSt
labor near the river Jordan? If his
baptism was administered by
immersion, then, since the estimated
number he baptized during the brief
period of a little over a year in which he
labored was between 200,000 and
500,000, he must have lived an
aquatic life. We have no evidence
that he used his disciples as his
assistants when baptizing. Moreover,
he also baptized at Aenon,j ohn 3:23,
the very name of which means
"Springs." The POLLA HUDATA,
literally, 'many waters, rivulets flowing
from these springs, made the
place suitable for his work,
not by furnishing water for
immersions, but byproviding
water for drinking, a great
necessity where many people
were gathered. Of course, he
could use these 'waters' also
to pour or to sprinkle when
baptizing.
"Yet the idea prevails that
the Baptist immersed. This is
plainly traditionalism. It is
well illustrated in the case of
Zahn, who admits that there are no
indications of the mode of baptism in
Matthew's words and yet, when he
tries to imagine how the Baptist
baptized, speaks of a 'Vollbad' (full
bath). Some refer to the baptism of
jewish proselytes, butthey fail of proof
regarding two points. This lite is not
mentioned until the second century,
and no one can show that it was
practiced at the time of the Baptist; still
more vital, no evidence is at hand that
the baptism of proselytes was more
than a washing, it was like similar
jewish rites. Wemayaddthatnowhere
does it appear that the Baptist thought
that he was making proselytes of the
jews whom he baptized." -Lenski, The
Interpretation of Matthew's Gospel,
Augsburg Publishing House,
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1943, pg.
100f.
The Suggestion of Effusion, i.e.
Pouring or Sprinkling
There are some solid reasons to
believe that jesus was baptized by
effuSion, the pouring or sprinkling of
water on His head by john: 0). As
Lenski point out, John's mode of
baptism was patterned after the
washings and pUlification rites of the
O.T., which were sprinklings. Notice
in Hebrew 9: 10 the writer points out
that the rites, rituals and "washings,"
("baptisms" in Greek), of the O.T.
pointed toward and were fulfilled as
symbols in the redemptive work of
Christ. Then in the rest of the chapter
the writer applies three of these
"washings" to the work of Christ and
in each specifically mentions that they
were "sprinklings," Hebrews 9: 13, 19,
21. (2). Since jesus' baptism was His
inauguration into priesthood, we
would expect that this inauguration
would fit the pattern of the Old
Testament, including these three
elements: the priest inaugurated had
to be 30 years of age, asjesus was; he
had to be called of God, which jesus
was from the opened heavens; and he
had to be "anointed" with oil and
"sprinkled" with sacrificial blood,
Exod. 29 :21, and the eqUivalent to this
in jesus' baptism was surely His
"anointing" or "sprinkling" with water
by john the Baptist. In addition, (3).
jesus is "The Chlist," which means in
Greek, NOT the immersed one, but
"The Anointed One," who surely was
anointed with water by John
symbolizing His inauguration into
priestly office in a similar way to the
. "coming down" of the Holy Spirit in
the fOrm of a dove equipping Him for
office. Surely Hiswater-baptism which
symbolized His Spirit-baptism, also
"sign-ified" it, i.e., pictured it.
CONCLUSION
1. In Isaiah 64: 1 the prophet cries
out to God in desperation for
deliverance from the apostasy and
judgment Israel faces: "0 that
Thou wouldst rend the heavens
and come down, that the
mountains might quake at Thy
presence---to make Thy Name
known to TIline adversaries,
that the nations may tremble at
Thy Presence!" In Mark's
account ofjesus' baptism he
alludes to this passage when
he writes, "He saw the
heavens rent asunder ... ," Mk.
1:10.
God answers the cries of
Isaiah injesus Christ. God tore through
the heavens and came down to eanhin
the Person of jesus Christ to make
known His Name to His enemies, that
all the world's nations may tremble
before His Mighty Presence. "The
heavens are opened to jesus as our
Representative and Substitute, and thus
we have the divine assurance that every
impediment and wall of partition that
might hinder our return to God have
been removed by Him. In ChristJesus
Heaven has been opened to us--the
way has been paved for us to go to the
Father's eternal home as His beloved
children, saved by our Redeemer."
-Geldenhuys
The uniqueness of Christianity, as
over against all the other religiOns of
the world, is seen in this: God did not
wait for man to try to work or reason
his way to Him; He came to man,
unable and unwilling to come to Him;
that He might transform him and bring
him to Himself in fellowship and love.
Quit trying to "get to God" on your
own initiative and effort. You cannot!
Julyl August, 1994 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon :n
Repent of what you are Trust draw the picture of His human naOlre, so He did also with reference to the
Christ,afterhavingcomefromGod,to For the divine narure has nohi.story, relation of the human narure to God
take you to God. Obey Him out of does not run through a process of and 'men, for , He increased in favor
gratitude for this wonderful and time, but remains the same withGodandmen, Favorhasreference
gracious salvation. forevermore." Therefore, in what way to the unfolding and development of
2. Rest your fuith in Christ and did the Spirit develop the humanity of the inward life, and maymanifest itself
Christianity, not upon the testimony Jesus? "The human narure in the in a twofold way, either pleasing or
of man, but upon the testimony of Mediator was real, Le., in body and displeasingtoGodandmen.Ofjesus
God. God has declared from the soul it existed as it exists in us, and all it is said that in His development such
heavens in no uncertain gifts and faculties,
tertns: Jesus is the Son of dispositions and attributes,
God, Whom God has your faith in powers and qualifications
appointed to be the unique manifestedthemselves from
and only Savior of sinners; Chrl".st and Chn"s.tl"an:l",ty.,. the inwardlife of His human
There is no reason to doubt nature that God's favor
theclaimsofChrist,because t . th t fj ' " .;,' rested on, whiletheyalfected
there is no reason to doubt no upon , e es ' mony those around Him in a
the testimony of the Living O f m' an, but upo. nth' e' refreshing and helpful way.
God. To ask for more proof Even apart from His
than God's witness is to Messiahship Jesus stood,
question the integrity and testimony of (jod.", " with reference to Hishuman
truthfulness of God. nature, during all the days
Appendix:
L-___ __________ ___ __' of His humiliation, under
JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT' ,
"Who through the Eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God."-
Hebrews 9:14.
The presence and work of the Holy
Spirit in the humanity ofJesus Christ
are not exhausted in His incantation.
The presence and activity of the Holy
Spirit appear throughout the life and
work of our Mediator: in the
development of His human nature, in
His inauguration into His priestly
office, in His humiliation Unto death,
and in His resurrection, exaltation and
return in glory,
. FIRsT, the work of the Spirit in
the development of Christ's
humanity. !"The God-human Person
of the LordJesus ... renderedonemighty
act of obedience by humbling Himself
unto death; and out of that humbling
He ascended not by powers developed
from His human nature, but by a
mighty and extraordinary act of the
power of God, Anyone who
successfully undertook to write the
life of Christ could do no more than
inworking of divine life, light and
power could manifest itself only by
adapting itself tq the peculiarities and
limitations of the human narure. ---
.. He received 'the Holy Spirit without
measure.' . For this indicates that H'i)j
human nature also received the Holy
Spirit; and not this only after He had
lived for years without Him, but every
moment of His existence according to
the measure ofms capacities. Even in
His conception and .birth the Holy
Spitit effected not only a separation
from sin, but He also endowed His
human nature with the glorious gifts,
powers and faculties of which that
nature is susceptible, ---' ... He Oesus)
never could feel the lack orany gift of
the Holy Spirit. He lacked nothing,
possessed all; not by virtue of His
divine nature, which can not receive
anything, being the eterruil fullness
itsel( but by vinue of His human
nature, which was endowed with such
glorious gifts by the Holy Spirit."
"And as the Holy Spirit with every
increase of His human nature enlarged
the.exercise ofitspowers and fuculties,
22 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon July! August, 1994
the constant penetrating operation
ofthe Holy Spirit."
"The fact thac the Holy Spirit
descended uponJesus at His Baptism,
although He had received Him without
measure at His conception, can only
be explained by keeping in view the
differencebetweenthePERSONALand
OFFICIAL life ofJesus."
SECOND, the work of the Spirit in
the inauguration ofjesus to His priestly
office. "What we have said with
reference to the communication of the
Holy Spirit qualifying one for office, as
in the case of Saul, David, and others,
is of direct application here. Although
in His human nature Jesus was
personally in constant fellowship with
the Holy Spirit, yet the official
communication was established only
at the time of His Baptism," This
official influence of the Holy Spirit
accompanied Christ throughout the
entire administration of His office. Yet
there is a difference between the official
work of the Spirit in Jesus and His
official work on the prophets, such as
Ezekiel and Elijah: "while the
propelling power came to them from
without, Jesus, being full of the Holy
Spirit, felt its pressure in the very depths
of His soul. And yet, although
operaring in His soul, this action of the
Holy Spirit was not identical with the
impulses of Christ's human nature,
LK. 4:14.
"It is evidently the purpose of the
Scripture to emphasize the fact of the
inability of the human nature which
Christ had adopted to
accomplish the work ofthe
Messiah without the
constant operations and
powerful leading of the Holy
Spirit." (Mat. 12:28)
"According to the divine
counsel, human nature is
adapted in creation to the
inworking of the Holy
Spirit, without which it can
not unfold itself any more
than the rosebud without
the light and influence of
the sun. As the ear cannot hear without
sound, and the eye cannot see without
light, so is our human nature
incomplete without the light and
indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Wherefore, when the Son assumed
human nature He took it just as it is,
Le., incapable of any holy action
without the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hence He was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, that from the beginning His
human nature should be richly
endowed with powers. The Holy Spirit
developed these powers; and He was
consecrated to His office by the
communication to His human nature
of the Messianic gifts by which He still
intercedes for us as our High Priest,
and rules us as our King. And for this
reason He was guided, impelled,
animated, and supported by the Holy
Spirit at every step of His Messianic
ministry.
"There are three differences
between this communication of the
Holy Spirit to the human nature of
Jesus and that in us: first, the Holy
Spirit always meets with the resistance
of evil in our heans. Jesus' heart was
without sin .... hence in His human
nature the Holy Spirit met no
resistance. Second the Holy Spirit'S
operation, influence, support and
guidance in our human nature is always
individual, Le., in part, imperfect; in
the human nature of Jesus it was
central, perfect,leavingnovoid. Third,
in our nature the Holy Spirit meets
with an ego which in union with that
nature opposes God; while the Person
which He met in the human nature of
Christ, partaking of the divine nature,
was absolutely holy."
THIRD, the work of the Spirit in
the suffering and death ofJesus Christ.
The Deity of Christ supported His
humanity, along with the work of the
Spirit on His humanity. "Christ was
always victorious because His divinity
never relaxed His hold upon the Holy
Spirit in His humanity, but embraced
Him and cleaved to Him with all the
love and energy of the Son of God."
How could the human nature of
Christ pass through eternal death and
not perish? "The human nature of
Christ would have been overwhelmed
by it, the in-shining of the Holy Spirit
would have ceased if His divine nature,
i.e., the infinite mightofHis Godhead,
had not been underneath it."
" ... if the Mediator as man showed
in His human nature such zeal for God
and such pity for sinners that He
willingly gave Himself in self-sacrifice
unto death, then it is evident that His
human nature could not exercise such
consecration without the inworking of
the Holy Spirit; and again that the
Holy Spirit could not have effected
such inworking unless the Son willed
and desired it. The cry of the Messiah
is heard in the words of the psalmist: '1
delight to do Thy will, 0
God.' The Son was willing
so to empty Himself that it
would be possible for His
human nature to pass
through eternal death; and
to this end He let it be filled
with all the mightiness of
the Spirit of God. Thus the
Son offered Hirnself"through
the Eternal Spirit that we
might serve the living God."
"Hence the work of the
Holy Spirit in the work of
redemption did not begin only at
Pentecost, but the same Holy Spirit
who in creation animates all life,
upholds and qualifies our human
nature, and in Israel and the prophets
wrought the work of revelation, also
prepared the body of Christ, adorned
His human nature with gradous gifts,
put these gifts into operation, installed
Him into His office, led Him into
temptation, qualified Him to cast out
devils, and finally enabled Him to
finish that eternal work of
satisfaction whereby our souls are
redeemed."
FOURTH, the work of the Spirit in
the resurrection, ascension, royal
dignity and second corning of Jesus
Christ. InordertounderstandChrist's
exaltation, we must first understand
the nature of His humiliation. "His
self-emptying was not a single loss or
bereavement, but a growing poorer
and poorer, until at last nothing was
left Him but a piece of ground where
July! August, 1994 t- THE COUNSEL of Cbalcedon t- 23
He could weep and a cross whereon
He could die. -- His humiliation being
so deep and real, it Is not surprising
that the Holy Spirit succored and
comforted His human nature so that it
was not overwhelmed. For it is the
proper work ofthe Holy Spirit by gifts
of grace to enable human nature,
temptedby sorrow to sin, to stand firm
and overcome."
But how different is the state of His
glorious exaltation. Whereas the entire
Trinity raises]esus from the dead, the
Holy Spirit performed a unique and
mysterious work FROM WITIiIN in
raising Christ. "If the Spirit kindles
and brings forth all life, . espedally in
man, then it was He who rekindled the
spark quenched by sin and death. He
did so injesus; He will do so in us."
"If, therefore, our blessedness in
heaven Consists in the enjoyment of
the pleasures of God, and it is the Holy
Spirit who comes into COntact with
bur innermost being, it follows that in
heaven He cannot leave us. And upon
this ground we confess, that not only
the elect, but the glorified Christ also,
who continues to be a true man in
heaven, must therefore forever
continue to be filled with the Holy
Spirit. This our churches have always
confessed in the liturgy: 'The same
Spirit who dwells in Christ as the Head
and inus as His members.'
"The same Holy Spirit who
performed His work in the conception
of our Lord, who attended the
unfolding of His human nature, who
brought into activity every gift and
MERICA
he First 350 Years
power in Him, who consecrated Him
to His office as the Messiah, who
qualified Him for every conflict and
temptation, who enabled Him to cast
out devils, and who supported Him in
His humiliation, passion and biuer
death, was the same Spirit who
performed His work in His
resurrection, so thatjesuswas justified
in the Spirit, I Tim. 3:16, and who
dwells now in the glorified human
nature of the Redeemerln the heavenly
jerusalem."
IThe comments in this Section are taken
from Oscar CuUmann's book, Baptism in the
New T <.Stament SCM Press Ltd . London, 1950.
lJhe comments in this s e t ~ o n are taken
fromElmerJ.F.Amdt:sbook. The Font and the
Table.John Knox Press. Richmond. Va., 1967.
'The notes in this appendix are from
Abraham Kuyper's classIc. The Work of the
Holy Spirit. published by Eerdmans.
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M f THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f Julyl August, 199+