Epiphany #7 of 14: baptism #3 of 5.

Behold… the Spirit of God descended like a dove.

(Matthew 3:16)

From the beginning, “the Spirit of God hovered over the waters” (Gn 1:2). So now, in the waters of Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit of God hovers and “descends on Jesus like a dove” (Mt 3:16). Like that dove Noah sent out from the ark to see if the flood waters had subsided. Eventually, the dove returns “with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak” (Gn 8). The goodness of the earth returns. God places the rainbow in the sky as a sign of his promise to stick with his creation, redeem it, and make it right. And now, coming out of the waters of the Jordan, Jesus will follow the path that leads to “a new creation” (2Cor 5:17).

Our sanctuary’s one stain glass window pictures a dove descending upon the congregation. The descending dove represents the Holy Spirit’s stirring. The country song, “On the Wings of a Dove,” tells the story:

When Noah had drifted
on the flood many days
He searched for land
In various ways
Troubles, he had some
but wasn't forgotten
He sent him His love

On the wings of a dove.

On the wings of a snow-white dove
He sends His pure sweet love
A sign from above
On the wings of a dove.

Like a dove, the Holy Spirit hovers over the troubled waters of our earthly lives. The waters subside and we land again on solid ground. God the Holy Spirit is present from the beginning—inseparable from the God the Father and God the Son. We can’t know Christ apart from the Holy Spirit. Baptism marks us as God’s own, and the Holy Spirit seals us in Christ (Eph 1:13). “Immanuel,” God is with us.