Baptism of Jesus mosaic Ravenna
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:21-22 NRSV
Last Sunday was Baptism of Jesus in the Christian year and I'll admit that while in congregational ministry I only occasionally picked up on this event which marked the beginning of Jesus' public ministry with an act of humility. Often in January I would offer a series of sermons on a topic or theme as a break from the ecumenical lectionary.
In Luke's gospel, as with the others, the adult Jesus is baptized in the Jordan river by his cousin, John, and the Holy Spirit is present in the form of a dove.
I've been thinking about this gospel story after hearing a CBC Radio The Current piece about pigeons before Christmas. It was an interview with science writer Rosemary Mosco about the pigeon, a bird which is often dismssed as a "rat with wings", and her book, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World's Most Misunderstood Bird. During the conversation she mentions that pigeons are doves and that religions, including Christianity, have a place of honour for doves. They are an important part of the Genesis story of the ark and in the story of Jesus' baptism the Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/15886125-getting-one-worlds-misunderstood-birds-pigeon
This took me on to an intriguing book by Mark Wallace called When God Was a Bird: Christianity and the Re-Enchantment of the World. At the beginning of his introduction there is a woodcut of a pigeon/dove in flight. There is something powerful in the image of the Creator, Redeemer God who animates us and all that lives in the form of a bird so many of us hold in disdain, although Rosemary Mosco points out that pigeons have fallen from a rather exalted place over time. I figure have developed a contempt for the birds which have adapted to us, such as gulls and crows and pigeons.
One of the earliest hymns of the Christian community found in Philippians speaks of how the Christ who emptied himself on the cross for our sakes was exalted, so perhaps the dove-pigeon imagery is more powerful than we can imagine.
We affirm our belief in the God of Creation who is still creating. What does that mean when destructive volcanoes erupt? My Groundling blog today?
https://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2022/01/volcanos-creation-and-creating.html
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