The Dove - A Symbol of God's Salvation

This weekend, many congregations in the Christian tradition will remember our Lord’s baptism in the river Jordan. In this story, we are given a small insight into the nature of a God who is otherwise, up to this point in the story, rather mysterious. As a dripping wet Jesus comes up out of the water, an amazing discovery is made if we look closely at the text. The God whom we worship is suddenly made manifest in a Trinitarian mode or nature. God is Father we discover, who has a Son whom he claims as the beloved, and these two beings are related to one another through the action of a Spirit. I wonder how often readers of this first portion of the Gospel of Luke pause and take in the momentous innovation that is being described about the Hebrew Deity.  

In addition, the baptism passage found in the third chapter of Luke is rich with a symbolism. When we read that the Spirit descended upon the baptized Jesus in the form of a dove, the author of the third Gospel wants us to recall a favorite story from the Hebrew Bible. In the story of Noah, God decides to destroy the earth with a flood because human beings had become wicked beyond belief. So God places Noah, the only righteous one to be found, with his family and many animals in a huge boat which is able to ride out the deluge. When the sun comes out, Noah sends out a dove. When it returns to him with an olive branch, he knows that the waters are beginning to subside and they are saved.

In Jewish tradition, then, the dove became a symbol of God’s salvation from disaster and calamity. The appearing of a dove meant that the difficult times were nearly at an end, and that the new day would soon appear. I wonder if Luke is trying to reassure his readers, right at the beginning of his narrative, that the Spirit has come to Jesus as a sign and promise that all will be well. This does not mean that, as we well know, Jesus’ life will be a “gentle walk in the park.” But even though there will be tumult, pain and suffering: in the end, all will be well.

Love One Another - Brian