The Gospel of Matthew
The Presentation of Jesus: Mt 3,13-17
In 3,1 John appears then in 3,13 Jesus appears; the same word provides a parallel which is lost by the translations. That there is a parallel between John and Jesus and their ministries has been established by the preceeding verses. Yet verse 11 also makes clear that the one to come is mighter than John the Baptist. Of the evangelists, only Matthew clarifies this question of an inferior baptising a superior with the exchange in verses 14 and 15.
Verse 15 is important because these are the first words of Jesus in the Gospel. Thus "fulfilling all righteousness" will be an important expression if we are to understand the teachings of this Gospel.
Fulfillment is important for Matthew, evident with the way we have seen him quote the prophecies of the Old Testament (1,22 & 2,23). Righteous is a key word for this Gospel; we have already met Joseph the righteous man (1,19). Righteousness requires an appropriate way of life, doing God's will, as in the beatitude of 5,6 and in what is said in 6,33, "seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness". Thus it is necessary for Jesus to act in complete solidariety, harmony, with his fellow human beings. He must be like humans in all things even though he does not share human sin. That means he accepts John's baptism, even though his own baptism will be superior, a baptism with the Holy Spirit and purifying fire (verse 11).
The scene now becomes a theophany, a revelation of God, through the heavens opening as in the commissioning of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezk 1,1). Is 64,1 is a powerful prayer that God may once again reveal himself to his people for their deliverance. This is now of course fulfilled in Jesus.
Most commentators see the spirit hovering like a dove as a reference to the spirit or breath of God (the same word means both spirit and breath) hovering over the waters at the beginning of creation (Gen 1,2).
The servant of Isaiah 42,1 also forms a background to these two verses: the servant has the spirit (verse 16) and he is the one in whom the Lord delights (verse 17).
The other classic reference here is Ps 2,7: You are my Son today I have begotten you. This is a weaker reference in Matthew because he has changed Mark "You are my beloved Son " to "This is my beloved Son".
Yet this change from "you" to "this" is important because in Matthew (but not Mark or Luke), the voice from heaven in verse 17 is a public proclamation or revelation of Jesus as the Son. Which is why this scene may be better called the Presentation of Jesus.
At the same time, for Matthew as well as Mark, this is a personal experience for the young Jesus: both verse 16 and Mark 1,10 have "he saw".
The consequences of this now follow.
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