Why a dove?

    It was while listening to a download from teacher and theologian Ray Mayhew, that I was prompted to think around this question that he posed; 'Why did the Holy Spirit fall as a dove on Jesus at His baptism?' He went on to comment that John the Baptist had spoken of Jesus coming to 'baptise with fire', and that at Pentecost tongues of fire had come to rest upon the disciples in the upper room. However, at Jesus' baptism the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus not as a tongue of fire, but as a dove. Why a dove?
    With these questions in mind I have reflected on what spiritual realities those looking on at Jesus' baptism would have seen, and how we bridge cultures to apply what is relevant for us today. These reflections are not in any order of importance and are intended to provoke us to think what our lives could look like as men and women upon whom the Spirit rests.

   1. An image of mourning. -Isaiah 38 v14, 59 v 11, Ezeikel 7 v 16.

'Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted' Matthew 5 v 4

    In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus promises that those who mourn shall be comforted. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, and loves to respond to those who are aware of their need and dependency upon Him. He dwells with those who have the broken and contrite spirit of Isaiah 66 v 2, humbly responding to the Lord's word, the very opposite of self sufficient pride and man made religion.
    In recent weeks I have found myself mourning and lamenting the state of the nation. I have felt tearful, and at times angered over how much of our Christian heritage we have thrown away, and have found Psalm 11 v 3 a source of comfort- 'If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?'
   The answer is found in the next verse. As the church we are now the temple of God, ( 1 Cor 3 v 16-17, Ephesians 2 v 19-22, 1 Peter 2 v 4-10). We can pray and intercede for our nation, that God would continue to grant us grace and mercy. I am not one of those who subscribes to the doom and gloom school of prophetic intercession, and believe it is always God's desire for mercy to triumph over judgement, and that He wants to reveal His glory again in these islands. However, I have felt the Holy Spirit's grief over the pollution and destruction of so much of our Christian heritage.
      For example, I grew up in a school system where the Lord's prayer was prayed daily without any awkwardness. Prayer provides a covering over our governmental and educational ininstitutions, inviting the Lord's favour and blessing to rest upon them. Whilst acknowledging the pockets where this heritage still remains, the majority would now feel awkward having prayer at the centre of our government and education systems.
     As I pray and lament the apparent ongoing loss of our Christian inheritance, I am also inspired by the conviction that all is not lost. As I mourn and lament in the Holy Spirit, I am also convinced of the incredible grace and compassion of the Lord towards this nation, and firmly believe lamenting will be turned into the laughter and comfort of the Holy Spirit.

2. An image of atonement honouring the poor.

'And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons- one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean'

                                               Leviticus 12v 8

   Luke records that Mary offered the pair of doves for her purification after the birth of Jesus (Luke 2 v 23-24), the sacrifice of the poor. From the cradle to the grave Jesus is identified with the poor, and any serious move of the Holy Spirit will have the poor at the heart of it.
  The only cautionary note on this is to ensure that our serving of the poor is a response to the love that God has put into our hearts. That love will manifest itself in a variety of political and economic actions, from the micro level of caring for an elderly neighbour, to the macro level of confronting injustice and corruption in government.  
     My cautionary note of ensuring that we are responding to the love of God is because it can be easy for some of us to become zealots who end up cursing rather than praying for those who are the instruments of injustice. Our fight is not against flesh and blood,and we need to remember that Christ died once for all men. The one who died for the thief on the cross, and blind Bartimaeus, also died for the Herods and the Pilates of this world. Only when the dove rests on us can we love and serve the poor, and at the same time pray for the perpetrators of injustice.

3. Resting on a new creation and humanity.

    In Genesis 8 v 8-12, the dove that is released from the ark came to rest upon a new post flood creation. At Jesus' baptism the Holy Spirit found a place of permanent rest upon Jesus. In placing Jesus' genealogy immediately after His baptism, Luke deliberately makes a connection between Jesus, the second Adam, with the first Adam of creation.
    At His baptism Jesus is pointing to the cross where the old order of humanity in Adam will be buried with Him in death, and a new humanity ushered in through His resurrection. We are brand new creations in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (2 Corinthians 5 v 17).The old life of sin and death has been buried with Christ in baptism.
     We are now united with Christ in resurrection, and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is now living in us! We live as joyful new covenant men and women, at peace with God and one another. Our emphasis  is growing into the new humanity that Christ has ushered in through His resurrection. We live as saints in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

4. Image of innocence and purity.

    'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God'.  
                           Matthew 5 v 8.

   Later on in his gospel Matthew records Jesus' words to the Twelve to 'be as shrewd as serpents, and as innocent as doves'. Purity of heart will attract the Holy Spirit.
    The lesson Samuel was taught when anointing the successor to Saul, that God looks at the heart not outward appearance, is one that can take a lifetime to learn. All of us can have an outward hit list of sin and behaviour that we find irritating, but how many of us have pride, carnal ambition , covetousness, lust, jealousy, manipulation, and self righteousness hidden behind a foliage of outward conformity to a right way of living?
    Jesus operated on a different playing field. He knew what was hidden deep inside the heart. A priceless passage for me personally, that has spared me time and time again is in John 2 v 23-25. It reads:
'Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the Feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and He had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in a man'.

    A caution and reserve in relationships is no bad thing at times, particularly with people you don't know very well. I have often been misunderstood for being aloof and one step back at times before committing myself to people. There are times when the Holy Spirit has simply been saying 'Not this one'.
God looks at the heart, through all the good and not so good outward behaviour, all the impressive and not so impressive testimonies. How discerning are we? Do we believe everything we see and hear, or do we probe a little deeper through the way things appear, not as self appointed sheriffs, but as watchmen growing in the insights of the Holy Spirit?

5. The dove is an image of sensitivity.

     Unlike a pigeon that will think nothing of eating of out of your hand, a dove will fly away at the slightest noise or movement. They are highly sensitive birds. Dr R.T. Kendall picked up on this comparison between doves and pigeons in an address he gave. He commented on how insensitive all of us are at times, practising what he coined 'pigeon religion'.
   He would quote amongst others the example of Samson. As Samson slowly gave in to the temptations of Delilah, he gave away the secret of his strength. When the Philistines attacked him, he got up and thought that he could shrug them off as he had done before. On this occasion he 'knew not that the Lord had departed from him' -Judges 16 v 20.
   We can easily offend the Holy Spirit, often with the type of unchecked motives and attitudes we have already touched on. Tongues and prophecy without love in our hearts soon become clanging gongs and clashing cymbals. Gifts of the Holy Spirit, lovely works of grace, can be seen to wrongly promote those we think have the Lord's favour over those we think don't have that favour. The dove that fell on Jesus remained on Jesus. We want the Holy Spirit to remain on our lives, not simply to touch us from time to time in meetings. The Holy Spirit found a permanent and sensitive place to rest and be at home with Jesus. That would not have gone unnoticed by those watching on at his baptism.