Would you recognize God if He was right in front of you? 

Perhaps a more pragmatic question might be: Do you recognize God as He dwells within you? 

From our baptisms, we are temples of the Holy Spirit. This Third Person of the Trinity is living and moving in us, yet can still remain unrecognizable in a world that often drowns out His quiet, still voice. That should come as no surprise: We have been told that “… I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever - the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17) 

As we strive to know the Holy Spirit, scripture provides signs and symbols to help us relate to this Advocate, Comforter, and Spirit of Truth - most prominently, the dove. Before the Holy Spirit set the Upper Room ablaze with tongues of fire, He descended as a dove from the heavens at Jesus’ baptism. An emblem of peace, life, and worthy sacrifice, the imagery of a dove as completing the personhood of Father, Son, and Spirit gives us a visceral connection to the whispering wind within us. 

In every gospel account of Jesus’ baptism, the authors emphasize a dove-formed Spirit as Jesus emerges from the baptismal waters of the Jordan. We would expect to find an event as significant as Jesus’ baptism described in every gospel, but should allow ourselves to be struck by the specific similarities of each account. 

In Matthew, we read: “And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said. ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’”(Matthew 3:16-17) 

The gospel of Mark corroborates the experience: “And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.’” (Mark 1:10-11)

With the baptism of Jesus, the barrier between heaven and earth not only opened but “tore” as the Holy Spirit joined the Son to carry out the Father’s work on earth. Luke’s writings will now sound familiar: “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)

Finally, in the Apostle John’s gospel, we hear the testimony of John the Baptist: “And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” (John 1:32-33)

The dove is the physical representation of the Holy Spirit in each account of Jesus’ baptism. This was no orb of light, no ray from the heavens, but a very tangible form that would have been recognizable to those gathered at the Jordan River. The dove had been a harbinger of new life and God’s covenant since the days of the Great Flood. At that time, an olive leaf had signified that new life was on the horizon (Genesis 8:11). At Jesus’ baptism, the dove pointed to the eternal life that God would promise through His Son.

The Jewish people awaiting their Messiah might also have recognized the dove as the sacrifice of the poor. It was acceptable for those who could not afford the extravagance of a lamb or goat to use a dove for their sacrificial offering instead. Because doves were perceived as harmless and innocent creatures, they were also popular for rituals of atonement. The presence of a dove aligned with the Living Sacrifice is a poetic and poignant acknowledgment of Christ’s sinlessness, still offered as a sacrifice to mankind. 

It would be enough of a miracle if the Holy Spirit was made visible at Jesus’ baptism. But when the heavens opened and the dove form descended, the Spirit came to dwell in each of us through our own baptisms: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (Corinthians 6:19)

The Spirit is He who is in us. 

It was obvious to those in the Jordan River, as John the Baptist humbly baptized the Lord, that the Spirit was upon Him. God used a language they understood, the covenant-keeping dove, to inform them of the significance of that moment. I wonder: Is it obvious to the world that the Spirit dwells within us? Are our daily lives speaking a Spirit-led language?