Church Fathers Commentary John 1:32-34

"And John bare witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit. And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." — John 1:32-34 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: After John made a declaration so astonishing to all his hearers—namely, that the One he pointed out Himself took away the sins of the world—he confirms it by referring to the Father and the Holy Spirit. For John might be asked, “How did you know Him?” This is why he replies in advance by citing the descent of the Holy Spirit: And John bore record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

St. Augustine of Hippo: However, the descent of the Holy Spirit at His baptism was not the first time Christ received this anointing. In this, He condescended to prefigure His body, the Church, in which those who are baptized preeminently receive the Holy Spirit. For it would be absurd to suppose that at thirty years old (His age when He was baptized by John) He received the Holy Spirit for the first time. It would be equally absurd to think that when He came to that baptism, just as He was without sin, He was also without the Holy Spirit.

For if it is written even of His servant and forerunner John, He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb; and if John, though conceived from his father’s seed, still received the Holy Spirit while he was being formed in the womb, what should we think and believe about Christ, whose very flesh did not have a carnal but a spiritual conception?

We do not claim that only Christ possessed a real body while the Holy Spirit assumed a false appearance to human eyes. For the Holy Spirit, consistent with His nature, could no more deceive people than could the Son of God. The Almighty God, who made every creature out of nothing, could just as easily form a real body of a dove without using other doves as He made a real body in the womb of the Virgin without the seed of a man.

The Holy Spirit was made to appear visibly in two ways: as a dove upon our Lord at His baptism, and as a flame upon His disciples when they were gathered. The first shape denotes simplicity, the second fervency. The dove suggests that souls sanctified by the Spirit should have no deceit, while the fire suggests that in that simplicity there should not be coldness. And do not let it disturb you that the tongues are divided; fear no division, for unity is assured to us in the dove.

It was fitting, then, that the Holy Spirit should be manifested in this way, descending upon our Lord, so that everyone who has the Spirit might know that he ought to be simple as a dove and be in sincere peace with the brethren. The kisses of doves represent this peace. Ravens kiss, but they also tear; the nature of the dove, however, is completely alien to tearing. Ravens feed on the dead, but the dove eats only the fruits of the earth.

If doves moan in their love, do not marvel that the Holy Spirit, who appeared in the likeness of a dove, makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. The Holy Spirit, however, does not groan in Himself, but in us: He makes us groan. And he who groans, knowing that as long as he is under the burden of this mortality he is absent from the Lord, groans rightly; it is the Spirit who has taught him to groan. But many groan because of earthly calamities, losses that trouble them, or bodily sickness that weighs heavily on them. They do not groan as the dove does.

What, then, could more fittingly represent the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of unity, than the dove? As He Himself said to His reconciled Church, My dove is one. What could better express humility than the simplicity and moaning of a dove? Therefore, on this occasion the most Holy Trinity appeared: the Father in the voice that said, You are My beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit in the likeness of the dove. In that Trinity, the Apostles were sent to baptize—that is, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

St. Gregory the Great: He said, Abode upon Him. For the Holy Spirit visits all the faithful, but on the Mediator alone does He remain forever in a unique way, never leaving the Son’s humanity, even as He Himself proceeds from the Son’s divinity. But when the disciples are told of the same Spirit, He shall dwell with you, how is the remaining of the Spirit a unique sign of Christ?

This will appear if we distinguish between the different gifts of the Spirit. Regarding those gifts necessary for attaining life—such as gentleness, humility, faith, hope, and love—the Holy Spirit always remains in all the elect. But with respect to those gifts whose object is not our own salvation but that of others, He does not always remain, but sometimes withdraws and ceases to exhibit them, so that people may be more humble in possessing His gifts. Christ, however, had all the gifts of the Spirit, uninterruptedly and always.

St. John Chrysostom: Should anyone think, however, that Christ truly needed the Holy Spirit in the way that we do, John also corrects this notion. He informs us that the descent of the Holy Spirit took place only for the purpose of revealing Christ: And I knew Him not, but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said to me, Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He who baptizes with the Holy Ghost.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But who sent John? If we say the Father, we speak truly. If we say the Son, we speak truly. But it would be truer to say, the Father and the Son. How then did he not know Him, by whom he was sent? For if he did not know Him by whom he wished to be baptized, it was rash for him to say, I have need to be baptized by You. So then he knew Him; and why did he say, I knew Him not?

St. John Chrysostom: When he said, I knew Him not, he was speaking of a time in the past, not of the time of his baptism when he forbade Him, saying, I have need to be baptized by You.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Let us turn to the other Evangelists, who relate the matter more clearly, and we will find most satisfactorily that the dove descended when our Lord came up from the water. If, then, the dove descended after the baptism, but John said before the baptism, I have need to be baptized by You, he knew Him before His baptism as well. How then did he say, I knew him not, but He who sent me to baptize...? Was this the first revelation of Christ’s person made to John, or was it not rather a fuller disclosure of what had already been revealed?

John knew the Lord to be the Son of God and knew that He would baptize with the Holy Spirit. For before Christ came to the river, when many had gathered to hear John, he said to them, He that comes after me is mightier than I... He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. What then did he not know? Did he not know that our Lord would possess and retain for Himself the power of baptism—so that Paul or Peter could not say, “my baptism,” just as Paul did say, “my Gospel”—while the administration of it would pass to good and bad people indiscriminately?

What hindrance is the wickedness of the minister when the Lord is good? So then, we baptize again after John’s baptism, but we do not baptize again after a murderer's. This is because John gave his own baptism, but the murderer administers Christ’s baptism, which is so holy a sacrament that not even a murderer’s administration can pollute it.

Our Lord could, if He had so willed, have given power to any of His servants to give baptism as if in His own place, and could have imparted to that baptism the same power it would have had when given by Himself. But He did not choose to do this, so that the hope of the baptized might be directed to Him who baptized them; He did not wish a servant to place hope in another servant. If He had given this power to servants, there would have been as many baptisms as there were servants; just as there was the baptism of John, so we would have had the baptism of Paul and of Peter. It is by this power, then, which Christ retains exclusively for Himself, that the unity of the Church is established, of which it is said, My dove is one. A person may have a baptism apart from the dove, but it is impossible for any baptism apart from the dove to be of benefit.

St. John Chrysostom: The Father having sent forth a voice proclaiming the Son, the Holy Spirit also came, bringing the voice to rest upon the head of Christ, so that no one present might think that what was said about Christ was actually said about John.

But it will be asked: How is it that the Jews did not believe, if they saw the Spirit? Such sights, however, require mental vision more than physical sight. If those who saw Christ perform miracles were so drunk with malice that they denied what their own eyes had seen, how could the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove overcome their unbelief? Some say, however, that the sight was not visible to everyone, but only to John and the more devout people present.

But even if the descent of the Spirit as a dove was visible to the physical eye, it does not follow that because everyone saw it, everyone understood it. Zacharias, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Moses themselves saw many things that appealed to their senses, which no one else saw. Therefore, John adds, And I saw, and bore record that this is the Son of God. He had called Him the Lamb before and said that He would baptize with the Spirit, but he had nowhere before called Him the Son.

St. Augustine of Hippo: It was necessary that the only Son of God should baptize, not an adopted son. Adopted sons are ministers of the only Son, but though they perform the ministry, the only Son alone has the power.