阅读经文 

在耶稣来约旦河受洗之前，约翰已经在那里为许多人施过洗了。耶稣没有罪，并不需要悔改。但耶稣要求约翰为祂施洗，因为耶稣说：“我们理当这样尽诸般的义”。（参太 3:15）当耶稣在这里开始祂的教导事工和拯救罪人脱离罪和死亡的使命时，祂被膏立为弥赛亚。在这个角色中，祂作为王，成为被更新的属神子民的代表。祂受洗时被圣灵膏抹，照样，藉着耶稣，神的子民也要接受圣灵的膏抹。

当耶稣从约旦河的水中上来时，祂看到天“裂开”了，圣灵以鸽子的形状降下来膏抹祂。这表明神莅临在祂的子民中间，就像祂在会幕中所做的那样。我们还在哪里看到过水，以及神的灵被描述为飞鸟呢？我们在《创世记》第一章2节中看到过，圣灵运行（盘旋）在水面上。此刻，透过道成肉身活在我们中间的圣子耶稣，神正在更新我们与祂自己的关系。

耶稣受膏后，被圣灵引到旷野。在那里，祂像亚当和夏娃一样受到撒但的试探。但不同的是，耶稣得胜了。（参路 4:1-13）

John had baptized many people in the Jordan River before Jesus came to be baptized there. Jesus, who had no sin, had no need to repent. But John baptized him because Jesus said, "It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). Here, as Jesus set out to begin his teaching ministry and his mission to save us from sin and death, he was being anointed as the Messiah. In this role he would be the king and representative of a renewed people of God. He would be anointed by the Holy Spirit, and then, through Jesus, God's people would receive the Spirit as well.

When Jesus came up out of the water in the Jordan, he saw heaven "torn open" and the Holy Spirit coming down in the form of a dove to anoint him. This showed that God was returning to live among his people, as he had done in the tabernacle (see Oct. 8). Where else have we seen water and the Spirit of God described as a bird? We saw it in Genesis 1:2, with the Spirit hovering over the waters. And here, in Jesus the Son, who came to live among us as a human being, God was working to renew our relationship with himself.

After his anointing, Jesus was sent by the Spirit into the wilderness. There, like Adam and Eve, he was tempted by Satan. But Jesus succeeded where they had not (Luke 4:1-13).