ifi) The Voice from /leoren. — It has been too readily assumed by some distinguished writers (e.g. Usener) that the oldest version of the voice from heaven was in exact agreement with I*s 'J' 'Thou art my [belovetl] Son: this day have 1 begotten thee.' in two of the three Svnoptics the reading is nn<lonbtedly • e fTo'i [<i] evioKfiva [ijiifi-l. It Is true, however, that in Lk li^a ^j^ ImpoiUiiit group of authorities bus «Y'*'*"?^*pe^'7e7€i'eTj<C(i<T<. This Is tile reading of the larger branch of the Western text (D a b c (//, coiltt. votniuV. an. Aug, .luvenc. al.^. A similar reading is found in dustin, c. Tnjph. hitt and in other writers, and both reatlings are combined in the Kbionite Gosp. as quoted by Kpiphanius. [The evidence is collected iu full by Kesch, Ayrnjtha, p. 'Ml If.]. On the other hand, it Is by no means certain that in some of these cases the Ps is not directly quoted, and in all asshniiation to the text of the Ps lay very near at hanil. Kven the Western t<?xt of Lk Is divided, 'a smaller but very ancient branch (Including e) agreeing with the mass of the ilr. MSS. There cjm be little doubt that not only the Canonical (Jospels. but the ground document on which they are based, hail the common reaillng. The competing reading was a natural applica- tion of 1"» '2', and it fell In so readily with views which In ditferent forms circulated rather widely In the 'Jnd cent, that we cannot bo surprised If It met with a certain amount of adoption. See, furtlu-r. below.
iy) Apoenjphal Ot-titih. — Thestorvof the Baptism underwent various apocryphal aniplilleations and adornments, One of the earliest of these is the appearance of a bright light <Codd. Vercell. et Sangcrm, ad Mt S'»; Ev, Kbton, ap. Kplph,, Kphraein Syr, I or of a lire upon the Jordan (.lust. c. Trtnih. ss. rnet/iealio Paitti ap. Ps.-t'yi'r. de liebapt. 11 at.). 'Ihemost elaborate working up of this' kind of material is foun<l In the Svrinc BaptUmal Lituri/i/ of Severutt (Kesch, Agriipha, p.
Hi! I ir.v
(6) Th e Sijnoptic a rtd .toha tinea ii Verniontt. — When a prophet began his prophetic career he received clear proof of the reality of his call most often through some |»owerful Inner experience or vision (e.ff. is ti), but also at times through Divine revelation to arxither (*■.(/. 1 K lU'"). We may regard the events of the Baptism as a Divine authentication of this kind of the Mission of Jesus. But if so, there would be nothing inctingrnous in supposing that this authentication was vouchsafcil, both to the Messiah llimself and to the Forerunner, Just as a similar anlheti' tlcAtlun was vouchsafed to St. Paul and to Ananhis (Ac IH*- >>■■».
• Resch (TT". x. 11. .'>7), In his Iat*'r opinion, regards this narra- tive as belonging to the oldest evangelical document; but the passages which he has collected In suptxtrt i>f this view might qidte well be explained as pankphnlslie allusions to the camuilcal Mt. The (iosp. lue, to Ileb. as uswl by the Kbionlles (Kiilpli. /Ait. XXX. l:t| had a similar scene aAer the Baptism of .fesus (Kesch. Affl■ap^a, p. S4a f.).
W«- are therefore not In any way eompelle<l to choose between the Synoptic and Johannean versions as to the Incidence o! the sujjernatural signs. The two versions may quite well be thought of as supplcmeDting rather than coutnidlcting eacU other.
The Baptism of Jesus undoubtedly marks the beginning of His public ministry. How much more was it than this? The Judaizing Ebionites of the 2nd century, who never ro.se above the conception of Christ as an inspired prophet, and some Gnostic sects which separated the Man Jesus from the -ICon f'hristus, starling from the Synoptic narra- tive, and combining it with I's 2', liated from the Baptism the union of the human and the Divine in Christ in such a way that they are sometimes described as making the Baptism a substitute for the .supernatural Birth. We can imagine how, to those who had the story of the Baptism before them, but who had not yet been reached by the tidings of those earlier events round which the veil of a sacred privacy had been drawn, and which (as we shall see) only made their way to general knowleilge by slow degrees and after some length of time had elapsed, should regard the descent of the Holy Ghost as a first endowment with Divinity. The fact that it was not till then that Jesus began to perform His 'mighty works,' would seem to give some colour to the belief. And it woulil be likely enough that a passing phase of C'hri.stian thought, based ui)on imiierfect knowledge, woulil survive in certain limited circles. But the main body of the Church tliil not rest in this contracted view, which was really inconsistent with the Christology revealed to us in the earliest group of St, I'aul's Epistles. It accepted, and, through such leaders as Ignatius of Antioch, emphasized strongly the earlier chapters of the canonical narrative ; and the contents of tho.'ic chapters gave shape to the oldest form (which can hardly be later than Ignatius) of the A])ostles' Creed. Already, before the 1st century was out, St. John had presented what was to be the Catholic interjiretation of the relation of the Baptism to the Godhead of Christ. Far back at the very beginning of all beginnings the Divine Woril had already been face to face with God, and was Him- self God ; so' that, when the same Word entered into the conditions of humanity, this did not denote any loss of Godhead which was inherent and essential. JIuch less could the Godhead of the incarnate Christ be supposed to dale from the signs which accompanied tlie Baptism. The object of these signs was rather to inaugurate the public ministry of the Messiah, that He might be 'mani- fested to Israel' (tva ^a^f/jaiOg Tip Icrp., ,Tn 1"). Though the Greek is different the idea is the same as that in Lk 1*", where it is said of the Baptist himself that he wa.s in the desert 'till the day of his showing unto Israel' (fwy ijn^pas avaSel^eui airroO jrpAs Tiv'lcrp.). Whether or not the signs were in the first instance seen by more than the Messiah llimself and the Baptist (and it is [irobable that they were not), they were matle public by the Baptist's declaration (Jn !'■'*'*'), so that in any case there was a real ' manifestation to Israel.'