Part IV (Tertia Pars) Part 66 (2/2)
Objection 1: It would seem that the heavens should not have been opened unto Christ at His baptism. For the heavens should be opened unto one who needs to enter heaven, by reason of his being out of heaven. But Christ was always in heaven, according to John 3:13: ”The Son of Man who is in heaven.” Therefore it seems that the heavens should not have been opened unto Him.
Obj. 2: Further, the opening of the heavens is understood either in a corporal or in a spiritual sense. But it cannot be understood in a corporal sense: because the heavenly bodies are impa.s.sible and indissoluble, according to Job 37:18: ”Thou perhaps hast made the heavens with Him, which are most strong, as if they were of molten bra.s.s.” In like manner neither can it be understood in a spiritual sense, because the heavens were not previously closed to the eyes of the Son of G.o.d. Therefore it seems unbecoming to say that when Christ was baptized ”the heavens were opened.”
Obj. 3: Further, heaven was opened to the faithful through Christ's Pa.s.sion, according to Heb. 10:19: ”We have [Vulg.: 'Having'] a confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ.”
Wherefore not even those who were baptized with Christ's baptism, and died before His Pa.s.sion, could enter heaven. Therefore the heavens should have been opened when Christ was suffering rather than when He was baptized.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Luke 3:21): ”Jesus being baptized and praying, heaven was opened.”
_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 1; Q. 38, A. 1), Christ wished to be baptized in order to consecrate the baptism wherewith we were to be baptized. And therefore it behooved those things to be shown forth which belong to the efficacy of our baptism: concerning which efficacy three points are to be considered. First, the princ.i.p.al power from which it is derived; and this, indeed, is a heavenly power. For which reason, when Christ was baptized, heaven was opened, to show that in future the heavenly power would sanctify baptism.
Secondly, the faith of the Church and of the person baptized conduces to the efficacy of baptism: wherefore those who are baptized make a profession of faith, and baptism is called the ”sacrament of faith.”
Now by faith we gaze on heavenly things, which surpa.s.s the senses and human reason. And in order to signify this, the heavens were opened when Christ was baptized.
Thirdly, because the entrance to the heavenly kingdom was opened to us by the baptism of Christ in a special manner, which entrance had been closed to the first man through sin. Hence, when Christ was baptized, the heavens were opened, to show that the way to heaven is open to the baptized.
Now after baptism man needs to pray continually, in order to enter heaven: for though sins are remitted through baptism, there still remain the fomes of sin a.s.sailing us from within, and the world and the devils a.s.sailing us from without. And therefore it is said pointedly (Luke 3:21) that ”Jesus being baptized and praying, heaven was opened”: because, to wit, the faithful after baptism stand in need of prayer. Or else, that we may be led to understand that the very fact that through baptism heaven is opened to believers is in virtue of the prayer of Christ. Hence it is said pointedly (Matt.
3:16) that ”heaven was opened to Him”--that is, ”to all for His sake.” Thus, for example, the Emperor might say to one asking a favor for another: ”Behold, I grant this favor, not to him, but to thee”--that is, ”to him for thy sake,” as Chrysostom says (Hom. iv in Matth. [*From the supposit.i.tious Opus Imperfectum]).
Reply Obj. 1: According to Chrysostom (Hom. iv in Matth.; from the supposit.i.tious Opus Imperfectum), as Christ was baptized for man's sake, though He needed no baptism for His own sake, so the heavens were opened unto Him as man, whereas in respect of His Divine Nature He was ever in heaven.
Reply Obj. 2: As Jerome says on Matt. 3:16, 17, the heavens were opened to Christ when He was baptized, not by an unfolding of the elements, but by a spiritual vision: thus does Ezechiel relate the opening of the heavens at the beginning of his book. And Chrysostom proves this (Hom. iv in Matth.; from the supposit.i.tious Opus Imperfectum) by saying that ”if the creature”--namely, heaven--”had been sundered he would not have said, 'were opened to Him,' since what is opened in a corporeal sense is open to all.” Hence it is said expressly (Mk. 1:10) that Jesus ”forthwith coming up out of the water, saw the heavens opened”; as though the opening of the heavens were to be considered as seen by Christ. Some, indeed, refer this to the corporeal vision, and say that such a brilliant light shone round about Christ when He was baptized, that the heavens seemed to be opened. It can also be referred to the imaginary vision, in which manner Ezechiel saw the heavens opened: since such a vision was formed in Christ's imagination by the Divine power and by His rational will, so as to signify that the entrance to heaven is opened to men through baptism. Lastly, it can be referred to intellectual vision: forasmuch as Christ, when He had sanctified baptism, saw that heaven was opened to men: nevertheless He had seen before that this would be accomplished.
Reply Obj. 3: Christ's Pa.s.sion is the common cause of the opening of heaven to men. But it behooves this cause to be applied to each one, in order that he enter heaven. And this is effected by baptism, according to Rom. 6:3: ”All we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in His death.” Wherefore mention is made of the opening of the heavens at His baptism rather than at His Pa.s.sion.
Or, as Chrysostom says (Hom. iv in Matth.; from the supposit.i.tious Opus Imperfectum): ”When Christ was baptized, the heavens were merely opened: but after He had vanquished the tyrant by the cross; since gates were no longer needed for a heaven which thenceforth would be never closed, the angels said, not 'open the gates,' but 'Take them away.'” Thus Chrysostom gives us to understand that the obstacles which had hitherto hindered the souls of the departed from entering into heaven were entirely removed by the Pa.s.sion: but at Christ's baptism they were opened, as though the way had been shown by which men were to enter into heaven.
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SIXTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 39, Art. 6]
Whether It Is Fitting to Say That When Christ Was Baptized the Holy Ghost Came Down on Him in the Form of a Dove?
Objection 1: It would seem that it is not fitting to say that when Christ was baptized the Holy Ghost came down on Him in the form of a dove. For the Holy Ghost dwells in man by grace. But the fulness of grace was in the Man-Christ from the beginning of His conception, because He was the ”Only-begotten of the Father,” as is clear from what has been said above (Q. 7, A. 12; Q. 34, A. 1). Therefore the Holy Ghost should not have been sent to Him at His baptism.
Obj. 2: Further, Christ is said to have ”descended” into the world in the mystery of the Incarnation, when ”He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7). But the Holy Ghost did not become incarnate. Therefore it is unbecoming to say that the Holy Ghost ”descended upon Him.”
Obj. 3: Further, that which is accomplished in our baptism should have been shown in Christ's baptism, as in an exemplar. But in our baptism no visible mission of the Holy Ghost takes place. Therefore neither should a visible mission of the Holy Ghost have taken place in Christ's baptism.
Obj. 4: Further, the Holy Ghost is poured forth on others through Christ, according to John 1:16: ”Of His fulness we all have received.” But the Holy Ghost came down on the apostles in the form, not of a dove, but of fire. Therefore neither should He have come down on Christ in the form of a dove, but in the form of fire.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Luke 3:22): ”The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape as a dove upon Him.”
_I answer that,_ What took place with respect to Christ in His baptism, as Chrysostom says (Hom. iv in Matth. [*From the supposit.i.tious Opus Imperfectum]), ”is connected with the mystery accomplished in all who were to be baptized afterwards.” Now, all those who are baptized with the baptism of Christ receive the Holy Ghost, unless they approach unworthily; according to Matt. 3:11: ”He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost.” Therefore it was fitting that when our Lord was baptized the Holy Ghost should descend upon Him.
Reply Obj. 1: As Augustine says (De Trin. xv): ”It is most absurd to say that Christ received the Holy Ghost, when He was already thirty years old: for when He came to be baptized, since He was without sin, therefore was He not without the Holy Ghost. For if it is written of John that 'he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb,' what must we say of the Man-Christ, whose conception in the flesh was not carnal, but spiritual? Therefore now,” i.e. at His baptism, ”He deigned to foreshadow His body,” i.e. the Church, ”in which those who are baptized receive the Holy Ghost in a special manner.”
Reply Obj. 2: As Augustine says (De Trin. ii), the Holy Ghost is said to have descended on Christ in a bodily shape, as a dove, not because the very substance of the Holy Ghost was seen, for He is invisible: nor as though that visible creature were a.s.sumed into the unity of the Divine Person; since it is not said that the Holy Ghost was the dove, as it is said that the Son of G.o.d is man by reason of the union. Nor, again, was the Holy Ghost seen under the form of a dove, after the manner in which John saw the slain Lamb in the Apocalypse (5:6): ”For the latter vision took place in the spirit through spiritual images of bodies; whereas no one ever doubted that this dove was seen by the eyes of the body.” Nor, again, did the Holy Ghost appear under the form of a dove in the sense in which it is said (1 Cor. 10:4): ”'Now, the rock was Christ': for the latter had already a created existence, and through the manner of its action was called by the name of Christ, whom it signified: whereas this dove came suddenly into existence, to fulfil the purpose of its signification, and afterwards ceased to exist, like the flame which appeared in the bush to Moses.”
Hence the Holy Ghost is said to have descended upon Christ, not by reason of His being united to the dove: but either because the dove itself signified the Holy Ghost, inasmuch as it ”descended” when it came upon Him; or, again, by reason of the spiritual grace, which is poured out by G.o.d, so as to descend, as it were, on the creature, according to James 1:17: ”Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.”
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