Apostolic Antiquity

Many have sited the baptism of Jesus Christ which is in all four gospels as proof that God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinguished in personhood. 

“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened ^[b]unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; ¹⁷ and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, ^[c]This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” — Matthew 3:16-17

Here Trinitarians topically interpret the voice from heaven as the Father, the Spirit defending as a dove as the Holy Spirit and of course Christ as the Son. A clear message about the Trinity right? Not so fast. Was this really Gods message in showing this divine demonstration? No. So what was the message? 

“And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize ^[d]in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth ^[e]in the Holy Spirit. ³⁴ And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” — John 1:33-34

Here we clearly see that God did not speak to John concerning a Trinity or a revelation of the nature of God. No but rather a revelation of the Son of God. This is why in Luke’s gospel a genealogy proceeds the account of Jesus’s baptism and it ends in verse 38 saying, “ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” why is this important? Because it’s a emphasis is on Adam being the first son of God. And as we know Jesus is the second Adam (read 1 Corinthians 15: 45-49). Jesus is the second Son of God! Adam was created without a human father but his was God. Jesus likewise had no earthly father but was conceived by the Holy Ghost. Jesus became the second Son of God to undo what Adam the first son of God had done, namely sin. And this is synonymous with the identity of the Messiah. 

But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” — Matthew 16:16 

Here we see that “Messiah” and “Son of God” are very closely related terms. It’s no wonder then that at Jesus’s baptism both of these thing were revealed. The voice from heaven clearly and explicitly declared Jesus’s Sonship as a man. But what about the Spirit what did that indicate? Well of course as we already read in John 1:33 it was to John a sign of Him who would baptize with the Holy Spirt, but there is yet another layer of meaning. 

Isaiah 11 speaks of one who would be from the leniage of Jesse the father of David and that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon Him. 

“And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” — Isaiah 11:1-2

When we look at the baptism of Jesus we see exactly this. One of who is from the line of David with the Spirit decending and resting upon Him in the shape of a dove. This attested to His being anointed as the Messiah. Usaly when one is anointed with oil it is a symbol for the Spirit of God being upon that person Jesus did not need the symbol of the oil but it was already made clear in that moment that the Spirit of God was upon Him. 

“^sThe Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound” — Isaiah 61:1 

This verse of scripture treat the Spirit of God being upon someone and being anointed as synonymous. In fact this verse is directly applied to Jesus in the New Testament (read Luke 4:16-20). 

Whether symbolic or literal, the text’s purpose is to reveal Jesus’ identity and mission, not the inner nature of God.

So we see that the baptism of Jesus had a message indeed, however that message was not about the Trinity. It was about who Jesus really is, as Peter said “the Messiah, the Son of the living God”.