Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 1:32
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
32. bare record ] Better, bare witness; comp. Joh 1:7-8 ; Joh 1:15 ; Joh 1:19 ; Joh 1:34.
I saw ] Better, I have beheld, or contemplated (1Jn 4:12; 1Jn 4:14), the perfect of the verb used in Joh 1:14 ; Joh 1:38.
like a dove ] This was perhaps visible to Christ and the Baptist alone. A real appearance is the natural meaning here and is insisted on by S. Luke (Luk 3:22). And if we admit the ‘bodily shape’ at all, there can be no sound reason for rejecting the dove. The marvel is that the Holy Spirit should be visible in any way (comp. ‘the tongues of fire,’ Act 2:3), not that He should assume the form of a dove in particular. Of course this visible descent of the Spirit made no change in the nature of Christ. It served two purposes, (1) to make the Messiah known to the Baptist, and through him to the world; (2) to mark the official commencement of the ministry of the Messiah, like the anointing of a king. The whole incident is very parallel to the Transfiguration. In both Christ is miraculously glorified previous to setting out to suffer; in both a voice from heaven bears witness to Him; at both ‘the goodly fellowship of the Prophets’ is nobly represented.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Bare record – Gave testimony.
I saw the Spirit … – See the notes at Mat 3:16-17.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 32. I saw the Spirit descending, c.] See the notes on Mat 3:16, Mat 3:17.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Saith John, According to the revelation which I had, when I received my extraordinary commission to baptize, so it fell out to me, I did see, when he was baptized, the heaven opening, and a representation of the Spirit of God (for no man can see God and live) descending. The form of the representation was like that of a dove. And it was not a mere transient sight, but it did for some time abide upon that person, in that sensible representation; by that token I knew that he was the Son of God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And John bare record,…. The same day that he said the above things, and at the same time:
saying, I saw the Spirit; that is, of God, as is said in Mt 3:16 and which Nonnus here expresses; and the Ethiopic version reads, “the Holy Ghost”,
descending from heaven like a dove; at the time of his baptism;
see Gill “Mt 3:16”.
And it abode upon him; for some time; so long as that John had a full sight of it, and so was capable of giving a perfect account of it, and bearing a certain and distinct testimony to it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Bare witness (). First aorist active indicative of . Another specimen of John’s witness to the Messiah (John 1:7; John 1:15; John 1:19; John 1:29; John 1:35; John 1:36).
I have beheld (). Perfect middle indicative of , the realization of the promise of the sign (verse 33) by which he should recognize the Messiah. As a matter of fact, we know that he so recognized Jesus as Messiah when he came for baptism before the Holy Spirit came (Mt 3:14ff.). But this sight of the Spirit descending as a dove upon Jesus at his baptism (Mark 1:10; Matt 3:16; Luke 3:22) became permanent proof to him. John’s allusion assumes the Synoptic record. The Semites regarded the dove as a symbol of the Spirit.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And John bare record, saying,” (kai emarturesen loannes legon) “And John testified, repeatedly saying,” bearing testimony relating to the identity of Jesus Christ as God’s Messiah Son.
2) “I saw the Spirit descending,” (hoti tetheamai to pneuma katabainon) “That I have seen (and did) observe the spirit coming down,” as recounted by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in each of the Gospels. It was the Spirit, not the “dove form,” that John saw.
3) ”From heaven like a dove,” (hos peristeran eks ouranou) “As or similar to a dove out of heaven,” the Spirit came down, Mat 3:15-17; Mar 1:9-11; Luk 3:21-22.
4) “And it abode upon him.” (kai ememen ep’ auton) “And it rested, abode, or remained upon him.” It or He resided upon Him in a glory form, beheld here by John the Baptist and later by Peter, James, and John at the transfiguration, Joh 1:14; Mat 17:1-5; 2Pe 1:16-18. It was the Holy Spirit that gave the dazzling glory, the brilliance to that baptismal moment, the transfiguration moment, and will give the glory to every redeemed one in the moment of the resurrection, Rom 8:11; 1Co 15:41-42, 1Jn 3:1-3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
32. I saw the Spirit, descending like a dove. This is not a literal but a figurative mode of expression; for with what eyes could he see the Spirit ? But as the dove was a certain and infallible sign of the presence of the Spirit, it is called the Spirit, by a figure of speech in which one name is substituted for another; not that he is in reality the Spirit, but that he points him out, as far as human capacity can admit. And this metaphorical language is frequently employed in the sacraments; for why does Christ call the bread his body, but because the name of the thing is properly transferred to the sign? especially when the sign is, at the same time, a true and efficacious pledge, by which we are made certain that the thing itself which is signified is bestowed on us. Yet it must not be understood that the dove contained the Spirit who fills heaven and earth, (Jer 23:24,) but that he was present by his power, so that John knew that such an exhibition was not presented to his eyes in vain. In like manner, we know that the body of Christ is not connected with the bread, and yet we are partakers of his body.
A question now arises, why did the Spirit at that time appear in the form of a dove ? We must always hold that there is a correspondence between the sign and the reality. When the Spirit was given to the apostles, they saw cloven tongues of fire, (Act 2:3,) because the preaching of the gospel was to be spread through all tongues, and was to possess the power of fire. But in this passage God intended to make a public representation of that mildness of Christ of which Isaiah speaks in lofty terms,
The smoking flax he will not quench, and the bruised reed he will not break, (Isa 42:3.)
It was then, for the first time, that the Spirit was seen descending on him; not that he had formerly been destitute of him, but because he might be said to be then consecrated by a solemn rite. For we know that he remained in concealment, during thirty years, like a private individual, because the time for his manifestation was not yet come; but when he intended to make himself known to the world, he began with his baptism. At that time, therefore, he received the Spirit not only for himself, but for his people; and on that account his descent was visible, that we may know that there dwells in him an abundance of all gifts of which we are empty and destitute. This may easily be inferred from the words of the Baptist; for when he says, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, it is he who baptizeth with the Spirit, his meaning is, that the reason why the Spirit was beheld in a visible form, and remained on Christ, was, that he might water all his people with his fullness. What it is to baptize with the Spirit I have already noticed in a few words; namely, that he imparts its efficacy to baptism, that it may not be vain or useless, and this he accomplishes by the power of his Spirit.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(32) I saw.Better, I have seen, or beheld. The vision is in its result ever present, and is all-conclusive evidence. (Comp. the words in their historic setting, Mat. 3:16, Note.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(32, 33) In these verses the Evangelist again makes prominent the solemn witness of John, giving the process by which conviction had come to his own mind.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
32. It abode upon him The mystic symbol did not alight and then fly off again; it remained until it became invisible, as if fusing down into his person.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of Heaven, and it abode on Him. And I did not know Him. But He Who sent me to baptise with water, He said to me, on whoever you shall see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, the same is He who baptises with the Holy Spirit”.’
In accordance with the writer’s principle to emphasise spiritual meaning rather than physical events he does not describe the baptism of Jesus. He rather depicts it through the mouth of John. ‘John bore witness’. This is the writer’s constant emphasis. John is a witness and not the Person Himself. But as such his credentials are from God. He is a reliable witness sent by God.
‘He Who sent me to baptise (drench) with water.’ We note here that John was actually commissioned to carry out the acted parable of drenching people as a symbol of drenching in the Holy Spirit, just as God had of old sent His prophets to act out symbols before the people.
‘The Spirit descending as a dove from Heaven.’ This confirms the accounts in the other Gospels where the descent is ‘like a dove’. Some visible manifestation was observed when the Spirit came on Jesus which reminded people of a dove. The dove was a symbol of purity and gentleness. It was also a sign that the time of judgment had come to an end (Gen 8:10-11).
‘It abode on Him’. This was no temporary blessing, it ‘remained’ on Him. In contrast with those who were at times ‘filled (pimplemi) with the Holy Spirit’ for specific but temporary purposes, He was ‘full (pleres) of the Holy Spirit’ continually (Luk 4:1). The word ‘abide’ is found constantly throughout the Gospel to indicate the relationship between Jesus and the Father, and the relationship His people can have with Him. It is a word expressing close relationship.
‘He Who drenches (baptises) with the Holy Spirit’. The coming of the Spirit promised in the prophets would take place through the authority and power of Jesus, through Whom all the promises would be fulfilled. He had the Holy Spirit within His gift (Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7), and through Him the Holy Spirit would drench (baptizo) His people. John’s baptism was picturing this coming event and marking out those who were preparing themselves by repentance to receive it. They were being prepared for the coming of Jesus (see Luk 1:15-17).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 1:32 . What John had said in Joh 1:31 , viz. that though Jesus was unknown to him as the Messiah, yet his commission was to make Him known to the people, needed explanation; and that as to the way in which he himself had come to recognise Him as the Messiah . This was, indeed, a necessary condition before he could make the to the people. This explanation he now gives in the following testimony (not first spoken upon another occasion, Ewald) concerning the divine , which he beheld . And the evangelist considers this testimony so weighty, that he does not simply continue the words of the Baptist, but solemnly and emphatically introduces the testimony as such: , . . ., words which are not therefore parenthetical (Bengel, Lcke, and most), but from an impressive part of the record: “And a testimony did John bear, when he said.” The following simply recitative .
] I have seen; Perfect, like in Joh 1:34 , which see. The phenomenon itself took place at the baptism, which is assumed as known through the Gospel tradition, and is referred to in Joh 1:33 by , which implies that the was to take place at the baptism of the person spoken of. This is in answer to Baur, p. 104 ff., according to whom there is no room here for the supposition that Jesus was baptized by John, an assertion all the more groundless, because if we insert the baptism of Jesus before Joh 1:19 , there is no place in the plan of this Gospel for the narration of a fact which is assumed as universally known.
The sight itself here spoken of was no mere production of the imagination, but a real sight; it indicates an actual event divinely brought about, which was traditionally worked up by the Synoptics into a visible occurrence more or less objective (most unhesitatingly by Luke), but which can be the subject of testimony only by virtue of a (Origen). See on Mat 3:17 , note.
] i.e. shaped like a dove : , Nonnus. See on Mat 3:16 . According to Ewald, “the sudden downward flight of a bird, coming near to Him at the moment, confirmed the Baptist’s presentiment,” etc. Conjectures of this kind are additions quite alien to the prophetic mode of view.
] The transition here to the finite verb is owing to the importance of the fact stated. Bernhardy, p. 473; Buttmann, N. T. Gk . p. 327 [E. T. p. 382]. , however, is not synonymous with (Joh 19:31 ); the idea is, “ remained (‘fluttered not away,’ Luther) directed towards Him .” We are to suppose the appearance of a dove coming down, and poising itself for a considerable time over the head of the person. See on with the accusative (Joh 3:36 ; 1Pe 4:14 ), seemingly on the question “where?” Schaef. ad Long . p. 427; Matthiae, p. 1375; Khner, ad Xen. Anab . i. 2. 2.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
Ver. 32. See Trapp on “ Mat 3:16 “ See Trapp on “ Mar 1:10 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
32, 33. ] “Qu sequuntur, erant testimonii : qu ex Joh 1:29 sq. dicuntur, erant demonstrationis ex testimonio . Cohrentibus Baptist verbis Evangelista quasi parenthesin interponit: .” Bengel.
The occurrence related by John happened at the baptism of Jesus, which is therefore here pre-supposed as known . Although this has been questioned (Usteri, Nachrichten ber den Tufer J. u.s.w., cited by Lcke, i. 423), I cannot see how it can be reasonably doubted. We cannot surely suppose that such a sign was twice shewn. On the appearance itself, see note Mat 3:16 . The account here given confirms the view which I have there maintained, that the appearance was confined to our Lord and the Baptist: he was to receive the sign, and then to testify to the others, who were not themselves yet the bearers, but the recipients of testimony: . Theod. Mops [32] p. 736.
[32] Mops. Theodore, Bp. of Mopsuestia, 399 428
, perf. I have seen, in reference to the sign divinely intimated to him, in the abiding fulfilment of which he now stood. So again below, Joh 1:34 .
. ] By some appearance which is not described, the Holy Spirit was manifested to John as not removing from Jesus again, but abiding on Him . But we are not to understand that he had seen the Spirit descending on others , and not abiding; for (see ch. Joh 7:39 : Act 1:5 ; Act 19:2 ff.) the gift of the Holy Spirit did not ordinarily accompany John’s baptism, but only in this one case; and its occurrence was to point out to him the Messiah.
. . . . . ] Here again we seem to have a reference to the synoptic cycle of narratives, for our Evangelist has not before mentioned this office of the Messiah.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 1:32 . . “I have seen the Spirit coming down like a dove out of heaven, and it remained upon Him.” “I have seen, perfect, in reference to the sign divinely intimated to him, in the abiding fulfilment of which he now stood.” Alford. is used (as in Joh 1:14 ) in its sense of seeing with intelligence, with mental or spiritual observation and inference ( cf. Aristoph., Clouds , 363, “Have you ever seen it rain without elouds?”). In what sense did the Baptist “see” the Spirit descending? Origen distinctly declared that these words , ii. 239. The does not necessarily involve that an actual dove was visible. It was not the dove which was to be the sign; but, as the Baptist affirms in Joh 1:33 , the descent and abiding of the Spirit. John was scarcely the type of man who would be determined in an important course of action by the appearance of a bird. What he saw was the Spirit descending. This he can best have seen in the demeanour of Jesus, in His lowliness and sympathy and holiness, all of which came to their perfect bloom at and in His baptism. It was the possession of this spirit by Jesus that convinced John that He could baptise with the Holy Spirit. That this conviction came to him at the baptism of Christ with a clearness and firmness which authenticated it as divine is guaranteed by the words of this verse. It was as plain to him that Jesus was possessed by the Spirit as if he had seen the Spirit in a visible shape alighting upon Him. To a mind absorbed in this one idea it may have actually seemed as if he saw it with his bodily eyes. Ambrose, De Sacram. , i., 5, “Spiritus autem sanctus non in veritate columbae, sed in specie columbae descendit de coelo”. The dove was in the East a sacred bird, and the brooding dove was symbolic of the quickening warmth of nature. In Jewish writings the Spirit hovering over the primeval waters is expressly compared to a dove: “Spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas, sicut columba, quae fertur super pullos suos nec tangit illos”. Cf. also Noah’s dove as symbol of the new creation. (See Suicer, s.v. , , and Strauss, i., 362.) Such a symbol of the Spirit would scarcely have been imagined by the Baptist, who was all for stern and violent methods.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
bare record = bare witness. Compare Joh 1:19, and see note on Joh 1:7.
saw = have beheld. Greek. theaomai. App-133.
the Spirit. See App-101.
heaves. Singular, without Art. See note on Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.
like = as it were.
abode. One of the characteristic words of John’s Gospel and Epistles. See list and note 1 in the book comments for John. upon. Greek. epi. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
32, 33.] Qu sequuntur, erant testimonii: qu ex Joh 1:29 sq. dicuntur, erant demonstrationis ex testimonio. Cohrentibus Baptist verbis Evangelista quasi parenthesin interponit: . Bengel.
The occurrence related by John happened at the baptism of Jesus, which is therefore here pre-supposed as known. Although this has been questioned (Usteri, Nachrichten ber den Tufer J. u.s.w., cited by Lcke, i. 423), I cannot see how it can be reasonably doubted. We cannot surely suppose that such a sign was twice shewn. On the appearance itself, see note Mat 3:16. The account here given confirms the view which I have there maintained, that the appearance was confined to our Lord and the Baptist: he was to receive the sign, and then to testify to the others, who were not themselves yet the bearers, but the recipients of testimony:- . Theod. Mops[32] p. 736.
[32] Mops. Theodore, Bp. of Mopsuestia, 399-428
, perf. I have seen, in reference to the sign divinely intimated to him, in the abiding fulfilment of which he now stood. So again below, Joh 1:34.
.] By some appearance which is not described, the Holy Spirit was manifested to John as not removing from Jesus again, but abiding on Him. But we are not to understand that he had seen the Spirit descending on others, and not abiding; for (see ch. Joh 7:39 : Act 1:5; Act 19:2 ff.) the gift of the Holy Spirit did not ordinarily accompany Johns baptism, but only in this one case; and its occurrence was to point out to him the Messiah.
. . . . .] Here again we seem to have a reference to the synoptic cycle of narratives, for our Evangelist has not before mentioned this office of the Messiah.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 1:32. , bare record) as concerning a fact seen by himself and not by the people. The words which follow [comp. Joh 1:34] were part of his record [testimony]: the words which are spoken, Joh 1:29, etc. [comp. Joh 1:15; Joh 1:27], were part of his demonstration [the clear proof of Jesus Messiahship, which John demonstrated] from the record. The Evangelist interposes this in the midst of the connected words of the Baptist, as a sort of parenthesis; -, John bare record, saying.-) I beheld.-, from heaven) Construe this with , descending. The descent, at least in its last and lowest part, was equally determinate [in its direction] towards Jesus, as its abiding on Him.-, it abode) with a considerable stay [continuance].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 1:32
Joh 1:32
And John bare witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven;-John was to know by the Spirit descending in the form of a dove which was he and then was to bear testimony to the world.
and it abode upon him.-The Spirit came in the form of a dove, abode upon him, not in this form; but its form dissolved, and took up its abode in Jesus. (Luk 3:22). This was when he was anointed with the Spirit above his fellows. (Heb 1:9).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
I saw: Joh 5:32, Mat 3:16, Mar 1:10, Luk 3:22
Reciprocal: Isa 11:2 – the Spirit Isa 42:1 – I have Isa 61:1 – Spirit Amo 9:1 – I saw Mat 12:18 – I will Luk 3:21 – that Luk 4:1 – full Joh 1:7 – a witness Joh 12:17 – bare Act 2:3 – sat 1Ti 3:16 – justified 1Jo 5:7 – the Word 1Jo 5:11 – this Rev 1:2 – bare
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
Luk 3:22 says the Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove, while the other three records say the Spirit descended like a dove. The point is in bringing out the idea that the Spirit had to be in some visible form, in order that it could be seen by John. Not only did John see this form descend, but it alighted on Him and remained for the occasion.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 1:32. And John bare witness, saying. I have beheld the Spirit descending. The effect of what the Baptist had seen had remained, and still remains, with him in all its power: I have beheld.
And it abode upon him. John had not merely seen the Spirit descend with dove-like motion upon Jesus; he had also seen that it abode upon Him,the symbol of an abiding and permanent possession.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The Gift Made to Jesus in the Baptism.
Vv. 32, 33, suggest an important question: Did Jesus really receive anything at His baptism? Meyer denies this, alleging that this idea has no support in our Gospel, and that, if the Synoptics say more, it is because they contain a tradition which had been already altered. The real fact was solely the vision granted to John in view of the testimony which he was to render to Jesus. This vision was transformed by tradition into the event related by the Synoptics. The idea of the real communication of the Holy Spirit to Jesus would be incompatible with that of the incarnation of the Logos. Lucke and de Wette think, also, that Jesus received nothing new at that moment. John was only instructed, by means of the vision, as to a permanent fact in the life of Jesus, His communion with the Holy Spirit. Neander, Tholuck and Ebrard think that there was simply progress in the consciousness which Jesus had of Himself.
Baumgarten-Crusius, Kahnis Luthardt, Gess, allow a real communication, but only with reference to the task which Jesus had to fulfill, that of His own ministry, and of the communication of the Holy Spirit to other men. The opinion of Meyer, as well as that of Lucke, sacrifices the narrative of the Synoptics, and even that of John to a dogmatic prejudice; for John saw the Spirit not only abiding, but descending, and this last feature must correspond to a reality, as well as the other. The view of Neander is true, but inadequate. There was certainly wrought, at that moment, a decided advance in the consciousness of Jesus, as is indicated by the fact of the divine address: Thou art my Son; but the symbol of the descent of the dove must also correspond to a real fact. Finally, the view which admits an actual gift, but only in relation to the public activity of Jesus, appears to me superficial. In a life so completely one as that of Jesus, where there is nothing purely ritual, where the external is always the manifestation of the internal, the beginning of a new activity supposes a change in His own personal life.
When we lay hold of the idea of the incarnation with the force with which it is apprehended and presented by Paul and John (see Joh 1:14, and the Appendix to the Prologue), when we recognize the fact that the Logos divested Himself of the divine state, and that He entered into a really human state, in order to accomplish the normal development originally assigned to every man, there is nothing further to prevent us from holding that, after having accomplished the task of the first Adam on the pathway of free obedience, He should have seen opening before Him the sphere of the higher life for which man is destined, and that, as the first among the violent who take the kingdom of heaven by force, He should have forced the entrance into it for Himself and for all.
Undoubtedly, His entire existence had passed on under the constant influence of the Holy Spirit which had presided over his birth. At every moment, He had obeyed this divine guide, and each time this docility had been immediately rewarded by a new impulse. The vessel was filled in proportion as it enlarged, and it enlarged in proportion as it was filled. But to be under the operation of the Spirit is not to possess the Spirit (Joh 14:17). With the hour of the baptism, the moment came when the previous development was to be transformed into the definite state, that of the perfect stature (Eph 4:13). First, that which is psychical, says Paul, in 1Co 15:46, afterwards that which is spiritual. If the incarnation is a verity, this law must apply to the development of Jesus, as much as to that of every other man. Till then, the Spirit was upon Him [ ] Luk 2:40; He increased, under this divine influence, in wisdom and grace. From the time of the baptism, the Spirit becomes the principle of His psychical and physical activity, of His whole personal life; He can begin to be called Lord-Spirit (2Co 3:17-18); life-giving Spirit (1Co 15:45).
The baptism, therefore, constitutes in His interior life as decisive a crisis as does the ascension in His external state. The open heaven represents His initiation into the consciousness of God and of His designs. The voice: Thou art my Son, indicates the revelation to His inmost consciousness of His personal relation with God, of His eternal dignity as Son, and, at the same time, of the boundlessness of divine love towards Him, and towards humanity on which such a gift is bestowed. He fully apprehends the name of Father as applied to God, and can proclaim it to the world. The Holy Spirit becomes His personal life, makes Him the principle and source of life for all men. Nevertheless, His glorification is not yet; the natural life, whether psychical or physical, still exists in Him, as such. It is after the ascension only that His soul and body will be completely spiritualized ( , 1Co 15:44).
But, it is asked, does not the gift of the Holy Spirit form a needless repetition of the miraculous birth? By no means; for in this latter event the Holy Spirit acts only as a life-giving force in the stead and place of the paternal principle. He wakens into the activity of life the germ of a human existence deposited in the womb of Mary, the organ prepared for the Logos that He may realize there a human development; in the same way as, on the day of creation, the soul of the first man, breath of the creating God, came to dwell in the bodily organ prepared for its abode and for its earthly activity (Gen 2:7).
Some modern theologians, in imitation of some of the Fathers, think that the Logos is confounded by John with the Spirit. But undoubtedly every one will acknowledge the truth of this remark of Lucke : No more could we say, on the one hand, The Spirit was made flesh, than we could say, on the other, I have seen the Logos descend upon Jesus. The distinction between the Logos and the Spirit, scrupulously observed by John, even in chaps. 14-16, where Reuss thinks it is sometimes wholly effaced (Hist. de la th. chret . ii., p. 533f.), is the following: The Logos is the principle of objective revelation, and, through his incarnation, the culminating point of that revelation, while the Spirit is the principle acting internally by which we assimilate to ourselves that revelation subjectively. Hence it results that, without the Spirit, the revelation remains for us a dead letter, and Jesus a simple historical personage with whom we do not enter into any communion. It is by the Spirit alone that we appropriate to ourselves the revelation contained in the word and person of Jesus. Thus, from the time when the Spirit begins to do His work in us, it is Jesus Himself who begins to live within us. As, through the Spirit, Jesus lived on earth by the Father, so, through the Spirit, the believer lives by Jesus (Joh 6:57). This distinction of offices between Christ and the Spirit is steadily maintained throughout our whole Gospel.
This solemn testimony being given, the forerunner expresses the feeling of satisfaction with which this grand task accomplished inspires him, yet so as, at the same time, to make his hearers understand that their own task is beginning.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
1:32 {14} And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
(14) Christ is proved to be the Son of God by the coming down of the Holy Spirit, by the Father’s voice, and by John’s testimony.