John 1:32-34
"And John bore witness, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."
What does John mean when he says the Spirit "remained upon Him"? What does it mean for the Spirit to come upon Jesus and to stay on him in a way that John could understand?
We could say John saw the dove remain on Jesus, but I suspect this doesn't give full testimony to deep meaning of this text. The Bible doesn't record the dove on Jesus in any other account, so I don't think we can say the dove remained. In fact, John makes it clear that was the Spirit who remained on Christ.
I believe John saw a physical representation of the same touch of the Spirit that comes upon every believer. At the moment of our surrender to Jesus Christ as our Lord, the Spirit comes to be a part of our lives for all of eternity. John testifies that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit, and I believe this symbolized for us in the form of a dove at Christ's baptism.
Wouldn't it be neat if we could see the Spirit in the form of a dove upon us. We'd be able to walk into any room and instantly identify those who are believers and those who still need to come to faith. We'd never have to again listed to those doubts concerning our salvation. But that's not God's way for us.
Instead, "remains" is a word which in many ways reminds me of the concept of abiding. It is a word which signifies something that is lasting. It involves relationships. When a man and woman choose to marry, they remain so until "death do them part". Likewise, when a person enters into a contractual relationship, they remain under the terms of the contract until all actions are completed. Spiritually, when we come to faith in Jesus, our relationship with God is a lasting one, sealed at the Word of the Father by the presence of the Holy Spirit remaining upon us.
Though we all face doubts about our faith at some point in life, you can be assured your relationship with Christ is one that remains. God is the one who sends the Spirit's touch upon your life, and thus only God can take the Spirit away. For us, the good news of the gospel is this: God ordained your salvation through Christ and will not withdraw from his relationship with you. We can run, hide, or even ignore our Lord, but in the end, every believer belongs fully to Jesus Christ. The Spirit remains.
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for sealing my salvation for an eternity by the remaining presence of your Spirit. May I never doubt your presence and commit to live daily for your glory. Amen.
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