Two Baptisms of Christ

The Baptism of Christ, early 6th century. Ceiling mosaic, Arian Baptistery, Ravenna, Italy. Photo: Peter Milošević

Mark 1:1-8

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Photo: :Jim Forest

Within the great 6th-century Arian Baptistery in Ravenna, Italy, a glimmering mosaic in the dome of shows a young, beardless, fully nude Christ standing waist-deep in the waters of the Jordan as John the Baptist, dressed in leopard skin, baptizes him. Actually, Jesus is baptized here with water from the beak of a dove, God the Holy Spirit.

John and Jesus are joined in this scene by an old man (left), who is the personification of the Jordan River, whose attributes are derived from that of the Hellenistic river gods. This is similar to the other icon previous reviewed here in which the spirits of the river are depicted by two little human figures in the water. The first one, carrying a jar, represents the Jordan River; the other one, holding a scepter, represents the Red Sea.

In this mosaic, the personification of the Jordan holds a reed in his hand and leans against a spilled jar, from whose mouth flows the river water, while from his head there sprouts a pair of red crab claws. He is clothed in the same moss that covers the rock John stands on.

Around this central scene, which is framed by a laurel wreath, is a ring of the twelve apostles, led by Peter (the gray-haired man with the key) and Paul (the dark-haired man with the scrolls). The apostles carry jeweled crowns in their veiled hands—a sign of humility—as they make their way to the empty throne (cf. Revelation 4:10-11). This is the throne of Christ’s promised return, prepared with a plush purple cushion and jeweled cross.

The iconography here is very similar to that of the ceiling mosaic in the even older (Catholic) Baptistery of Neon, also in Ravenna.

In this baptistry, the personification of the Jordan remains in the background, holding a robe with which to wrap Jesus after his baptism. As a personification of nature, this figure shows greater distance and greater submission to his creator. This may reflect a polemical agenda: Arians believed that Jesus was a mortal man whom God the Father adopted and made divine, whereas Catholic (Orthodox) belief holds that Jesus was fully God, fully divine from before his birth as a man. Thus, in the Arian mosaic, John and the Jordan man are on the same “level,” but in the Catholic mosaic, nature is subordinate to the Son of God and in the background, waiting to honor the Holy One.

Similarly, John is baptizing Jesus with water here, while the Spirit descends upon him as a dove. In contrast to the Arian depiction, the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus, but does not bring anything to Jesus, suggesting that Jesus lacks nothing as he is already divine. Rather, the momentous action is found in the baptizing (anointing) by John and the anticipated enrobing by the Jordan man. Together, these two actions represent the affirmation of and worship by humanity and creation.

In this way, Jesus’ baptism becomes the occasion to affirm Jesus as God, which when paired with Jesus’ identification with humanity in baptism, makes a powerful statement—Jesus is revealed as God most clearly in his emptying of himself of divinity for our sake, for our salvation.