The
Flight of the Dove
For Luke’s readers, the descent
of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus “in bodily form” at his baptism would be seen as
an avian sign that God had chosen him to be Israel’s king, just as the gods
used the flight of birds to confirm their choice of the Roman emperor. As such,
this text should be viewed as a hidden transcript, containing a veiled message
directed to those within the Jesus movement.
This question remains: “In what
way was the baptism of Jesus antiimperial or antithetical to Roman
inauguration? The answer lies in the kind of bird that accompanied the baptism.
Jewish, Christian, and Greco- Roman literature extant in the first-century CE
identifies the dove as antithetical to the eagle. In the Hebrew Scriptures the
dove is associated with tranquility and tenderness (Gen 8:8–12; Cant 2:14; 5:2;
6:9; Nahum 2:7). Homer portrays the dove as powerless, serving as prey for
other birds, particularly the eagle. Plutarch saw the dove as a gentle
domesticated creature that loves and nurtures its own and refuses to harm other
living things, unlike an eagle that devours and destroys even its own. Greeks
and Romans associated the dove to the goddess of love, rather than the powerful
Zeus/Jupiter. Philo, a Hellenistic Jew, describes the dove (περιστερά, same
word used in gospels) as “the gentlest of those whose nature is tame and
gregarious.” Likewise, the Roman author and equestrian, Pliny the Elder also
contrasted the aggressive actions of the eagle with the gentle behavior of the
dove. Jesus admonished his disciples to be “as wise as serpents and harmless as
doves” (Matt 10:16).
Why would Luke want his audience
to know that God publicly confirmed Jesus to be king through the flight of a
dove, when the normative avian sign was the flight of an eagle? The dove
narrative likely functioned in the same manner as the account of Jesus riding
into Jerusalem on a donkey. Each depicts Jesus’ kingship in contradistinction
to imperial expectations. The flight of the dove is a confirming sign that
Jesus is God’s king, whose rule stands contrary to the Roman notion of power as
confirmed by an eagle. Throughout his gospel, Luke consistently portrays God’s
kingdom as the antithesis of the Roman Empire (Luke 6:20; 13:29– 30; 18:16;
22:25–27). Jesus is a different kind of king than Caesar. He is a king who
brings peace not at the expense and suffering of others but through his own
service and suffering. This is symbolized by the descent of a dove rather than
an eagle, the national emblem of Rome.
This anti-imperial understanding
of Jesus’ baptism based on the dove is strengthened when the accompanying voice
also quotes from Isa 42:1, “Behold my servant whom I uphold; my chosen
one in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him, and he will bring
justice to the nations.” By combining Ps 2:7 and Isa 42:1, the heavenly voice
creates an oxymoron—a king who serves. Kings do not serve, they rule. Others
serve them. Thus, Jesus is inaugurated to be a king of a different stripe—a
humble king. (R. Alan Streett, Subversive Meals: An Analysis of the Lord’s
Supper Under Roman Domination During the First Century [Eugene, Oreg.:
Pickwick Publications, 2013], 119-20)
