Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
that.
Matthew 3:13-15 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him…
Mark 1:9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
John 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
and praying.
Luke 9:28,29 And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray…
John 12:27,28 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour…
the heaven.
Matthew 3:16,17 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: …
Mark 1:10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
John 1:32-34 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him…
Jesus was baptized too
Jesus' baptism marks the beginning of His public ministry. Although He was sinless and did not need repentance, His baptism served several purposes: it identified Him with humanity's sinfulness, fulfilled all righteousness, and affirmed John's ministry. It also prefigures His death, burial, and resurrection. This act of humility and obedience sets an example for believers and signifies His willingness to take on the role of the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah 53.
And as He was praying
Prayer is a central theme in Jesus' life and ministry, often marking significant events. Here, it underscores His communion with the Father and His dependence on divine guidance. This moment of prayer before the heavens open signifies the importance of seeking God's will and presence, setting a pattern for believers to follow. It also highlights the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father, a recurring theme throughout the Gospels.
Heaven was opened
The opening of heaven signifies divine revelation and approval. It marks a pivotal moment where the earthly and heavenly realms intersect, indicating God's direct intervention in human history. This event fulfills Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah and the outpouring of the Spirit, as seen in passages like Isaiah 64:1. It also prefigures the access believers will have to God through Jesus, as the mediator between God and humanity.
Luke 3:21: “When all the people were being baptized…”
• John’s call to repentance had drawn crowds from “all the region around the Jordan” (Luke 3:3-6; cf. Matthew 3:5-6).
• Their immersion symbolized turning from sin and waiting for the promised Messiah (Acts 19:4).
• The mass participation underscores that Israel as a nation needed cleansing (Isaiah 1:16-18).
• By recording that everyone was coming, Luke sets the stage for the One who had no sin to step into those same waters (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Luke 3:21: “…Jesus was baptized too.”
• Though sinless (Hebrews 4:15), He “fulfilled all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15), identifying fully with the people He came to save (Philippians 2:7-8).
• His baptism previews His death, burial, and resurrection—our future union with Him (Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12).
• This moment publicly inaugurates His earthly ministry (Acts 10:37-38).
• It also affirms John’s prophetic role, showing the passing of the mantle from forerunner to Messiah (John 1:29-34).
Luke 3:21: “And as He was praying…”
• Luke repeatedly pictures Jesus at prayer before key events—here, at His baptism; later, before choosing the Twelve (Luke 6:12), at the Transfiguration (9:28-29), and in Gethsemane (22:41-44).
• Prayer reveals His constant communion with the Father (John 5:19-20) and models our dependence (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• The Father responds in real time, reminding us that prayer opens the way for divine affirmation (Jeremiah 33:3).
Luke 3:21: “…heaven was opened.”
• A literal parting of the sky signals God’s visible endorsement (Ezekiel 1:1).
• Immediately “the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove” and the Father’s voice declared, “You are My beloved Son” (Luke 3:22); together these events unveil the Trinity in united purpose (Matthew 28:19).
• An opened heaven announces that in Christ the barrier between God and humanity is being removed (John 1:51; Hebrews 10:19-20).
• It also marks the dawn of the prophesied messianic age for which Israel had long prayed (Isaiah 64:1-2).
Luke 3:21 reveals a milestone where the sinless Savior steps into the repentant crowd, is baptized to identify with us and to launch His saving mission, prays in perfect fellowship with the Father, and receives unmistakable heavenly confirmation. The verse invites believers to repentance, obedient identification with Christ, steadfast prayer, and joyful assurance that in Jesus heaven itself has opened to welcome all who trust Him.
(21-22) Now when all the people were baptized.--See Notes on Matthew 3:13-17. St. Luke's account is the shortest of the three first Gospels, but it adds here, as afterwards in his report of the Transfiguration, the fact that our Lord was "praying" at the time of the divine attestation to His Sonship. (See Introduction.)Verses 21, 22. - The baptism of Jesus. Verses 21, 22. - Now when all the people were baptized. This is the shortest account of the first three Gospels of this event. Two circumstances related are, however, peculiar to St. Luke - the fact that he ascended "praying" from the water, and the opening words of this verse, which probably signify that on this day Jesus waited till the crowds who were in the habit of coming to John had been baptized. Jesus also being baptized. There is a curious addition to the Gospel narratives of the baptism of the Lord preserved by Jerome. He tells us he extracted it from the Hebrew Gospel used by the Nazarenes, a copy of which in his day was preserved at Caesarea. "Lo, the mother of the Lord and his brethren said to him, John the Baptist is baptizing for the remission of sins; let us go and be baptized by him. But he answered and said unto them, In what have I sinned, that I should go and be baptized by him? unless, indeed, it be in ignorance that I have said what I have just said." It is, no doubt, a very ancient traditional saying, and is perhaps founded on some well-authenticated oral tradition. If St. Luke knew of it, he did not consider it of sufficient importance to incorporate it in his narrative. In St. Matthew's account of the "baptism," John at first resists when asked to perform the rite on his kinsman Jesus. His knowledge of Jesus at this time was evidently considerable. He was acquainted, of course, with all that had already happened in his "cousin's" life, and probably it had been revealed to him, or told him by his mother (Luke 1:43), that in the Nazareth Carpenter, the Son of Mary, he was to look for the promised Messiah, with whose life-story his was so closely bound up. The answers to the question, What was the reason of Jesus' baptism? have been many. In this, as in many things connected with the earthly life of our Lord, there is much that is mysterious, and we can never hope here to solve these difficulties with any completeness. The mystic comments of the Fathers, though not perfectly satisfactory, are, however, after all the best of the many notes that have been made on this difficult question. Bishop Wordsworth sums them up well in his words: "He came to baptize water, by being baptized in it." Ignatius ('Ad. Eph.,' 18, beginning of the second century) writes, "He was baptized that, by his submission to the rite, he might purify the water." Jerome, in the same strain, says, "He did not so much get cleansing from baptism, as impart cleansing to it." It would seem that Jesus, in submitting to the rite himself, did it with the intention of sanctifying the blessed sacrament in the future. And praying. Peculiar to St. Luke. This evangelist on eight other occasions mentions the praying of Jesus. The heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended... upon him. While he was praying and gazing up into heaven, the deep blue vault was rent asunder, and the Sinless One gazed far into the realms of eternal light; and as he gazed he saw descend a ray of glory, which, dove-like, brooded above his head, and then lighted upon him. This strange bright vision was seen, not only by him, but by the Baptist (John 1:32, 33). That the form of a dove absolutely descended and lighted upon Jesus seems unlikely; a radiant glorious Something both Jesus and the Baptist saw descending. John compares it to a dove - this cloud of glory sailing through the clear heaven, then, bird-like, sinking, hovering, or brooding, over the head of the Sinless One, then lighting, as it were, upon him. In likening the radiant vision to a dove, probably John had heard of the rabbinical comment (it is in the Talmud) on Genesis 1:2, that the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters like a dove. Milton has reproduced the thought -"And with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast abyss."
(Paradise Lost,' 1:20.) John, for want of a better simile, reproduced the image which he had doubtless heard from his teacher in the Law, when he desired to represent in earthly language the Divine Thing which in some bodily form he had seen. In the early Church there was a legend very commonly current - we find it in Justin Martyr ('Dialogue with Trypho,' 88), and also in the Apocryphal Gospels - that at the baptism of Jesus a fire was kindled in Jordan. This was doubtless another, though a more confused memory of the glory-appearance which John saw falling on the Messiah. And a voice came from heaven; better rendered, out of heaven. We read in the Talmud that "on the death of the last prophets - Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi - the Holy Spirit departed from Israel; but they (i.e. Israeli were availing themselves of the daughter (echo) of a voice, Bath-Kol, for the reception of Divine communications" ('Treatise Yoma,' fol. 9, col. 2). In the Gospels there is a mention of the heavenly voice being again heard at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5), and during the last week of the earthly ministry (John 12:28-30). In the story of Israel the Persons of the everblessed Trinity were pleased to manifest themselves on various occasions to mortal eye and mortal ear. Very frequently to the eye, in the visible glory of the pillar of cloud and fire in the desert journeys; in the glorious light which shone in the holy of holies, first in the tabernacle of the wanderings, then in the temple; in the flame as in the burning bush, and in the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel; in appearances as in the meeting with Abraham and with Joshua. To the ear the word of the Lord spoke, amongst others, to Abraham, Moses, Samuel, and the later prophets. So in this, the transition period of Messiah, the visible glory of God and the audible voice of God were again seen and heard by mortal man. Jerome calls attention here to the distinctness of each of the Persons of the blessed Trinity, as shown in this baptism of the Messiah. "The mystery of the Trinity is shown in the baptism of Christ The Lord is baptized, the Spirit descends in the likeness of a dove, the voice of the Father is heard bearing witness to his Son, and the dove settles on the head of Jesus, lest any one should imagine that the voice was for John and not for Christ." We may with all reverence conclude that, after the hearing of the voice from heaven, "the Messianic self- consciousness would undoubtedly expand with rapidity, both intensively and extensively, into complete maturity. That self- consciousness, it must be borne in mind, would necessarily, so far as this human side of his Being was concerned, be subject, in its development, to the condition of time" (Dr. Morrison, on Matthew 3:17).
Parallel Commentaries ...