Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17, NRSVue)
Our biblical bird-watching "expedition" takes us from the Hebrew Scriptures to the New Testament this week, where we encounter the dove, once again, invested with new symbolic meaning as a representation in sacred text and art of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. French Master Printmaker Georges Rouault depicts the heavenly epiphany with the descending dove in an aquatint of beautifully blended black and grey tones, the thirtieth plate from his monumental suite of 58 prints, Miserere, begun in 1922 and published in 1948. The title, translated from French, is taken from Romans 6:4, signifying Christ's redemptive work within us. (John Kohan)