Like A Dove: Mark1:9-11

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

In this passage from the Gospel of Mark, we witness Jesus' introduction and first public act.  The Gospel of Mark, unlike the later Gospels of Matthew and Luke, has no miraculous birth narrative to set the tone of the story.  Instead it is the baptism scene that creates the imagery that introduces who Jesus is and what his purpose is.

While looking at the preceding verses we discussed the linking of Jesus with the ministry of John the Baptist who was a popular figure associated with renewal and purity.  Again, in this verse, we see the effort at the same time to distance Jesus from John and deny that he was John's student.  Jesus here is not part of John's retinue, but comes from Nazareth in order to go to John in order to be baptized.

It is significant that the community of Mark chose a baptism as the introduction in their story of Jesus.  Jesus' first act is a ritual of purity, the enactment of a practice required in order to visit the temple and come close to the presence of God.  It would appear that they are saying that the importance of Jesus is tied up with being brought to a state where one can enter God's presence.  It says that his ministry is about bringing humanity into a closer union with God.

The description of what happens when Jesus is baptized further emphasizes this point as well as providing a wealth of other images and allusions in regard to who they saw Jesus as being and of what they saw as his purpose. 

Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove

Jesus Tears Open the Heavens

Jesus is portrayed here as causing the separation between man on earth and God in the heavens to be breached.  This is the introduction of a major theme of this Gospel.  The image here of the heavens being torn would bring to mind the curtain in the temple that separated the presence of God from the people and which could only be entered after careful procedures of atonement and purification without fear of death.

Jesus As Source of God's Life Creating Spirit

The allusion in these verses to the opening of the creation story in Genesis is obvious.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.(Genesis 1:2)

Jesus is linked here to God's life giving force at creation, the Spirit of God.  The Hebrew word here is ruach.  Strong's Concordance defines it as meaning, breath, wind, spirit (http://biblehub.com/hebrew/7307.htm).  It is God's act of breathing into the first human being that brings the first human to life from the dust of the ground in the second chapter of Genesis.

The Symbolism of the Dove

The Dove in this passage is a rich source of symbolism both from the Jewish Tanakh and  Talmud, and from other religions in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean world that this community which included Gentiles would have been aware of.

God's Compassion - Cessation of God's Punishment

In the eighth chapter of Genesis, Noah sends out a dove from the ark to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.  When the dove returns with a freshly plucked olive leaf, Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth and that God's cleansing of mankind had come to an end.  As such, the dove was a symbol for the Hebrew people of God's peace with humanity, the cessation of punishment and cleansing, and the start of new life.

Fertility and New Life

Dorothy Willette, writing for the Biblical Archaeology Society's, "Bible History Daily", gives the following background of the dove as a symbol of the mother goddess in the Ancient Near East:

In the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean world, the dove became an iconic symbol of the mother goddess. Small clay shrines from the Iron Age Levant depict doves perched atop the doorways of these mini-temples. On one example from Cyprus, the entire exterior of the goddess’s shrine is covered with dovecotes. The doves represented feminine fertility and procreation, and came to be well-recognized symbols of the Canaanite goddess Asherah and her counterpart Astarte, as well as her Phoenician and later Punic embodiment, Tanit. First-century B.C. coins from Ashkelon bore a dove, which represented both the goddess Tyche-Astarte and the city mint. In Rome and throughout the Empire, goddesses such as Venus and Fortunata could be seen depicted in statues with a dove resting in their hand or on their head.

There is strong evidence in the Hebrew Bible, as well as the archaeological record, that many ancient Israelites believed the goddess Asherah was the consort of their god Yahweh. Perhaps it is not so surprising, then, that the heirs of this Israelite religion incorporated the “feminine” symbol of the dove to represent the spirit of God (the word for “spirit,” ruach, is a feminine word in Hebrew). The Babylonian Talmud likens the hovering of God’s spirit in Genesis 1:2 to the hovering of a dove. Indeed, this same “hovering” language is used to describe God’s spirit in the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as the New Testament.  http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/the-enduring-symbolism-of-doves/ 

 Atonement

Doves were also a means of atonement, being made right with God.  Several passages in Leviticus specify the sacrifice of doves as a guilt offering or a means to purify oneself after a period of ritual impurity.  Doves and turtle doves were the only birds considered clean according to Mosaic law and could therefore be offered as sacrifice ( Leviticus 5:7 ; 12:6).

An interesting item is that doves are given as an allowable substitute for those too poor to offer a lamb for a sacrifice for a mother in Leviticus 12:6-8.  One theme in the Gospel is that Jesus' atonement is inclusive of the poor and marginalized excluded by the requirements of Temple practice.  Could the Gospel writer been calling on this allusion to introduce this theme? 
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/dove/

Dorothy Willette in her article also ties the dove as a symbol of atonement to writings in the Talmud and the Targums.

The atoning quality of doves led to comparisons in the Talmud and the Targums with Isaac and Israel. According to these extra-Biblical sources, just as a dove stretches out its neck, so too did Isaac prepare to be sacrificed to God, and later Israel took on this stance to atone for the sins of other nations.  http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/the-enduring-symbolism-of-doves/ 

Symbol of Deliverance

Doves were also used as a symbol of deliverance in the Tanakh. 

The rapid flight of the dove became a symbol of deliverance from one's enemies or from threatening circumstances. The psalmist writes: "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest" (55:6). The Israelites returning from the Exile are described as those "that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests" (Isa. 60:8; cf. Hosea 11:11) https://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/holy-spirit/why-dove

Dove Symbol Summary

So, lets summarize the things the community of Mark could have been saying about the purpose of Jesus by using the image of the Spirit descending on him like a dove:

• Jesus brings an end to God's punishment and a fresh start with God at peace with humanity
• Jesus is a source of life and fertility
• Jesus brings atonement, right relationship with God, that includes the poor
• Jesus brings deliverance

The Voice From Heaven

11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

First of all, you can't get a greater reference or affirmation than having the voice of God say that God is well pleased with you.  The community of Mark were certainly testifying that Jesus and his teaching met the highest standard of validity and authority.

It also portrays Jesus as being among the select few that God communicates with directly like Abraham, Moses and the prophets.  But, even more, it portrays him as bringing that direct communication to the people.  Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures do we see God speaking directly to the people, only to special chosen representatives.  Here, God is portrayed as communicating in an audible fashion to all those present at this public baptism at the Jordon.

We also have Jesus being identified by God as, "my Son".  Again, this is a legitimizing of Jesus, his mission, and his teachings.  We can see this as referring to the examples of kings of Israel such as David being called God's son.  Or we can see this in semi-biological symbolic terms like Caesar being called the son of a god.  Either way, it affirms the legitimacy and authority of Jesus' teaching to the people of Israel.