ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how Luke introduces Jesus' public ministry after having ended John’s ministry of baptism. It explores interpretive implications at stake in Luke’s literary changes, beginning already with the striking differences between the Gospel’s renderings of Jesus’ baptismal scene without explicit mention of John as a his baptizer. In Luke 3:21, Jesus is baptized and together with Acts the Gospel entirely ignores the question of who baptized him. Luke does not refer to a baptizer but focuses upon Jesus’ baptism as a theophany. The chapter explores C.G. Muller's arguments on Luke’s characterization of John, and his preliminary assessment of the figure: "Die Taufe Jesu durch Johannes kann als historisch weitgehend gesichert gelten". Fitzmyer argues that Luke reacts to three problems in the Markan account: first, the subordination of Jesus to John; second, that John is present at Jesus’ baptism; and third, that John baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
