And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up immediately 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:
All Commentaries on Matthew 3:16 Go To Matthew 3
Rabanus Maurus
AD 856
As by the immersion of His body He dedicated the laver of baptism, He has shewnthat to us also, after baptism received, the entrance to heaven is open and the Holy Spirit is given, as it follows, “and the heavens were opened.”.
ap. Anselm: Seven excellencies in the baptized are figured by the dove. The dove has her abode near the rivers, that when the hawk is seen, she may dive under water and escape; she chooses the better grains of corn; she feeds the young of other birds; she does not tear with her beak; she lacks a gall; she has her rest in the caverns of the rocks; for her song she has a plaint. Thus the saints dwell beside the streams of Divine Scripture, that they may escape the assaults of the Devil; they choose wholesome doctrine, and not heretical for their food; they nourish by teaching and example, men who have been the children of the Devil, i.e. the imitators; they do not pervert good doctrine by tearing it to pieces as the heretics do; they are without hate irreconcileable; they build their nest in the wounds of Christ's death, which is to them a firm rock, that is their refuge and hope; as others delight in song, so do they in groaning for their sin.
