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Look! a Voice1 out of the Sky, saying, “This is my beloved Son2 in whom I am well pleased.”3
| 1 | Voice: The first of three times the actual Voice of God is heard, each in the presence of Jesus. The same One who speaks at Psalm 2:7 and Psalm 110:4. As God spoke to the first perfect man, Adam, He now speaks to this second Man. |
| 2 | Son: We may suggest that the one here named Jesus becomes God’s “Son” in several ways: 1. Creation; 2. Birth as Perfect Man; 3. as spirit-begotten Child; 4. by resurrection; and, by enthronement in the heavens. |
| 3 | Well pleased: The language is very similar to Isaiah 42:1. |
Dear Friends of the Nazarene,
We choose Matthew 3:17 as the theme verse of chapter three – My Beloved Son. Matthew now leaps forward over 18 years to the appearance of John the Baptist. [1-6] John begins baptizing Jews in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish religious hierarchy opposes John who speaks of two baptisms. [7-12] Upon his baptism Jesus the Nazarene is declared to be God’s Son. [13-17] Jesus speaks his first recorded public words regarding his baptism, “Let it be this time for in this way it is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
Abba our Father bless those who hear His voice, “This is My Son.”
[13 October 2002]
The very words addressed to the Messiah in Ps 2:7; and from which the Son of God became one of his standing appellations. Thus the baptism of Christ was the occasion of his public recognition. No reader should fail to observe the significance of the time chosen by God for the acknowledgment of the Son. It is just after he has humbled himself in an act of obedience, in baptism, that the Holy Spirit anoints him as the Christ, and God formally acknowledges him as his Son. No more forcible expression of the estimate set by God on this institution could be given. This example and the New Testament harmonizes in teaching (1) That we must be baptized if we would follow Christ. (2) That it is when we repent and are baptized that we receive the Holy Spirit (Ac 2:38). (3) That when we have obeyed the Lord he will recognize us as his children.
