So after many months of ministry, Christ Jesus came down from Galilee to be baptized by John. We will return to what that baptism meant later. This morning I want us to think about what God the Father declared – as recorded in verse 17 – “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
This is an extremely important statement. Jesus’ baptism and this declaration are recorded in a slightly different fashion in both Mark and Luke. And later in John, Christ refers back to this – so it is essentially recorded in all four gospels. In addition to that, this same declaration was made again following our Lord’s transfiguration. But it should be obvious that this was not said for Jesus’ sake. The Father spoke from Heaven so that John could hear it, along with those who were standing by him. As I say, Christ Jesus brought this up when later dealing with the Pharisees – “The Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me….” Perhaps some of the people to whom Jesus was speaking, actually heard the Heavenly voice a couple years earlier. And then, too, this statement was made for the sake a thousand generations which followed. It was meant for you and me. We need to know – or at the very least – begin to know what this means. In some ways the fate of our souls depends on it.
And then there was a voice. It didn’t come from John, Jesus or the Spirit of God, but rather from Heaven. The Greek experts tell me that the word “heaven” is plural, as is often the case in the Bible. There was a voice from the heavens which said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
One of the wonderful things about the Word of God – One of the things which ought to keep us going in our study, meditation and even in our memorization – is all that the Bible leaves unspoken. Even what is clearly said leaves much that is unsaid; and this should increase our curiosity. What was this voice like that day? Was it as loud as thunder, so that it could be heard in Jericho as well as down by the river? God spoke to Elijah in a still small voice, but of course the circumstances were quite different. Was this in Hebrew, the first language of Israel, but one which wasn’t as well known as it had been? Was it spoken in Aramaic, which was more common, or was it Greek or even Latin? When the voice was heard, did everyone look up and try to see the source, or did most of them fall to the ground or into the water, covering their eyes and their ears? As usual, I have lots of unanswered questions. However it came and whatever it did to those people, I guarantee that it was awe inspiring.
It might be hard for some of you to remember back twenty years, to when I first became your pastor. It would be extremely difficult for you teenagers. But our family arrived in late October, in fact, one of our first services took place on Halloween. I think that I had begun my study before arriving, but for the first little while we spent some time considering what the Bible says about Satan, and how he works. In addition to my Bible study, I read at least a dozen books on the subject. And whether or not I’ve ever told you, I’d recommend that you never do what I did. The in-depth study that I made was depressing and spiritually oppressing. Spending a few hours every day for a few weeks, thinking about demonism, Satanism and the Devil was not good for my spiritual condition. Nevertheless one of the things that I learned is that Satan is great imitator. I read of cases where people came under the influence of Satan, thinking that he was Jehovah. This matches what we read in Revelation about the time of the Tribulation and the way that the Devil, the False Prophet and the Antichrist will deceive the world.
I can’t tell you whether the Pharisees understood the wiles of the Wicked one. While they were being duped by him, they probably didn’t recognize his handy work. But from what I now know, if I had been in that crowd on the day that the Lord Jesus was baptized, I might have wondered about the source of that voice. The prince of the power of the air could quite easily have manufactured this event in order to put his antichrist in the spotlight and to further deceive those who were already confused. But of course, we know that this was not the voice of Satan; it was the voice of God the Father. And this wasn’t the Antichrist, but the true Christ of God.
How did the Lord create that voice or those words? It’s not worth the struggle of putting our imagination to work, because we no direct information. He who could make the Balaam’s donkey to speak in Hebrew, would have had no difficulty in doing this. When Christ said that the stones along the road could be given voices of praise to God, I believe him. I’m not going to loose any sleep worrying about how God spoke; I’m simply going to believe this scripture.
I believe that statement was inspired by the Holy Spirit, down to every word on the page. I also believe that God promised to preserve His Word so that every generation would have access to an accurate copy of that inspired word. I don’t know about you, but I believe that the King James Bibles that we have and use, is the Word of God and that the Holy Spirit actually guided those men who translated it into English. (By the way 2011 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Authorized Version of the Scriptures.)
I am reasonably confident that the Bibles which you have on your laps, all have capitalized the word “Son.” I have that confidence because of the dozen or so copies that I consulted at home the other day all had a capital “s” on “Son.” That included several corrupt versions, including, quite surprisingly, the New World Translation of the Christ-denying Jehovah’s Witnesses. What does that capitalized “s” mean? It is a common indication that the “Son” is deity – that He is God. The translators of our Bibles believed that this statement means that the Son of God is divine – just like God the Father is divine – that He is God. And of this fact, I have no doubt, although I can’t speak about the faith of those people who heard God’s voice that day at the Jordan River.
There are not many Old Testament scriptures which call the Messiah “God’s Son.” But along with the New Testament scriptures – there are certainly enough to convince me. The much-beloved Second Psalm certainly teaches that God has a Son and that He is divine. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” This Psalm weaves “the LORD, Jehovah” together with “the Son.” It links the worship and service of the one with the other. And as is declared in the New Testament, “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand,” including judgment.
John 5 records an extremely important conversation between Christ and the Jews. The Lord Jesus had just healed a crippled man and then ordered him to do something which the Jews thought was contrary to the Sabbath law. “Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
It is Psalm 2 which lay behind the statement we hear at the Lord Jesus’ baptism. And when we add John 5 there should be no doubt about what that voice was saying. And with this behind us, the meaning of “beloved” Son and “well pleased” are fully understood. As Greek expert Robertson says, “The good pleasure of the Father is expressed by the timeless aorist.” Both here and at the Transfiguration, God the Father says that He has always been – and always will be – pleased with everything that God the Son ever does.
What is clearly not so clear is what this all means in regard to the Trinity. How can the one God exist in three distinct persons? Some people worry themselves to death – spiritual death – trying to get their sin-corrupted human intellects around this doctrine. They want to be able to logically, conclusively and finally explain the triunity of God, but it is never going to be done without faith and without the blessing of God. The only thing about which we can be dogmatic is that the Bible teaches the eternal deity of each person of the God-head – the Trinity. And in several scriptures, including this one, we see all three Persons of the God-head at one time – the Son was baptized, the Spirit descended and abode upon Him, while the Father spoke from Heaven.
That Christ is the Son of God, doesn’t have anything to do with his birth in Bethlehem. The Sonship of the Son has nothing to do with One of the Three coming into existence before the Other. Despite what Psalm 2 says to some people, the Son wasn’t created by the Father at some point in time. God is sometimes called the “eternal Father” because of the eternal relationship that He has always had with the Son. I don’t know that there is any human language capable of expressing the relationship between the First and Second Person of the Trinity. The terms “Father” and “Son” have been employed by the Holy Spirit because there isn’t anything better. About all that I can say in regard to the subject of the Trinity is to believe what the Bible says. In the presence of God the Holy Spirit, God the Father spoke about His relationship to God the Son.
First, can you imagine the awe and reverence that those words created? I’m sure that once those people reached their homes, or when they were well away from the river, they discussed every detail of what they heard and saw. But while the Heavenly words still echoed around the hills on either side of the river, they were as quiet as church mice. That river valley became a temple for a little while. Those words were like the Shekinah glory of God which filled the Temple of Solomon. This was the anointing of the divine Prophet, Priest and King of the kingdom. It wasn’t joyful – like a marriage – and it wasn’t somber – like a funeral; it was absolutely unique.
The entire situation confirmed the truth which was spoken. “This is the eternal Son of God. Jehovah is putting His approval upon Christ and upon His ministry. All that John has said about the Kingdom is true – it is at hand and here is the King.”
Another purpose of this statement is to prepare and to speak to us. From this point on, there isn’t a single word that Christ Jesus speaks, which shouldn’t be heard, considered, and fully believed. When He condemns our pharisaical attitudes, our self-righteousness and our complacency, we had better listen. When He tells us that we must be born again, then we need to ask what it is to be born again. When He says that all judgment has been given unto the Son, then we need to learn to kiss this Son, “lest he be angry and we perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.”
Have you prepared yourself for the coming of the Lord? Have you made His way straight into your heart and soul? That is, have you repented before God? Has your heart been irreparably broken before Him, in surrender and humble adoration? And do you believe that Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah and the Saviour? Is your faith, hope and trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross? Without him there is no salvation from sin. “This is God’s beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased.” And we must be pleased in Him as well, or we will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.