Remember, our campaign is called Pray Like Jesus, and the beginning of Jesus' communication with the Father is the Father speaking to Jesus. For the first couple of days here, we are looking at the baptism of Jesus and what is going on there.
Matthew 3:13–17
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
First of all, we must remember the time in redemption history that this event is occurring. This is after the intertestamental period where God has not spoken through the prophets, like he had in the past, for 400 years. It had been so long since God has spoken, the Jews had developed a theological concept called "daughter of voice". The idea is that the voice is an indirect echo of God's speech. God's silence was deafening for the people of Israel. Then, in this moment, God speaks plainly and audibly.
What he says is quite similar to Isaiah 42:1 and Psalm 2:7.
Isaiah 42:1 1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.
Psalm 2:7 7 I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father.
So the sonship of Jesus points to his Messianic identity and calling. But it also alludes to his divine nature, referencing back to the virgin birth. It also points to the obedience of Jesus. He, as a good son, does what his father does and is obedient to his will.
Like the Isaiah 42 passage, the Father here confesses his love for Jesus and his delight in him. This certainly carries a great deal of weight in terms of its biblical, theological significance, which we have just unpacked. It also, however, carries a great deal of significance for Jesus on the human level. Remember, this is the inauguration of Jesus' ministry. So before he has done anything really, the Father declares Jesus' identity as his Son; he declares his love for Jesus and his pleasure with him. This is a profound moment that propels Jesus into ministry. With his identity and acceptance secure in the Father, regardless of his accomplishments, he is free to carry out his ministry.
Tomorrow we will begin unpacking what this means for us.
Additional Content
Whenever we begin talking about the fatherhood of God, inevitably we filter our understanding of God's fatherhood through our experiences with our biological father. This article is written by someone whose father was not a good father. So, especially if that has been your experience with your father, navigate over to the devotional page to give this article a read.
Reflection
Obviously, we can't comprehend what it must have been like to be Jesus. How his divine nature and his human nature worked together, we can't possibly know. Yet, it's possible in his humanity that Jesus had his doubts of his calling and mission. Imagine being Jesus and hearing this from the Father. What kind of confidence would that give you? What kind of security and affirmation? Think of how many times throughout his ministry, especially when times were tough, he must have looked back at this moment to give him confidence and strength.