"You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

"You are my beloved Son;

with you I am well pleased."

 

 

 

 

 

“As all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” (Luke 3:21–22)

 

 

I would like to meditate on this passage and receive the grace God gives through it.

 

(1)   As I meditate on this passage, I notice that the baptism of Jesus is recorded not only here in Luke 3:21–22, but also in Matthew 3:13–17 and Mark 1:9–11.  So, I compared these passages, focusing mainly on Luke 3:21–22.

 

(a)    When I did this, several details not mentioned in Luke’s Gospel caught my attention:

 

(i)               First, both Mark 1:9 and Matthew 3:13 tell us that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River.

 

·        Nazareth in Galilee was Jesus’ actual hometown—the place where He lived after returning from Egypt, having fled from Herod’s persecution, and where He grew up from infancy to adulthood.  The fact that Jesus left Nazareth, where He had lived a private life for about 30 years, to go to the Jordan River, where John’s ministry of baptism and repentance was in full swing, shows that He was ending His private life and entering His public ministry (Ref.: Hokmah).

(ii)             Second, when Jesus came to be baptized by John, John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  But Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”  So, John consented (Mt. 3:14–15).

 

·        John baptizing Jesus was the will of God (“to fulfill all righteousness”).  Jesus and John were both obeying that divine will.  In doing so, Jesus brought to completion the righteousness of God.  This means that Jesus was baptized to end His private life and to begin His public ministry as the Messiah, in obedience to the Father’s will (Bruce, Erdman).  Furthermore, His baptism symbolized His coming suffering on behalf of sinners.  The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the Suffering Servant (Isa. 42:1–9; 49:1–6; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12).  Thus, after baptizing Jesus, John immediately called Him “the Lamb of God” (Jn. 1:29).  And Jesus Himself later referred to His redemptive suffering as a “baptism” (Lk. 12:50) (Hokmah).

 

(iii)           Third, Luke 3:21–22 says that as Jesus was baptized and was praying, “heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove.”  Matthew 3:16 says that “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.”  Mark 1:10 says, “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.”

 

·        Putting these together, we see that after Jesus was baptized by John, as He was praying (Luke) or as He came up out of the water (Matthew and Mark), heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him.  Luke emphasizes prayer as the moment of the Spirit’s descent, while Matthew and Mark describe the sequence of the baptism and the Spirit’s coming.  Both focus on the same event but from slightly different angles.

 

-        Jesus was baptized by John “to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt. 3:15)—or, in the Contemporary Version, “because this is what God wants us to do.”  More specifically, the reasons for His baptism were (Internet):

n  To fulfill all righteousness: Jesus said, “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness,” meaning that through this act He completed the full requirement of God’s will.

 

n  To begin His public ministry: His baptism publicly confirmed Him as God’s Son and Messiah, marking the start of His ministry.

 

n  To identify with humanity: Though sinless, Jesus received baptism to show His full identification with humankind and to foreshadow His suffering and death.

 

n  To reveal the Trinity: The Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and the Father’s voice spoke from heaven, clearly revealing the triune God.

 

n  To affirm John’s ministry: It also validated John’s mission as the prophet crying out in the wilderness, sent by God.

 

n  To symbolize the beginning of salvation: His baptism pointed forward to the cleansing and new life that believers would receive through faith in Him.

 

(2)   Finally, as I meditate on Luke 3:21–22, I receive deep grace from the words, “A voice came from heaven: ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” (v.22).

 

(a)    The grace here is that through Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and the Father’s voice was heard—revealing clearly the Trinity—and showing that God the Father acknowledged and affirmed His Son.  Yet, when this same beloved and pleasing Son later cried out on the cross, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Mk. 15:34), the Father, though He loved Him, remained silent.  This silence is, for me, a profound expression of grace.

 

(i)               This grace is made even more wondrous by Isaiah 53:10: “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.”

·        How could the Father, who loved His only Son, will to crush Him?  The answer lies in Isaiah 53:5: “He was pierced for our transgressions.”  The Father allowed His beloved Son to be wounded on the cross for our sins—so that our sins might be forgiven (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14) and we might be made righteous (Isa. 53:11).

 

-        “God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure” (Eph. 1:5).

 

n  “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph. 3:17).