The Beloved Son | Matthew 3:17

Matthew 3:17“And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

This is the first appearance of our Lord in the Scriptures in eighteen years. The last time we saw Him, He was twelve years old in the temple, amazing the scribes and lawyers. What an appearance He has made! This is not just for pomp, but for a witness to the nation and to the world of who He is. The Holy Spirit is there to bear witness of His induction into ministry, the man of God is there to officiate the baptism, the Son is there fulfilling all righteousness, and the Father is there to formally announce who exactly this is standing in the river.

Although Jesus’ early life is mostly a mystery to us, it was not to God. He had been watching Him fulfill all righteousness for the past thirty years. In those thirty years, Jesus was tempted just as we are. He was introduced to the hurts of family drama, the toil of the workshop, the misaligned disappointment of parents, and every other facet of human life. Through it all, God was still “well pleased.”

Through all of it, He was still His “beloved Son.” This title “beloved” is exclusive to Jesus in the Gospels, because there was never a man like this one. Yet after Calvary, it becomes a title of the Christian, since we become partakers of His love and righteousness. Jesus is coming to the close of one chapter of His ministry and beginning another. Now He is going to do in public what He had been doing in private—fulfilling all righteousness.

There is our lesson for today. Only those who are fulfilling righteousness when no one is looking will have a God-given public ministry. The unction of the Spirit and the witness of God on a man’s public life is a result of his private life. Jesus was the same person He had always been, but now in the public eye, and God was pleased to set Him forth. I wonder today: would God be pleased to set you forth to minister to His people? After an examination of your private life could he say this is my servant in whom I am pleased?

Lord, help us to please You!