Matthew 3:17

‘And lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, (or ‘My Son, the Beloved') in whom I am well pleased.” '

And then the Voice spoke from Heaven. Here was no whisper of a voice, the quiet ‘bath qol' (daughter of a voice) spoken of by the Scribes and Pharisees which had replaced the resounding words of the prophets. It was the voice of God Himself, loud and clear, although who it was clear to we are not told. Perhaps to many it sounded like thunder (compare John 12:29). But it was clear to both John and Jesus. This is made openly apparent by the evangelists. Matthew has John in mind when he translates as, ‘This is My beloved Son'. Mark and Luke had Jesus in mind when they translated as ‘You are My beloved Son'. The Aramaic (or even possibly Hebrew) was presumably less clear, with no initial pronoun in the sentence. The Voice may well have said, “My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased,” the indicating pronoun being assumed, as it often is in Aramaic. But when God is speaking who can dogmatise as to what is heard, or how it is heard?

The Voice described Jesus in terms of two Old Testament figures. ‘You are My Son' identifies Him with the anointed King in Psalms 2:7. ‘My beloved in Whom I am well pleased' (see Matthew 12:18) identifies Him with the Servant of YHWH of Isaiah. And this is the pattern of Matthew's Gospel. It begins and ends with great emphasis on Jesus as the Anointed One, the King, the Son of David par excellence (1-2; Matthew 3:3 - the way is prepared for a king; Matthew 4:15 in its Isaianic context; Matthew 21:5; Matthew 22:1; Matthew 22:44; Matthew 25:31; Matthew 26:63; Matthew 27:11; Matthew 27:17; Matthew 27:22; Matthew 27:37; Matthew 28:18). But in its central part his Gospel also lays great emphasis on Jesus as the Servant of the Lord (here, Matthew 8:17; Matthew 12:18; Matthew 20:28, and the contexts in which they are found). We will expand on these themes as we go through the Gospel.

But the idea of sonship must be seen as going beyond that of just a son of David. He is ‘the beloved', and the beloved is the Servant of YHWH (Matthew 12:18) and the transfigured One (Matthew 17:5). He is a unique eschatological figure. Furthermore the Devil will challenge Him with the fact of His awareness that He is the Son of God with almost limitless powers, powers that can create bread from stones, that can enable Him to throw Himself from the top of the Temple into the valley far beneath without hurt, and that can enable Him with the Devil's assistance to conquer the world. And had Jesus not thought that He could do these things they would have been no temptation. (Most of us have never felt tempted to do any of them). And it is because He is the Son of God that evil spirits do His bidding (Matthew 8:29). Add to this that He is the only Son (in Luke ‘My beloved son') in contrast with the prophets (Matthew 21:37, compare Matthew 22:2) and David's Lord (Matthew 22:44) and we recognise that He stands alone uniquely apart as God's Son, Whom no one knows but the Father (Matthew 11:27), and Who Himself uniquely knows the Father but can reveal Him to His own (Matthew 11:27), because he who has seen Him has seen the Father (John 14:9).