Matthew: My Beloved Son

And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him; And lo, a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”     

Matthew 3:16-17 [KJV]

I grew up in a family with a complicated dynamic.  My mother very much ruled the roost and was difficult to please.  I spent most of my adolescent, teenage and college years trying to win her approval.  Her repeated statement to me:  “When you learn…, When you do…,  When you see…,  When you are… whatever it was she felt was appropriate, then and only then would I be OK in her eyes.  Suffice it to say that I rarely received that approbation.

This passage in Matthew details the baptism of Jesus:  the Messiah coming to His cousin, John the Baptist, to join the hundreds of others who had flocked to the wilderness to be baptized by John.  The Gospels of Mark and John give a more richly detailed account of the baptism and its aftermath; Matthew’s account is matter-of-fact and short.  It contains, however, the portion of the story that holds the greatest impact for me.

The scene of Jesus at the Jordan River occurred at the very beginning of his ministry, and just prior to the 40-day fast in the wilderness, where He met Satan mano-a-mano.  Nothing about Jesus’ life here on earth would ever be easy – scorn and rejection would be a daily diet.  Friends were few and flighty.  Support system?  Hmmm…not so much. How in the world would He face the pressure of His daily mission?

Our text provides the answer:  As Jesus rose from the waters of the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descended “as a dove” and rested on His shoulder.  Then a voice out of the highest heaven – the voice of His Father – exclaimed, “This is MY Son and I am very pleased with Him.”   

When Jesus came to Jordan to be baptized by John,

He did not come for pardon, but as God’s Holy One.

So when the dove descended on him, the Holy One

The hidden years had ended – the age of grace begun.