“Thou Art My Beloved Son; in Thee I Am Well Pleased.”

Thus do we behold the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Father, the three in One, the One in three, the holy Trinity. And Jesus, the perfect Man, addressed as the Father’s beloved Son. There is in the voice from heaven as thus recorded a peculiar personal emphasis. “Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee—” The words are addressed to Jesus privately. They are not official, and about Him, but to Him as the Man, the perfect Man whom the Father loves. We may well thank God that such a record is given for our joy. Jesus is the beloved of God the Father, and in Him the Father has everlasting satisfaction. He has pleasure in Him. “In Thee I am well pleased,” was the voice of love from heaven the moment that Jesus began His service of love on earth. The path that the Lord trod on earth was for men, but in working for men He magnified God.
The Father’s voice from heaven had never before been heard upon this earth. God, as Jehovah, had spoken in majesty and from the midst of the fire, and men had heard that voice, and lived, but, when God speaks as the Father, Jesus alone hears that voice, and alone sees the sight of the opened heavens, and the Holy Ghost descending upon Him. It is for us to read the record, and bless God for having given us such a privilege.
Let us listen to the testimony of Matthew.