Matthew 3:16–17

He takes His place among us; and note, He was always the same Person all along His path… Heaven opened! Never before had there been a person on whom heaven could open. Never before could a voice — the Father's voice — say, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." There was nothing in Him but what heaven could delight in.

There lies the explanation. The heavens could now open. At last there was a man on earth who had the good pleasure of God and who, so to speak, drew it down upon Himself. "Heaven" could not remain silent. Christ was the One above all. He stood out from the crowd. Outwardly He was one of many who were baptised, but He had nothing to confess.

Notice the words, "the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him" — that is the form the descending Spirit took, no doubt expressing what He was in His own Person. The dove, as you know, was the bird of sorrow and the bird of love. So it was a fitting picture of what our Lord Jesus Christ was in His own holy, precious, glorious Person.

Noah's dove found no rest for the sole of its foot except on the ark. In the same way, the Holy Spirit found One on whom He could rest, where all around was waste and ruin.

In lowly grace He submitted to the baptism of repentance, but with no need for repentance. He publicly joined those who had confessed their sins, having no sins Himself to confess. Will unbelieving hearts think otherwise of Him, and misread this act of grace? To check such a hateful charge, the heavens were torn open the moment He came out of the water. The Father, jealous for the glory of the Son, gave the Holy Spirit to rest upon Him… He was the fulfilment of the grain offering of fine flour mingled, and anointed, with oil, apart from the cleansing and atoning blood. So He stood in contrast with the priests of Aaron's line, who received the anointing oil after blood had been applied.

I need not say to you that the Holy Spirit's coming down on the Lord Jesus did not in any sense add to His perfection. He was as perfect before as afterwards; but it was in connection with His service on earth. It was God, as it were, setting His mark upon Him, and sealing Him for His work.

Kings, priests and prophets entered their office by anointing with oil. Prophecy and picture alike pointed to the promised One being marked out in the same way. So when Andrew heard John the Baptist say that the Holy Spirit had come down on Jesus, he took the news straight to his brother Simon: "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).

The veil torn, the heavens opened to us, sealed and anointed by the Father, owned by Him as His sons. When He was here as Man, the heavens opened at His baptism. He was sealed and anointed, and the Father owned Him as His Son. This is the first time that the Trinity was fully revealed. Then He goes to be tempted.

The heavens were opened to Him. This is a significant word that is often overlooked. For Him alone the heavens are open… In Him the heavens are opened for us, and He has taken all of us who believe into heaven, bringing many sons to glory.

Does it not seem that this wonderful testimony of God the Father followed from Christ fulfilling all righteousness in the waters of the Jordan? It was the answer of God to the place that Christ, in His grace, had taken. It was God, jealous for the glory of His Son, who would not allow any suspicion to rest on this loveliest and lowliest of acts... Do not think He has sin. But if you are there, He is with you: if the sheep are in the waters, the shepherd must enter them too.

Jesus was clearly the delight of God as man — not merely because of a work that was going to be done. It was the Person Himself whom God acknowledged, and His Person even after He had identified Himself with the people who were baptized... "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased" — not only "I am," but "I have been well pleased," "have found my delight." It looks back; it is not only about the present.

God's eye passed over this earth like Noah's dove, over a world swept by the flood of sin. Until He saw Jesus here, His eye could find nowhere to rest in peace and satisfaction. On Him it could rest. As for showing its satisfaction, whatever its purposes, heaven stayed closed until Jesus... was on earth. The moment He presented Himself in public service, heaven opened, the Holy Spirit came down to dwell in Him, His one resting-place here. And the Father's voice could no longer be held back. From heaven He declares, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

When God saw the first man, Adam, fresh from creation, He called him "very good" (Gen. 1). But in the Second Man, the last Adam, the Father found His "delight." This delight in the One He sent is no surprise to us. We cannot even imagine the Father having His only Son close to His heart and not delighting in Him.

He lived in the thick darkness... and a veil hid whatever showed of God's presence... Only Jesus made Him truly known. We see it where we would least expect it: in that act of incomparable grace when He was fulfilling all righteousness, baptized by John in the Jordan (Matt. 3:13-17). There, as the Holy Spirit descended on Him, the Father from heaven proclaimed Him to be His beloved Son. The Trinity stood revealed.

So we see that the voice spoke for His own ear as well as for the ears of others. The acknowledgment was personal as well as public. And so He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power for the ministry of His life here below.

The devil always sows doubts of the Divine Word. Compare Matt. 3:17 with Matt. 4:3 and 6, and see how clearly this comes out. No sooner has God said, "This is My beloved Son," than the devil says twice over, "If you are the Son of God." The little word "if" is a great favourite with the devil!

God has brought us to know Christ: "This is my beloved Son," that is what I delight in. The more we look at Him, the more we see there is the place God has brought us. If heaven opens on Him, it opens on us; if God owns Him as Son, He owns us as sons.