And see a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
lo.
John 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
John 12:28-30 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again…
Revelation 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
This.
Matthew 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
“This is My beloved Son,
The declaration "This is My beloved Son" identifies Jesus as the unique Son of God, affirming His divine sonship and messianic identity. This phrase echoes Psalm 2:7, a royal psalm that speaks of the king as God's son, thus linking Jesus to the Davidic line and messianic expectations. The term "beloved" signifies a deep, unique relationship between the Father and the Son, highlighting Jesus' preeminence and the Father's love for Him. This identification sets Jesus apart from all others, confirming His role as the promised Messiah and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.
in whom I am well pleased!”
The expression "in whom I am well pleased" indicates God's complete satisfaction and approval of Jesus. This phrase reflects the fulfillment of Isaiah 42:1, where the servant of the Lord is described as one in whom God delights. It underscores Jesus' perfect obedience and sinlessness, qualities that make Him the perfect sacrifice for humanity's sins. This divine approval at the outset of Jesus' ministry assures believers of His authority and mission. It also serves as a model for believers, emphasizing the importance of living a life pleasing to God through obedience and faithfulness.
• At Jesus’ baptism the heavens open, and an audible declaration comes directly from the Father—supernatural confirmation no one can miss (Exodus 19:19; Psalm 29:3–4; John 12:28–30).
• The moment reveals the Trinity in real time: the Son in the water, the Spirit descending like a dove (v. 16), and the Father speaking.
• God has done this before to ratify major covenant moments—think of Sinai or the cloud at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17). Here He inaugurates the public ministry of His Son with the same unmistakable authority.
• The Father identifies Jesus openly, removing all doubt about His divine sonship (Psalm 2:7; Luke 1:35; John 1:34).
• “Beloved” underscores eternal, intimate love within the Godhead—a relationship predating creation (John 17:24).
• By calling Jesus “Son,” the Father affirms messianic kingship and divine equality (Hebrews 1:1–5). No prophet or angel receives this title in the same personal way.
• The Father delights in the Son’s perfect obedience and sinless character (Isaiah 42:1; John 8:29).
• Jesus hasn’t yet preached a sermon or performed a miracle, reminding us that the Father’s pleasure rests first on who Jesus is before what He does.
• This pleasure foreshadows the substitutionary work ahead: only a spotless, pleasing sacrifice can atone for sinners (Hebrews 10:5–10; Ephesians 5:2).
• The statement also signals approval of the baptism itself—not because Jesus needed cleansing, but because He identifies with those He came to save (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Matthew 3:17 records the Father’s public seal on Jesus at the very start of His ministry. The audible voice affirms that Jesus is eternally loved, uniquely divine, and perfectly pleasing to God, setting the stage for everything that follows in the gospel narrative.
(17) A voice from heaven.--The words were heard, so far as the record goes, as the sign was seen, by our Lord and the Baptist only. It was a testimony to them, and not to the multitude. The precise force of the latter clause, in whom I was well pleased, points (to speak after the manner of men) rather to a definite divine act or thought, than to a continued ever-present acceptance. He who stood there was the beloved Son, in whom, "in the beginning," the Father was well-pleased. To the Baptist this came as the answer to all questionings. This was none other than the King to whom had been spoken the words, "Thou art my Son" (Psalm 2:7), who was to the Eternal Father what Isaac was to Abraham (the very term "beloved son" is used in the Greek of Genesis 22:2, where the English version has "only"), upon whom the mind of the Father rested with infinite content. And we may venture to believe that the "voice" came as an attestation also to the human consciousness of the Son of Man. There had been before, as in Luke 2:49, the sense that God was His Father. Now, with an intensity before unfelt, and followed, as the sequel shows, with entire change in life and action, there is, in His human soul, the conviction that He is "the Son, the beloved."Here, as before, it is instructive to note the legendary accretions that have gathered round the simple narrative of the Gospels. Justin (Dial. c., Tryph. p. 316) adds that "a fire was kindled in Jordan." An Ebionite Gospel added to the words from heaven, "This day have I begotten thee," and further adds, "a great light shone around the place, and John saw it, and said, 'Who art thou, Lord?' and again a voice from heaven, saying. 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And then John fell down, and said, 'I beseech Thee, O Lord, baptise Thou me.' But He forbade him, saying, 'Suffer it, for thus it is meet that all things should be accomplished.'
More important and more difficult is the question, What change was actually wrought in our Lord's human nature by this descent of the Spirit? The words of the Baptist, "He giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him" (John 3:34) imply the bestowal of a real gift. The words that follow here, "He was led by the Spirit" (Matthew 4:1), "The Spirit driveth Him" (Mark 1:12), show, in part, the nature of the change. We may venture to think even there of new gifts, new powers, a new intuition (comp. John 3:11), a new constraint, as it were, bringing the human will that was before in harmony with the divine into a fuller consciousness of that harmony, and into more intense activity; above all, a new intensity of prayer, uttering itself in Him, as afterwards in His people, in the cry, "Abba, Father" (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). There also we may think of the Spirit as "making intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered." . . .
Verse 17. - Lo; peculiar to St. Matthew - a reminiscence of Aramaic diction. A voice. Similarly in Matthew 17:5 (Transfiguration, cf. 2 Peter 1:17, 18); John 12:28 (like thunder); [possibly Acts 2:6, Pentecost]; Acts 9:4 (Paul's conversion); 10:13, 15 (Peter). Talmudic and rabbinic writings often mention the Bath-Qol as speaking from heaven. The character of the occasions on which the voice is heard in the New Testament on the one hand, and in the Jewish writings on the other, shows the complete difference in the moral aspect of the two voices. The latter is at best little more than a parody of the former. (For the meaning of the expression Bath-Qol vide especially Weber, p. 188; Edersheim, 'Life,' 1:285.) From heaven; out of the heavens (Revised Version), pointing to the phrase in ver. 16. Saying. Western authorities add, "unto him," mostly reading the following words in the second person (cf. Mark and Luke). This is my beloved Son. Very similar if not identical words were spoken at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5), Matthew giving precisely the same, Mark and Luke only omitting "in whom I am well pleased," and Luke also reading "chosen" instead of "beloved." It would seem more natural to suppose that the words spoken on the two occasions were really slightly different, and that therefore Matthew is the less accurate. My .... Son (cf. Psalm 2:7). My beloved Son. The expression is probably based on Isaiah 42:1 (cf. infra, Matthew 12:18, note); but this does not necessitate the punctuation of the Revised Version margin, and Westcott and Herr margin: "My Son; my beloved in whom," etc. (For the expression, comp. also Mark 12:6 (not in the parallel passage, Matthew 21:37); Ephesians 1:6.) In whom I am well pleased; rather, in whom I have delight (cf. Isaiah 62:4, Authorized Version). The tense (εὐδόκησα) is equivalent to "my delight" fell on him, he became the object of my love" (Winer, 40:5, b, 2). The Spirit came, the Father bore witness. "Thus the Baptist receives through a revelation the certainty of the Messiahship of Jesus, and thus the reader learns that the Son of David, who through his birth (ch. 1.) and the fortunes of his childhood (ch. 2.) was certified as the Messiah, now also is announced to the last of the prophets as the Son of God, to whom Jehovah, in Psalm 2:7, etc., had promised the Messianic dominion of the world" (Weiss, 'Matthaus-Evang.'). Yet not only so; the words probably revealed to the Lord Jesus himself more of his exact relationship to the Father than he had before as Man realized. Such an assurance of his true nature, and of the Father's delight in him, would be of essential service in strengthening him for his work (cf. Matthew 17:5). There are two other matters connected with our Lord's baptism recorded by tradition (cf. especially Resch, 'Agrapha,'pp. 346-367)-additional words spoken, and an additional sign given. The words spoken are found in "Western" authorities of Luke 3:22, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee," evidently with a desire to emphasize the application of the second psalm. The additional sign is the light or fire. The simplest form of this is (Tatian's 'Diatessaron,' edit. Zahn), "A light rose upon the waters;" and in the Ebionite Gospel apud Epiph., "Immediately a great light shone round about the place;" more fully in Justin Martyr ('Trypho,' § 88), "When Jesus had gone down into the water, fire was kindled in the Jordan;" also in a now lost 'Pred. Paul,' "When he was being baptized, fire was seen upon the water;" and in the Cod. Vercellensis of the Old Latin, "When he was being baptized, an immense light shone round from the water, so that all who had come thither were afraid." Although there is no intrinsic objection to this symbol having taken place, it is very improbable that in this case the evangelists would not have recorded it. The legend may have arisen from ver. 11, or, and more probably, from an endeavour to make the baptism parallel to the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2); cf. Ephraem, in Resch ('Agrapha,' p. 358), "John drew near and worshipped the Son, whose form an unwonted lustre surrounded."