This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mt 3:17)

 

It is a testimony by which the Father has testified

in the story of the birth story of Jesus Christ. We

would like to take it as a point of meditation at the

Epiphany Eve.

“My beloved Son” is a statement that

indicates the everlasting love between the

Father and the Son. In that the Lord said in (Jn

17:24) “for You loved Me before the foundation of the

world”. And about that love He said too: “O Father,

glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which

I had with You before the world was.” (Jn 17:5).

As for the statement “My Son, in whom I am

well pleased”, means the eternal pleasure that

the Father has for the Son, not only at the

baptism time, but in everything He did during

the time in which he was incarnated.

The pleasure the Father has in the Son has so

many reasons, of which are:

1- The Father was pleased with His Son at the time

of His baptism for He has come to be baptized by

one of His followers or His Assistants while He is

the greatest priest according to the order of

Melchizedek (Ps 110:4). This shows His humility

that gave the Father pleasure in Him. And out of

His humility He said to John the Baptist “Permit it

to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all

righteousness” (Mt 3:15).

2- The baptism by John the Baptist was a repentance

baptism. Sinners went for it to be baptized

“confessing their sins” (Mt 3:6). But as for the

Lord Christ, He is Holy with no sins and did not

need the repentance baptism.

So His baptism was another form of

humility that pleased the Father in Him.

Sin has entered the world because of pride,

when Satan said “I will ascend above the heights

of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Is

14:14). That is same pride he used to make the

first man fall by saying to Eve “you will be like

God…” (Gn 3:5).

3- The Son was also a point of pleasure for the

Father for He “made Himself of no reputation,

taking the form of a bondservant, and coming

in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:7). And He pleased

the Father with His Humility.

4- He also pleased the Father because He lived on

earth gentle and lowly in Heart (Mt 11:29). The

prophecy that the Lord said in the book of Prophet

Isaiah has come true in Him (Is 42:1-4): “Behold!

My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom

My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him;

He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will

not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His

voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He

will not break, And smoking flax He will not

quench;" (Mt 12:18-20).

5- Also the Father was pleased with the Son

because He executed in Himself the

requirements of the Divine Justice.

Before that, as was said in the book of

Prophet Isaiah “All we like sheep have gone

astray; We have turned, every one, to his own

way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of

us all” (Is 53:6). He accepted that all the

iniquities of the human race be laid on Him ever

since the first man till the end of the ages. And

He became “wounded for our transgressions, He

was bruised for our iniquities” (Is 53:5). And thus

the Father was pleased in Him as he redeemed

humans.

6- And so in His sufferings the Father was pleased

with Him. And it was said about Him in Prophet

Isaiah book “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise

Him; He has put Him to grief” (Is 53:10).

7- And since the redemption that the Lord wanted

required a righteous sinless person to die for the

sins of others, since He will not have any sin to

die for…

Therefore it pleased the Father that

Christ is the perfect righteous who can do

the redemption act. As for the rest of humans,

it applied to them what was said on the psalm:

“They have all turned aside, They have together

become corrupt; There is none who does good,

No, not one.” (Ps 14:3). In contrast to Christ on

whom applies a prophecy in the Ecclesiastes Book

which said: “One man among a thousand I have

found” (Ec 7:28).

8- The Father was also pleased with Him

because He always followed the Father’s

will.

He used to say to Him: “nevertheless, not as I

will, but as You will” also says: “I have come

down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the

will of Him who sent Me”. And said about himself

in John’s Gospel: “the Son can do nothing of

Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for

whatever He does, the Son also does in like

manner” (Jn 5:19).

This shows us the unity of will between the

Father and the Son gathering them as the unity of

divinity does. This unity of will was a source of

pleasure for the Father.

9- The Lord Christ concentrated in most of His

talking on the Father and that made the

Father pleased with Him.

He used to say that the Father sent Him. And

he said to His disciples: “the Father Himself loves

you, because you have loved Me” (Jn 16:27). And

he used to talk about His relation with the Father

saying: “I am in the Father and the Father in Me”

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn

14:11, 9).

Also said “I and My Father are one” (Jn 10:30).

10- What also made the Father pleased with Him is

that He introduced God to people as a Father and

a loving Father…

He used to repeat a lot the phrase “the

Heavenly Father”: “your heavenly Father knows

that you need all these things” (Mt 6:32). “Your

Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you

openly” (Mt 6:4). And taught people to pray

saying: “Our Father in heaven” (Mt 6:9). And said

to them: “be perfect, just as your Father in

heaven is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

11- What also pleased the Father was the Son’s

saying: “I have declared to them Your

name…” “and will declare it, that the love with

which You loved Me may be in them, and I in

them” (Jn 17:26). Also His saying: “I have

manifested Your name to the men whom You

have given Me” (Jn 17:6). And the name that

introduced Him to all people is a name full of love.

12- What also made the Father pleased with Him was

His saying: “I have glorified You on the earth.

I have finished the work which You have

given Me to do” (Jn 17:4). No doubt, this is very

joyful. We can never find such a report about the

service of any person, maybe in the history of the

whole mankind.

13- Even from the part of His talking and teaching, He

says to the Father (what pleases Him): “For I

have given to them the words which You

have given Me” (Jn 17:8).

Imagine that, even when He is God the Word,

He says to the Father “the words which You have

given Me”, meaning that the teaching I teach

people with is from You Yourself… Although it was

said about the Lord Christ that he is “the wisdom

of God” (1Co 1:24). And yet he says “the words

which You have given Me…”. That’s why the

Father was pleased with Him.

14- Also among the things that made the Father

pleased with Him was that He presented to

humans the divine picture that they lost.

They have been created in the image of God ever

since the beginning (Gn 1:26). They lost this

image by sin and the Lord Christ returned it to

them who also said to them: “For I have given

you an example, that you should do as I have

done to you” (Jn 13:15).

15- He was also a source of pleasure for the Father

because He “went about doing good” (Ac 10:38).

He was a source of love for everyone, healing

the sick, casting out demons, comforting the

suffering, teaching and blessing, fulfilling

everyone from His favor and correcting the

existing mistakes.

16- The Father was pleased with the Son because He

was the light of the world and He gave His

disciples also to be the light of the world (Mt

5:14).

That is why among the matters that pleased

the Father’s heart as well was that he gathered a

group of disciples to carry a message so that

there will be a continuity for proper teaching,

preaching and building in God’s Kingdom. He

made of those shepherds (leaders), teachers and

priests.

Among what also pleased the Father was that

the Lord Christ, on spite of Him being busy with

service, He had His many periods of prayer

and meditation. And how pretty is the

statement “And everyone went to his own house.

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.” (Jn 7:53-

8:1). Yet it is even prettier what was said about

Him before choosing His disciples that “He went

out to the mountain to pray, and continued all

night in prayer to God” (Lk 6:12). This indicates

His continual connection with God. Of course from

the hypostasis point of view this connection to the

Father was eternal. But from the point of view of

His humanity, His connection to the Father was

continuous as well. And this was a source of

pleasure to the Father.

I remember an old story that I read more

than 50 years ago about one of the soldiers who

divided the His garments during the time He was

crucified. This soldier says about Christ:

“His shoes were my share so I wore it. And

these shoes lead me in roads I never knew

before. And finally brought me to the Mount of

Olives. And I who never knew about prayer,

found myself kneeling close to one of the tress

praying…”.

17- Also He was the Father’s source of pleasure in

that He overcame the world and defeated Satan.

Thus He said to His disciples “be of good

cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33).

It is also known that He defeated Satan in the

three temptations mentioned on Mathew’s Gospel

(Mt 4). Yet it was said in Luke’s Gospel that after

those temptations “Now when the devil had ended

every temptation, he departed from Him until an

opportune time” (Lk 4:13) meaning that he was

back again. And every time Satan was defeated

by Him… Until the Lord Christ said: “I saw Satan

fall like lightning from heaven” (Lk 10:18).

Christ represents the life of triumph that

pleased the Father. About that said the apostle

later that He “leads us in triumph” (2Co 2:14).

18- Here I would like to include an important note in

all the triumphs of the Lord Christ that made him

a source of pleasure for the Father and that is

that He did not use his divinity for the sake of

the comfort of His humanity…

Thus He starved, got thirsty, got tired, slept,

felt pain and suffered all human sufferings and

bore them although His divinity parted not from

His humanity for a single moment nor a twinkling

of an eye…

19- The Father was pleased in Him because for the

people He was the good shepherd.

As was mentioned in (Ps 23) He made them

lie down in green pastures and lead them beside

the still waters. And He moved with compassion

for them when the human shepherds ignored

them and they were “weary and scattered, like

sheep having no shepherd” (Mt 9:36). He also

said about Himself: “I am the good shepherd. The

good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (Jn

10:11).