In Matthew 3:13-17, we have the onset of Jesus’ earthly ministry as a man, beginning with Him being baptized by His cousin, who we know as John the Baptist. As Jesus comes up out of the waters of Baptism, we see in verse 16, the heavens – the sky opening up and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him, anointing – empowering Him for His earthly ministry (Acts 10:34-38). And then in verse 17, we have a voice from Heaven proclaiming, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. The Father will make this proclamation again, in the midst of Jesus’ ministry when He will reveal Jesus’ eternal glory, the magnificence and excellence of His being, to His three closest apostles, all of whom will be charged with going into the world to proclaim His glory as it is revealed in and through the Gospel (Matthew 17:1-5) (Mark 16:15-16).
Theologian William Hendrickson speaks of this love of God the Father for God the Son in his New Testament Commentary on Matthew when He writes: “No higher love is possible than the love which the Father has for His Son. According to the verbal adjective, beloved, as here it is used, this love is deep seated, thorough going, as deep as the heart of God itself. It is also intelligent (not just emotional) and purposeful as is the mind of God itself. It is tender, vast, infinite. Not only this but it is also eternal; that is it is timeless, raised above all temporal boundaries.”
In Matthew 3:17, God the Father introduces to Israel and ultimately to the world His eternally begotten, eternally beloved Son whom the Father, out of love for a fallen, cursed world of sin- corrupted, condemned image bearers, sends into the world as a man to save His people from their sin (Matthew 1:20-21) (John 3:16).
The Son would come willingly, out of love and obedience to the Father, and compassion for lost humanity, that through His sinless life, atoning death on the cross and miraculous resurrection, He would accomplish everything necessary so that believing men and women would not perish under the just judgement of God, eternally forsaken to Hell with Satan and His angels, but be granted the gift of eternal life, the glorious life with God for which man was created. (John 6:38) (Matthew 9:36-38) (Romans 6:23).
This is affirmed in 1 John 5:11, where we read, and this is the testimony: that God has given us, eternal life, and this life is in His Son . Then we are told in 1 John 5:12 that He who has the Son has this life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Which then begs the question, what does it mean to have the Son. Well, it could mean in general that he/she who has the Son as their Lord and Savior is the one who receives this life, and that would be true (Romans 10:9-10). More specifically, it could mean that He who has the Son as their sin bearer (1 Peter 2:24) or as their righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) or as their advocate with the Father when they sin (1 John 2:1-2).
However, I believe that as the Father loves Jesus above all else and finds Him to be most precious, then it would follow (at least in my pea brain), that the only way we have Jesus and the eternal life found in Him, is to also have Jesus as the one who is most precious to us, the object of our deepest love and the source of our greatest joy (1 Peter 2:4-7) (Luke 10:25-28).
This was most poignantly illustrated in the following story someone gave me a number of years ago. Its author is Unknown.
A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso and Raphael to Monet. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art. When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart, and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love of art.”
The young man held out his package “I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a real artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.” The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the solider had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. “Oh no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.”
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to visit his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works that he had collected. The man died a few months later.
There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having the opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel, “We’ll start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture? There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, “We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.” But the auctioneer persisted. “Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200? Another voice shouted angrily, “We didn’t come to see this painting; we came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!” But still the auctioneer continued. “The son! The son! Who will take the son?
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the long-time gardener of the man and his son, “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. “We have $10, who will bid $20?” Growing impatient one man shouted “Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.” “$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?” The crowd became angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. “Going once, twice, Sold for $10!” A man sitting on the second row shouted, “Now let’s get on with the collection!”
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. “I’m sorry, the auction is over.” “What about the paintings!?” “I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a stipulation in the Will. I was not allowed to reveal this stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.”
“That man who took the son gets everything!” God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel Roman cross on our behalf. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is “The son, the son who’ll take the son?” Because you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.
Pastor and Christian author John Piper speaks to the glory and joy of our having the Son in his commentary on 1 John 5:6-13 when he writes “If you have the Son, it means that anything that infinite love and infinite power, and infinite wisdom can do for your good, will be done for you” (by your Father in Heaven) (Romans 8:32).
Grace and Peace ×
And for US it is a free gift,
Thank You JESUS ! ?