Chapter 17 God speaks to Jesus in His baptism and Transfiguration
The following is the description of the events of Jesus’ Baptism:
“13 Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River. He wanted to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to stop him. He told Jesus, "I need to be baptized by you. So why do you come to me?"
15 Jesus replied, "Let it be this way for now. It is right for us to do this. It carries out God's holy plan." Then John agreed.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened. Jesus saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove.
17 A voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him."” Matthew 3:13-17.
We have to immediately understand that there is a fundamental difference between this baptism and Christian Baptism. This baptism by John was designed to make the people realise how serious their sin had become and their consequent need of repentance and forgiveness. It is also being used as a means of beginning the ministry of Jesus and of him being empowered for that ministry – we see this in the role of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ baptism.
Jesus’ baptism was God’s way of indicating that He had not given up on us and was about, in the most complete way, to identify with us and forge out a means of putting right everything that was wrong. The ground of this action is his love for us. Jesus did not need baptism because there was no sin to confess and no need of repentance. His baptism is therefore different from all others because it is an anointing for his future ministry and a public validation of who He is. God is introducing His Son to the world and is not shy about telling us how he feels about Him.
“This is my Son and I love Him.”
I remember the first time I held Alistair the thought screamed through my head – “This is my Son!” I was so completely proud and thrilled at the sight of this squished up wee human being. A Glaswegian might put it this way – “This is ma boy!”, and beam with pride. However, there is another important statement made by the God about Jesus– “I love Him!” I remember looking at Alistair [and this is true of every one of my 5 children] and feeling the most compelling and protective love for him. No love that a man can have for a woman or another person can match the love he has for his child! [The same is surely true of a mother!]
Here is God – no distant deity, but a proud father professing His love for His Son. If he speaks in this manner to Jesus, what possible relevance does this have for us? God does not love Jesus more than he loves us! Surely that cannot be right? Surely Jesus is deserving of so much more love than we are? Yet, the Christian is an adopted son or daughter of our heavenly Father and fully united in Christ. God holds each of us individually before heaven and says of us, “This is my son/daughter” – and he speaks of us with pride and joy because we are his – not in the sense that we belong to him but that we are essentially his family and children. We then hear the words, “I love them!” – but surely not – surely not as much as he loves Jesus? He has loved us as long as he has loved Jesus – forever – before time, before we existed – there has never been a time when the Lord has not loved us. That is what He tells us – we are chosen in love, in Christ, from before the foundation of the world, to be his children – read that great passage in Ephesians 1:1-14 as this love of God in all of its completeness is explained.
The sentiments of what God is saying to us through Christ are at least partly summed up in the words of this beautiful hymn:
“Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know,
Spirit, breathing from above,
You have taught me it is so.
O this full and perfect peace!
O this presence so divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.
Heaven above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green;
Something lives in every hue
Christless eyes have never seen:
Birds with gladder songs o'er-flow,
Flowers with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.
His forever, only His;
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heaven and earth may fade and flee;
First-born light in gloom decline;
But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine.”
George Robinson, 1876
But the voice of the Father to Jesus goes further, “I am very pleased with Him”. This can surely mean more than one thing – it can mean, “I take great pleasure in Him!” This is the essential core of every relationship based on love – that one person delights in the other and derives great pleasure simply from the existence of the other person. At the very root of our relationship with God, He derives immense satisfaction and pleasure in us simply because we are His children – we are imperfect children but in Christ we are made righteous and clean in the sight of the Father and he both delights in us and our restoration.
At another level God is well pleased with Jesus because of his obedience and perfectly whole and gracious life. God sees no flaw in Him and He also sees the progress of His will being accomplished in Him. He will have seen how Jesus obeyed and respected his parents and how he lived a gracious life among his peers. Finally God would have been pleased with this act of intelligent faith by Jesus as He submits himself to the will of God, for the greater good of the world that they both loved. God would have been well pleased at His Son’s love, humility, servant heart, great grace and wisdom: When you look at that list you wonder if that is not the kind of list that would gladden the heart of most parents? What is it gives us the greatest pleasure when we look at our children? Is it when they get good results at school or excel in some sport or discipline? Is it when we see them well established in a secure job and a good house? Is it when they reflect well on us? Is it when we see them happy and physically well? Are we as parents most happy when we see our children cultivating goodness and selflessness? Do our hearts burst with pleasure when we see them show love, grace, forgiveness and consideration for other people? Are we proud of our children when they seek in life the kind of career that will seek the good of other people, but will never get them a great salary, a great house or a status car?
What is it in us that pleases God most? There are obviously times when God is not pleased with us – when we compromise our moral beliefs; sin, in the knowledge that we are being disobedient; act selfishly for our own good only and refuse to love or forgive. There are times when God is not pleased with us, yet He never stops loving us. There are times when He watches us struggle to deny self; struggle to forgive; when we show real love to our family, neighbour and enemy; when we do what is right in the full face of public opinion against us – and we do it with grace and humility. It is amazing to think that we can gladden the heart of our Father, even as Jesus, from time to time, was proud of his disciples as He watched them progress. However, all the time God is utterly realistic in His expectations of us and realises that we are a work in progress. Even though there are times when we take no pleasure in who we are and some of the things we do, God is patiently gracious with us, will always forgive us and will sometimes discipline us for our own good – but always, always, because we are his beloved children.
The Transfiguration
1 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John the brother of James with him. He led them up a high mountain. They were all alone. 2 There in front of them his appearance was changed. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then Moses and Elijah appeared in front of them. Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters. One will be for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
5 While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud surrounded them. A voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!"
6 When the disciples heard this, they were terrified. They fell with their faces to the ground. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 They came down the mountain. On the way down, Jesus told them what to do. "Don't tell anyone what you have seen," he said. "Wait until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." Matthew 17:1-9
I have watched the film “Airplane” over 30 times and never tire of enjoying the comedy in that film. One of the enjoyments is looking out for all the subtle humorous asides that are in the background of the film. In this story of the Transfiguration God speaks to us in so many ways and not just by what He says and I never tire of reading this wonderful passage because of the hope it brings me.
First of all, what is happening in the Transfiguration? It is as if a veil is being taken away and we are being given a more complete understanding of who Jesus is – we are seeing Christ in all of his pure glory – something he enjoyed before time began. But why was this happening? Perhaps, because this event is so close to the Cross, it is for his own encouragement. It is as if God is saying to him, “You are about to face incredible suffering for a short time, but after that everything is glorious forever and you will never suffer again. What you will suffer will be beyond human description, but through it you will bring a countless number of people into sharing your glory forever.” Perhaps, Christ in his humanity needed this moment of reassurance before his Cross.
What Christ becomes in his transfiguration is an encouragement to us too – for us it is an indication that although our time on this earth may be a trial at times and very costly it is nothing in comparison to the overwhelming and eternal glory that we will one day possess. It helps to put everything into perspective. God is saying to us, “Look, you will have such peace, completeness, joy and love forever – I am preparing a glorious future for you. Do not allow the temporary trials or temptations of this life to blind you to the wonderful future that is waiting. Do not fear death or the future.”
Who is it that Jesus speaks with? Moses and Elijah! But Moses and Elijah have both been dead for hundreds of years! Yet, they have not been dead – they are alive and speaking with Jesus. Do you need proof of life after death? Here it is! What do you think Moses and Elijah spoke about with Jesus? Perhaps they were encouraging him to continue on his path to the Cross and reassuring him of the final, glorious outcome. Maybe they were both saying to Jesus, “Look, we both need you to go to this place and pay the price for our sins – as much as any other person, we are depending on the outcome of this. Indeed all of your people who have died since the beginning of time are depending on your sacrifice because without it heaven will be empty and we will all be lost!”
Peter decides to set up a religious site and as he waxes eloquent on his proposals for altars and memorials, the voice of God speaks about what truly matters:
"This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!"
There is not a lot of difference between what is said here and what is said at the baptism of Jesus. Why the duplication? Perhaps God has to remind us often about what really matters and what is truly important in life. If the Father loves Jesus, then we too are to love Jesus. We cannot love both the Father and Jesus if we do not love our neighbour and enemy alike – love is the essence of God and the essence of life and the essence of what the Church is all about. Without love all we are left with are monuments to religion without its heart and substance!
If the Father is well pleased with Jesus we ought to strive to live our lives in such a manner that God is pleased with us. That does not mean that we try to justify ourselves to God with our good works. What pleases the Father most is when we turn to Jesus – when we turn to the Cross of Jesus, see Him there suffering for our sins and stand in humble awe and repentance! It pleases the heart of God for us to recognise the greatest act of love ever and for us to place our hope, faith and confidence in Jesus. It pleases the Father when we look at Jesus and want to imitate him and become more like him: When we see Jesus show grace and kindness to others and we are drawn in our hearts to respond in a similar way, no matter what the circumstances.
The one thing that is said here that is different from the baptism is the final part of what God says to us in relation to Jesus – “Listen to Him.” Don’t listen to your own mind alone when you are making decisions – listen to Jesus; his teaching and his practice. Don’t listen to your conscience alone – when you are accused of guilt, turn and hear Jesus’ words of forgiveness and reconciliation. Don’t listen to the secular voice of the world as it dishes out its beliefs and advice – listen to Jesus and make decisions based on what he says and how he lives and acts. In everything, tune in to Jesus – listen to what he has already said to us in the Gospels and let that alone be your guide for life. Don’t listen when your heart and mind are encouraging you to take the easy way out and avoid the hard [yet fruitful] road of obedience – sometimes costly and painful obedience. “Listen to Him!”