The Son of God

Can you imagine what it looked like when John the Baptist saw the heavens tear open above him? Did he see into the spiritual dimension, the spiritual realm, as other prophets like Isaiah had seen? And yet even more glorious than the visions of angels in worship, he saw the Holy Spirit of God descend like a dove on the Son of God — Jesus Christ. Simultaneously, he heard the booming voice of God resounding. This is the very voice that spoke all creation into existence—galaxies, animals, and the vast depth of cells and molecules—this voice is now ushering an even greater work than all creation: His own Son. The Father speaks: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". The same God that created everything and said "it is good" at creation now speaks over His Son Jesus and says, "I am well pleased."

In this moment, we see all three members of the unified Godhead (The Trinity) present at this baptism ceremony. The Father's announcement is thundering in the heavens, and the Holy Spirit is crowning Jesus. This is a heavenly coronation where Jesus is coming up from the water to usher in His Kingdom. Without a doubt, we know that Jesus is The Son of God (v1), Jesus is Yahweh (v3), and here we see Him filled with The Spirit of God descending from an open heaven (v10). There is no greater figure to follow, know, and seek after than Jesus.

Jesus' baptism affirms the message of John the Baptist to confess and repent of sin. This means that He desires that we likewise participate in this ceremony of baptism along with repentance and confession of our sins. In the same manner, He longs for us to enter into ministry and union with Him. He longs for us to be cleansed from our sins and connected to Him. It's safe to assume that since Jesus waited on the Holy Spirit and relied on the Holy Spirit to do ministry, we would be wise to ask for, and depend on the Holy Spirit to live a life following Jesus.