When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21-22)
John invited the Jewish people to prepare for the coming of the Messiah by public repentance, demonstrated by baptism. There was a remarkable response to John’s preaching, and thousands of people came to repent and ready themselves for the Messiah.
Then, the Messiah showed up at John’s baptism service and asked to be baptized. It wasn’t because He had any sin to repent of, but because He wanted to identify Himself as completely as possible with sinful humanity. In His baptism, Jesus said to all of us: “I have come as one of you and will identify with you.”
Can you picture Jesus in the water of the Jordan River? As He went under the water and then came up again, He prayed. Often in the Gospel of Luke we see that Jesus prayed. Other gospel writers describe this occasion, but only Luke points out that it happened while He prayed.
As Jesus prayed, two significant things happened. First, the Holy Spirit descended. The Holy Spirit came in bodily form like a dove. There was some visible, tangible evidence that the Holy Spirit had come upon Jesus. It doesn’t say that the Holy Spirit became a dove but descended on Jesus like a dove. Similar visible evidence happened with outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, with something like tongues of fire appeared over the gathered followers of Jesus.
Second, a voice came from heaven that all could hear, and the voice said: You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased. The voice from heaven left no doubt. This wasn’t just another sinner being baptized; this was the sinless, Eternal Son of God, pleasing the Father by His identification with sinful man. God the Father could not keep this to Himself; He proclaimed to all present who Jesus was (My beloved Son) and that He was the sinless Son of God (I am well pleased).
Both statements look back to the Hebrew Scriptures. You are My beloved Son is an echo of Psalm 2:7, a glorious Messianic Psalm. In You I am well pleased is an echo of Isaiah 42:1, marking Jesus as the suffering Servant spoken of in that broader passage.
Jesus began His earthly ministry with the blessing of the Father and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus, believers can have the same things.
– In Jesus (and only in Jesus), we can hear the Father say to us, This is My beloved son, in you I am well pleased.
– In Jesus (and only in Jesus), the Holy Spirit can come upon us for empowering and blessing.
Trusting in Jesus, receive these today.