Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 3:17

"and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." — Matthew 3:17 (ASV)

St. Augustine of Hippo: Not as before, through Moses and the Prophets, nor in type or figure, did the Father teach that the Son would come. Instead, He openly showed that the Son had already come, saying, This is my Son. ¹

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, from these things thus fulfilled in Christ, we may learn that after the washing of water, the Holy Spirit also descends on us from the heavenly gates. An anointing of heavenly glory is also poured out on us, and our adoption as sons of God is pronounced by the Father's voice.

St. Jerome: The mystery of the Trinity is shown in this baptism. The Lord is baptized; the Spirit descends in the shape of a dove; the voice of the Father is heard giving testimony to the Son.

St. Ambrose of Milan: And it is no wonder that the mystery of the Trinity is present in the Lord's baptism, since our own baptism also contains the sacrament of the Trinity. The Lord willed to show in His own case what He would later ordain for humanity. ²

Pseudo-Augustine: Though Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one nature, you must hold most firmly that they are Three Persons: that it is the Father alone who said, This is my beloved Son; the Son alone over whom that voice of the Father was heard; and the Holy Spirit alone who, in the likeness of a dove, descended on Christ at His baptism. ³

St. Augustine of Hippo: Here are the actions of the whole Trinity. Indeed, in their own substance, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One, without any separation of place or time. But in my mouth, they are three separate words that cannot be pronounced at the same time, and in writing, they each occupy their own space. This comparison helps us understand how the Trinity, in itself indivisible, can be manifested in distinct ways through the likeness of a visible creation. That the voice is the Father's alone is clear from the words, This is my Son. ⁴

St. Hilary of Poitiers: He testifies that He is His Son not merely in name, but in actual kinship. Many of us are sons of God, but we are not sons in the same way He is. He is a Son in the proper and true sense—in reality, not by title; by birth, not by adoption. ⁵

St. Augustine of Hippo: The Father loves the Son, but as a father should, not as a master might love a servant. He loves Him as His own Son, not an adopted one; therefore, He adds, in whom I am well-pleased. ⁶

Remigius of Auxerre: Or, if this is referred to the human nature of Christ, the meaning is, 'I am pleased in Him, whom alone I have found without sin.' Or, according to another reading, 'It has pleased me' to appoint Him, through whom I would accomplish those things I wish to accomplish—namely, the redemption of the human race.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The expression of the voice from heaven varies among the Gospels, though the meaning is the same. For the words as Matthew gives them, This is my beloved Son, and as the other two give them, Thou art my beloved Son, both express the same meaning from the speaker (and the heavenly voice, no doubt, uttered one of these). But one version shows an intention of addressing the testimony to those who stood by, while the other addresses it to the Son Himself, as if God, speaking to Christ, had said, This is my Son.

This is not because Christ needed to be taught what He already knew, but so that those who stood by would hear it, for the voice came for their sake. ⁷

Again, when one evangelist says, in whom I am well-pleased, and another, in thee it hath pleased me, if you ask which of these was actually pronounced by the voice, you may choose whichever you wish. You must only remember that those who did not record the exact same words still conveyed the same meaning.

The first form signifies that God is well-pleased with His Son. The second form, in thee it hath well-pleased me, conveys that the Father is pleased with humanity through the Son.

Or, you may understand the one meaning of all the Evangelists to be this: 'In You I have put My good pleasure'—that is, to fulfill all My purpose.

1. non occ.
2. Ambrosiaster, Serm. 10. 1
3. Fulgent. de Fide ad Petrum. c. 9
4. de Trin. 4. 21
5. de Trin. iii. 11
6. in Joann. tr. 14. 11
7. de Cons. Evan., ii, 14