Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

The voice from heaven was God’s own voice; it testified that God himself had broken silence and was again revealing himself to the human race—a clear sign of the dawning of the Messianic Age (cf. 17:5). The utterance from heaven reflects Isa 42:1, modified by Ps 2:7 (cf. Matthew 12:18–21). The results are extraordinarily important.

(1) These words from heaven link Jesus with the Suffering Servant (cf. Isaiah 42:1) at the very beginning of his ministry and confirm our interpretation of v.15.

(2) God refers to Jesus as “my Son”; implicitly the title “Son of God” is introduced and picked up immediately in the next chapter (4:3, 6). The reference to Ps 2:7 identifies Jesus as the royal, messianic Son of David.

(3) Jesus has already been set forth as the true Israel to which actual Israel was pointing ; now the heavenly witness confirms the link.

(4) At the same time the virginal conception suggests a more than titular or functional sonship: in this context there is the hint of an ontological sonship, made most explicit in the gospel of John.

These things are linked in the one utterance: at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, his Father presented him, in a veiled way, as the Davidic Messiah, the very Son of God, the representative of the people, and the Suffering Servant. Matthew will develop them further in his gospel.