The Father was pleased with Christ because He was perfectly and entirely obedient. He is only pleased with us because the perfect obedience of Christ has been fully imputed onto us. Therefore, whenever we think upon the works (Ephesians 2:10) or ministry (Ephesians 4:12) that the Father has set for us to accomplish, we do so by faith in the good pleasure of our Father that has been sealed for us beforehand through Jesus our Savior.
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:17 ESV
When reading or studying the baptism of Jesus, we rightly tend to fixate upon the stunning display of the Trinity. In that one moment, we find God the Son incarnate and standing in the waters of the Jordan. We find God the Spirit descending upon the Son like a dove. And we hear God the Father’s pronouncement of pleasure in His Son. It is certainly right that we would stand amazed by this scene and by the wondrous mystery of our triune God.
Yet I would like to focus upon the Father’s declaration at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” While this pronouncement was certainly a testament to others of Jesus’ Sonship at the beginning of His ministry, it seems that it was also given as a testament to Jesus Himself. Though we cannot understand the depths of this mystery, we must remember that Christ lived His earthly life in His humanity. Of course, He never ceased to be divine as some theologians argue from Philippians 2:7, yet it is true that He apparently did not actively exercise His divinity, which would include His omniscience.
