And there came a voice from heaven
What the Jews call "Bath Kol", saying,
thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased:
it is in Matthew, "this is my beloved Son", ( Matthew 3:17
) ; as if the words were spoken to others, to John, the
administrator of baptism to him, and to those that were
spectators; directing them to Christ, on whom the Spirit now
descended, and testifying to them how great a person he was, how
nearly related to God; how much he was the object of his love,
and what a pleasure and delight he took in him; but here they are
delivered as an immediate address to Christ himself, "thou art my
beloved Son". Christ, as he was the only begotten Son of God from
eternity, so his filiation was owned and declared to him as
early, ( Psalms
2:7 ) . This therefore was not the first time, nor was it
only for his sake that this was said unto him, but also for the
sake of those that stood by: but it may be observed, that he is
not only called his Son, but his "beloved Son"; which might be
necessary to be said to him in his state of humiliation, whilst
he was yielding obedience to the will of God, and fulfilling all
righteousness; and when he was about to be, as he quickly after
this was, tempted by Satan in the wilderness, by whom his sonship
was called in question. Now these words being directed to Christ,
show that the former are spoken of him, and are applicable to
him, as well as to John; (See Gill on Matthew
3:17).