Matthew 3:16-17
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (NIV).
As we learned last week, Jesus repented on behalf of people by getting baptized. Just afterwards, heaven was opened. In the book of Mark, the phrase used in the NIV is “torn open.” Dr. Robert Stein, in his excellent book, Jesus the Messiah, makes this statement: “[Mark] uses this same term in only one other place—Mark 15:38. There he writes that at the death of Jesus ‘the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom’” (1)
This event of the heavens being opened, “torn open,” captured by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, was an event where God was foreshadowing the redemption Jesus would make possible on the cross. This is a key message! God was foreshadowing the atonement which would make it possible for people to not only be in the presence of God, yet even be in a loving relationship with God.
A second occurrence after being baptized: the “Spirit of God” descended on Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah (Hebrew), the Christ (Greek), both of which translate as Anointed One. Priests, kings, and I have even argued prophets, were anointed with olive oil. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit!
For anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, he or she is baptized with the Holy Spirit, as John the Baptist states in Matthew 3:11. Being given the Holy Spirit from Jesus happens immediately upon belief, not right after being baptized in water, since Christian baptism is different and of a fuller nature than John’s baptism. John’s baptism was simply of repentance. Christian baptism is done in the name of the Triune God, and symbolizes having accepted and shared in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christian water baptism is a response to what Jesus has done.
Thirdly, a voice from heaven spoke! The proclamation by God was the same as the statement at what is now termed the “transfiguration.” And Peter states how he heard God the Father make that statement when they were on the “sacred” mountain (see 2 Peter 1:17). God was truly proclaiming love.
Love is what this is all about. Love is the reason Jesus was willing to repent for the sins of all people on their behalf. Love is the reason God tore open the heavens in the midst of the barrier that was entrenched between God and people due to the sins of people. Love is the reason Jesus died the unimaginable death on a cross for the sins of all people. Love is the reason that today God wants you to be saved from your sins, which block His love, and to be in a loving relationship with Him.
To be saved, you need to believe in Jesus, the One who died as the substitute for you. Believe in Jesus, and you will be in an everlasting loving relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! He loves you.
Hunter Irvine
(1) Robert Stein, Jesus the Messiah: A Survey of the Life of Christ
(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 98.
