Matthew 3:13-17 conclusion…

v. 17 –

The final thing we see in these last five verses of chapter three is the confirmation of the Father. This was the planned, intentional, sacrifice for sin. Sin would finally be judged as it should be judged. Jesus was the only sacrifice pleasing to God His Father, and His holiness, righteousness, justice, and judgment. He is the offering without blemish or spot. No lamb, goat, or bullock could take away sin; they only showed the need for a Savior; “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Heb. 9:11-14. We also read in Hebrews 10:4-6, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure”.

Even before it is time for the final sacrifice for sin God decrees His approval upon His Son as though the sacrifice were already made. Let’s look at a previous writer in the Psalms: ” I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten Thee.” Psalm 2:7. There is a voice from Heaven, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”, and this would not be the last time His voice is heard. In Matthew 17 at the Mount of Transfiguration, we hear Him say, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him” (17:5); and then, again, in John12:28, “Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again” in answer to Jesus’s prayer for the Father to glorify Him. All three times this voice is heard.

Jesus is the only sacrifice for sin in which God the Father is well pleased. In the baptism we see the three persons of the Godhead. Jesus the Son is in the water being baptized; the Holy Spirit is lighting on Jesus in the bodily form of a dove; and the Father is speaking from Heaven, declaring His Son.

Who will you believe? Will you believe the naysayers, who say that God is not a trinity, or will you listen to the precepts of the Word of God that clearly declare Him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself being the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9).

The only way the Father will be pleased with us, and declare us as Just and holy is through His Son Jesus Christ.