And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Ver. 17. And, lo, a voice from heaven] Whereupon St Peter foundeth the certainty of Christian faith and doctrine, 2 Peter 1:17, especially since we have a more sure word of prophecy; for that former might have been slandered, or suspected for an imposture.
Saying, This is my beloved] My darling, he on whom my love resteth; a so that I will seek no further. Zephaniah 3:17. When the earth was founded, Christ was with his Father as his daily delight, sporting or laughing, always before him, risum captans ac consilium, Proverbs 8:30. Jerome.
In whom I am well pleased] The beloved, in whom he hath made us accepted, Ephesians 1:6. God's Hephzibah, so the Church is called,Isaiah 62:4; the dearly beloved of his soul, Jeremiah 12:7; or, as the Septuagint render it, b his beloved soul, over whom he rejoiceth as the bridegroom over his bride, Isaiah 62:5. Yea, "he will rest in his love," as abundantly well pleased, "he will joy therein with singing," Zephaniah 3:17. So well thinketh God of his Son Christ, and of us through him, as some of the ancients rendered this word, ευδοκησα, In quo bene sensi. So (after Irenaeus) Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine interpret it. c And yet, as well as he thought of his only Son, he spared him not, but "delivered him up for us all," Romans 8:32, whereupon St Bernard thus cries out, O quantum dilecte, prae quo filius ipse aut non dilectus, aut saltem neglectus? God so loved his Son, that he gave him all the world for his possession, Psalms 2:6,8; but he so loved the world, that he gave Son and all for its redemption. One calls this a hyperbole, an excess of love, a miracle of mercy, a sic so, without a sicut. just as, God so loved the loved, so infinitely, so incomparably, so incomprehensibly, as that there is no similitude in nature whereby to express it. John 3:16; Ephesians 3:18,19. Abraham (God's friend) showed his love to him in not withholding his only son Isaac: but what was Isaac to Christ? or what was Abraham's love to God's? He did that freely and voluntarily, that Abraham would never have done but upon a command: besides, Isaac was to be offered up after the manner of holy sacrifices, but Christ suffered after the manner of malefactors. And yet further, Isaac was in the hand of a tender and compassionate father; but Christ died by the wicked hands of barbarous and blood thirsty enemies, that thereby he might slay the enmity and reconcile us to God, Ephesians 2:15,16; so making peace, d and paving us "a new and living way," with his blood, to the throne of grace, "wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved," Ephesians 1:6. David saw the features of his friend Jonathan in lame Mephibosheth, and therefore loved him. He forgave Nabal at Abigail's intercession; and was pacified toward Absalom at Joab's. Pharaoh favoured Jacob's house for Joseph's sake. Shall not God do as much more for Jesus' sake? Joseph was well pleased with his brethren when they brought Benjamin; bring but the child Jesus in our arms (as Simeon did, and as Themistocles did the king of Persia's child) and he cannot but smile upon us. Were he never so much displeased before, yet upon the sight of this his well beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased, all shall be calm and quiet, as when Jonah was cast into the sea.
a αγαπαν, quasi αγαν παυειν, Αγαπρτος .
b εδωκα την ηγαπημενην ψυχην μου. Dedi dilectam animam meam.
c ευδοκιμοι Graecis dicuntur celebres, et de quibus magnifica est opinio. Erasm.
d ειρηνη απο του εις εν ειρειν .
Mat 4:1-25