The testimony of the Father to the Son at His baptism

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III





The testimony of the Father to the Son at His baptism. God the Father testified to Christ at the moment of His baptism, saying:
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' (Matt.3:17); (Lk. 3:22).This testimony was accompanied by miraculous signs: the heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove and descended on Him, and a voice was heard from heaven, which was the voice of the Father bearing testimony. If Christ's Sonship were an ordinary sonship, and all people are children of God, what then was the need for all those signs? For the sake of this greatness which was manifested at the moment of Christ's baptism, we name this event Epiphany, that is, the Divine Manifestation.