And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:15-17

Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. Matthew 17:4,5

Two different events relaying a message to two different audiences. What are the lessons for us? We remind ourselves regarding the first text that both the Lord and John the Baptist were related, and probably knew each other not just as relatives, but as messengers carrying out God ordained instructions – Luke 1:35-55, 67-79. There is more in the declaration of Zechariah than we can treat here for his understanding of the mission of the Lord was limited to Israel; a notion that all the apostles of the Lamb were also stuck with as reflected in their testimonies or what they preached!

The common part of the message to the two audiences ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ The poser to every student of the scripture is what had the Lord Jesus Christ done to get this endorsement from God in the first scripture?

We deal with this first so we understand on what ground we can claim to be a son of God. To our poser, at least in the physical realm we have nothing to refer to; a clear indication that God’s reckoning of what gives Him pleasure must be different from what we may think; that it is related to my performance. Think about this.

Isaiah 64:6 (ESV) declares – We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

We would learn further from prophecy what comes first, when it comes to being pleasing to God – Psalms 40:6-8 (TPT), repeated in Hebrews 10:5-7.
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It’s not sacrifices that really move your heart. Burnt offerings, sin offerings—those aren’t what bring you joy. But when you open my ears and speak to me, I become your willing servant, your prisoner of love for life. So I said, “Here I am! I’m coming to you as a sacrifice, for in the prophetic scrolls of your book you have written about me. I delight to fulfill your will, my God, for your living words are written upon the pages of my heart.” Psalm 40:6-7 (TPT)

It becomes clear that the state of being in an abiding relationship with the Father precedes any acts of doing! Doing is not what endears me to God rather a yielded life that hears from Him and does what He wants. Are you in such a relationship with God? Selah.