The Father Bears Witness to the Son

Th testimony of the Gospel on which the faith of all Christians is based, finds its definitive source in God the Father who bears witness to Christ as his Son. "No one knows the Son except the Father" (Mt 11,27); "No one knows who the Son is except the Father (Lk 10,22).

This unique and fundamental testimony which flows from the eternal mystery of the trinitarian life, is particularly expressed in the in Jesus' baptism and in Jesus' transfiguration on Mount Tabor.

"He saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, 'Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased'" (Mk 1,9-11).

We are witnesses of a trinitarian theophany. The voice from heaven, which addresses the Son in the second person, "Thou art..." (Mark and Luke), or speaks of him in the third person, "This is..." (Matthew), is the very voice of the Father, which in a certain sense presents his own Son to those who had come to the Jordan to hear John the Baptist.

The testimony contained in the voice "from heaven" occurred precisely at the beginning of the messianic mission of Jesus of Nazareth. It will be repeated at the moment which precedes the passion and the paschal event which concludes his entire mission, the moment of the transfiguration.

At the baptism in the Jordan Jesus is proclaimed Son of God before the entire people. The theophany of the transfiguration was made solely to some chosen persons; not even the apostles were introduced as a group, but only three of them, Peter, James and John.

The event took place when Jesus had already made himself known to Israel through his signs (miracles), his deeds and his words. The father's voice is as it were a confirmation "from on high" of that which was already maturing in the consciousness of the disciples.

The basis of his signs and words, faith in his divine mission and sonship should be born in the consciousness of his hearers in virtue of the intimate revelation granted to them by the Father himself.

Jesus' reply to Peter after his profession of faith was "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (Mt 16,17).

The profession of the truth about the divine sonship of Jesus of Nazareth "You are the Christ (=Messiah), the Son of the living God "-comes from the Father. Only the Father "knows the Son" (Mt 11,27), only the Father knows "who the Son is" (Lk 10,22), and only the Father can convey this knowledge to mankind.

The voice which the three apostles hear confirms "externally" what the Father has already "revealed internally". It seems that he wishes to prepare those who had already believed in him for the events of the Passover which is drawing near, for his humiliating death on the cross: Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead" (Mt 17,9, also Mk 9,9).

2 Peter, gathering together the personal testimony of the chief of the apostles, writes to strengthen the Christians in a moment of harsh persecution, "(Jesus Christ) received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased', we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain" (2 Pt 1,16-18).