A Voice out of Heaven (Matthew 3:17)

            Apparently the Voice out of Heaven was public knowledge, the other gospels attest to the fact that there was indeed a Voice.  Who heard it?  What did it sound like?  Was it coming out of the Heavens to the north, south east or west?  None of these were answered.  Why?  Probably because those details are irrelevant and would likely be misconstrued to mean more than was intended.  The point is that there was a Voice that came out of Heaven.

            Though we do find out what the Voice said by the end of the verse, and we find out in other accounts of when this same Voice spoke from Heaven what it sounded like, it is very important to stop and realize that there was an origin to this Voice and there was intent and purpose behind it.  In all the gospel accounts, there are surprisingly few events at which a Voice comes out of Heaven.  If something only happens once or a few times, it is noteworthy.  Also, first occurrences are significant.  This fits both categories and is thus “significantly noteworthy”. 

            This Voice, we see, is the Father declaring His affection for His Son.  The Father breeched the audibility gap between the Third and First Heavens just to say how He felt about His Son.  I am not promoting a Greek concept of Heaven being way far away, and His Voice had to travel so far and whatever, I am rather suggesting that there was a barrier between what is heard where the Voice came from and where it was heard.  The Father, seated on His Throne in the Throne Room (aptly named), has angels yelling praises and once-living saints interceding around the Glassy Sea, and He speaks.  I don’t think that they all stopped, though if you heard a Voice that sounded like rushing waters and thunder mixed together I tend to think you would do what I would do – fall down and shut my mouth.

            We know that Heaven goes silent for 30 minutes during the judgments of the final 7 years of human history before the Son takes His Throne to earth again.  But this is the only time that this happens, Heaven seems to be a cornucopia of audible glory – a situational hapax legomenon.  So what was it that kept the sound of the angels, saints and whatever else is in the Room from also breaking into the hearing of everyone at Jesus’ baptism?  I’m not content to just say that God is sovereign and He figured it out, or it was “spiritual sound that manifested physically”.  If you have 8 different sounds going on in one sound-proof room and you open the door to another sound-proof room that has a microphone recording the silence in room B, the microphone will not just pick up the closest sound, it will record all eight sounds.  The sounds volume and quality will vary depending on the position and original volume of the sounds, but they will all get in there.  Anyone who has tried recording a CD knows how true this is.

            In each gospel account of the Baptism it says or implies that the Heavens are opened.  I believe that the other sounds did get through, but the Voice that stood out to everyone there was this One Voice.  There may have been others, but the Father either quieted them a little or spoke up or something.  His message was important, the overflow of His heart was great.  Obviously I cannot prove any of this, but it helps me to understand the situation when I take a step back, read the Scripture slowly and imagine the dynamics of what is going on.  Take it or leave it, the He spoke and I want to get it.

*Voice from Heaven, silence the clamor around us and grant us ears to hear.  Amen*