Beloved and Only Begotten

When YHWH God asked Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, on the altar as a test of his faith, he specified which son he was speaking of because, at that time, Abraham had two sons: Ishmael and Isaac. But the Hebrew and Greek traditions varied in how God described him.

Hebrew: “Take your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac.” (Gen 22:2)

Greek: “Take your son, your beloved, whom you love, Isaac.”

This variation gives a glimpse into the Hebrew-Greek mindset: “only” and “beloved” were interchangeable. Further, it didn’t have to be an only child or firstborn to be an “only” and “beloved” since Isaac was neither an only child nor the firstborn.

This same mindset was reflected in the NT authors. Whereas Matthew (3:17), Mark (1:1), and Luke (3:22) referred to Jesus as God’s beloved son, John referred to him as God’s only son (1:14, 18; 3:16, 18).

While Jesus was with three disciples on that mount and transfigured before them, the Heavenly Father said,

“This is my beloved son, listen to him.” (Luke 9:35)

The next day, as they were descending from the mountain, a human father shouted,

“Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son; he is my only son.” (9:38)

These incidents didn’t happen accidentally. On that mount, Moses and Elijah gathered with Jesus and talked about his exit strategy – how he would be killed, buried, resurrected, and taken up to heaven from Jerusalem. Although unstated, the Heavenly Father would see people torment his son, his beloved son, tossing him here and there until they would take his life. What would be a complete disaster would have a blessed ending – the son would resurrect to life and return to the Father. Jesus demonstrated visibly for his disciples by casting out the demon from that boy and restoring him to his earthly father (9:39–43).

Jesus had to do that because his disciples and the crowd were a generation of unbelief and unrepentant. They couldn’t believe in God’s power to resurrect people, which caused them to be unrepentant, meaning unchanged in their ways. Elsewhere, Peter picturesquely described this.

“They say, ‘From the time our fore-parents died, everything remains the same. Since the Creation, nothing has changed.’” (2 Pet 3:4)

They had seen Jesus resurrect people to life, but they couldn’t believe all people would be raised beginning with Jesus. They didn’t believe in God’s power and didn’t change their ways.

Hearing news of the world's imminent destruction through climate change or other disasters can frighten us and drive us to disparity, like that father who watched his son suffer at the hands of the evil spirit. But seeing the resurrected Jesus – God’s beloved and only son – should give us hope. God’s exit strategy isn’t destruction; it is a new birth, a new beginning. Satan and his army will not win the battle; God and Jesus will be victorious, even if we can’t comprehend it now. Even amidst horrible situations and relentless bad news, we cry, “Teacher, I beg you to look upon . . .,” and he will answer.