Lesson 3 - Matt. 3:1-12 - THE PREACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Matt. 2:1-12, we covered the story of the three Magi who followed a star from the east to find "He who had been born king of the Jews," so they could worship Him. In Jerusalem, they met with Herod and the religious officials, where they learned that prophecy foretold the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem. Herod told them to go there and report back to him if they found the child. Then the same star led them directly the house in Bethlehem occupied by the child Jesus (est. 2 years old) and Mary. When they saw Jesus, they fell on their faces and worshipped Him, and then they gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The gold symbolized His kingship, the frankincense His high priesthood, and the myrrh prefigured His future death, burial, and resurrection. Afterward, they were warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, so they returned home by another route. This text showed us two broad points of application: (1) That God, not man begins the seeking process. God supernaturally revealed a star to the Magi that they connected with the birth of the Messiah. And (2) Wise men and women respond to God's call by seeking Jesus as their king. This means that when God seeks you, you should whatever it takes to seek Him because He alone is the living God ant it's worth all the troubles you might endure to find Him.
This week, in Matt. 3:1-12, the apostle skips the rest of Jesus' childhood, moving forward 28 years to His preparation for presentation to Israel as her king. The material of this section (Chs. 2-3) is very important because the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist serves as the occasion of His special anointing by the Holy Spirit, which precedes the start of His ministry; namely, that what Jesus does in His ministry He does by the Power of the Spirit. He will not act in the manner of a triumphant military Messiah, according to popular expectations, but in His own unique way according to the will of His Father. Today's text will focus on Jesus' forerunner, John the Baptist, who not only prepared the way for Jesus, but also announced Him as the One "mightier than I" who will "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." John also preceded Jesus in His birth, His public appearance, and His death.
Read Matt. 3:1-3 - REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND
1 Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'"
v. 1: "Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying," - Matthew frequently uses the phrase "in those days" to mark a major transition. John's ministry, as Matthew describes it here, began approximately 28 years after the events of chapter 2. John was a herald with a message to proclaim. He appears on the scene suddenly and mysteriously. The area of his ministry was the "wilderness of Judea," slightly northwest of the Dead Sea. Its rough, arid terrain was suitable for John's appeal for repentance. In Israel's history, the wilderness would remind Jews of their 40-year wanderings under harsh conditions, a place for testing and new beginnings.
v. 2a: "Repent," - This John's call to the people. "Repent" doesn't mean to be sorry. The Greek word metanoia literally means to change one's mind. In the NT context, it reflects a complete change of attitude-spiritual and moral-towards God. The Jews needed to change their thinking because most of them believed they would enter the Messiah's kingdom because they were the children of Abraham. But John will demand that they show true repentance rather than superficial hypocrisy.
v. 2b: "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." - This raises the question of what is this "kingdom," and the answer can be complex. Here's the simplified version offered by Bible students:
v. 3: "For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'" - In Isa. 40:3, the prophet exhorts the people to prepare for "THE LORD's" (YHWH) coming as He brings Israel back from her dispersion (i.e., the Diaspora). This was partially fulfilled when the exiles returned from Babylon, but the ultimate fulfillment is taking place now as John prepares for Jesus. Connecting this with v. 2, it infers that the "kingdom of God" is the Messianic kingdom of Jesus.
Read Matt. 3:4-6 - THEY WERE BAPTIZED BY JOHN
4 Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; 6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
v. 4: "Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey." - Elijah wore similar clothing (2 Kings 1:8), and Jews expected Elijah to return prior to the coming of the Messiah. John's dress identifies him as the fulfillment of this prophecy (Mal. 4:5). John lives off one of the few sources of food available in the desert.
v. 5: "Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;" - John was the first prophet after over 400 years of darkness and silence, calling the people to repent and return to God, so the people from Judah and the area near the Jordan River flocked to hear him.
v. 6: "and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins." - John's method of baptism in the river appears to be the similar immersion method used for Gentile proselytes converting to Judaism. It was apparently a ritual associated with the confession of sin, which symbolized death to the old way of life and rebirth into a new way of life.
Read 3:7-10 - THE AX LIES AT THE ROOT OF THE TREES
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
v. 7a: "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism," - We might be surprised to see Pharisees and Sadducees turning out for baptism, since they were so often at odds with one other, like the constant bickering between modern Democrats and Republicans.
v. 7b: he said to them, 'You brood of vipers, '"- This is a picture of snakes fleeing from a spreading fire. John collectively brands these religious sects as "vipers," identifying them as God's enemies that go all the way back to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1-13).
v. 7c: "who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?'" - God's judgment was coming for any who failed to repent, including the religious elite who saw themselves as righteous. People like to think of God as a loving father but tend to ignore His righteous wrath towards all sin.
v. 8: "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;" - 'Fruit' (either good or bad) can be defined as what people demonstrate by how they live their lives in ways that others can see. But these religious officials were hypocrites, and John knew it. They showed no external evidence that they honestly wanted to draw near to God in anticipation of the Messiah's appearance.
v. 9a: "and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father;'" - Many Jews of this time believed that if he or she were a descendant of Abraham, they would automatically enter God's kingdom. They counted Abraham's righteousness as sufficient for themselves, ignoring the fact that God often pruned back the unrighteous in Israel to a remnant.
v. 9b: for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham." - This is word play for the similar Hebrew words for "stones" and "children." Modern scholars interpret this to mean that if stones could become God's children, then certainly the Gentiles could, too.
v. 10: "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." - This pictures an ax that the land owner has taken from his tool shed to cut down all the unproductive (i.e., fruitless) trees. The "root" represented the heritage of the Jews from Abraham. Thus, fruitless trees-unrepentant Jews-will be cut down in spite of their heritage. The "fire" they will be thrown into alludes to the final judgment, being cast into the endless lake of fire (Rev. 19:20; 20:10, 14, and 15; 21:8; Matt. 25:41).
Read Matt. 3:11-12 - HE WILL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FIRE
11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
v. 11a: "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I," - John now returns his attention to the mass of people who have come for baptism. John's baptism would only prepare them for the coming of the one, "mightier than I"-Jesus Christ.
v. 11b: "and I am not fit to remove His sandals;" - Here, John uses an expression to acknowledge that he also submits to Jesus' authority.
v. 11c: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." - This mean the 'baptism' that Jesus provides will be with the "Holy Spirit and fire" together, the fire representing the cleansing power of the Spirit at both the moment of salvation and its continued working in the life of a believer.
v. 12: "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." - Here, using an agricultural metaphor, John describes how God will separate the true from the false-the repentant and the unrepentant-in a future judgment. This thoroughgoing judgment will result in the preservation of believing Israelites and the destruction of the unbelieving. The "barn" most likely refers to the kingdom of God and the "unquenchable fire" an hell-unending damnation.
APPLICATION-The Kingdom of God
1. Jesus was (and still is) the ultimate fulfillment of God's plan to redeem Israel. The purpose of John the Baptist, as the forerunner, was sent to prepare the people of Israel to receive Jesus as their Messiah king. But this did not happen at Jesus' first coming. People who hold the Premillennial view of Jesus' First Coming, believe that at His Second coming, He will establish a 1,000-year Messianic kingdom on earth in which he will re-gather all the scattered Jews. It will also include all others saved during the Great Tribulation and the rapture of all Christians who died prior to this time.
2. One's religious heritage is not a substitute for true repentance. The Jew's of Jesus time mistakenly believed that their descent from Abraham would allow them to enter God's kingdom. In the same way, a person who grows up in Christian family and attends church doesn't automatically inherit salvation. Like the Jews in today's text who needed to accept Jesus as Messiah, people in this age must accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
3. People who accept Jesus Christ as Lord are baptized but the Holy Spirit and fire. John's baptism for repentance was just a step in the right direction to prepare a person's heart to receive Jesus, to realize that we desperately need Him as our Savior. And when we accept (believe and confess) Jesus as Lord of out life, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit and fire (spiritually cleansed). This is how God will separate the true from the false. Jesus later explained it this way: "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left." (Matt. 25:31-33)
