Matthew 3 jumps forward 30 years as Jesus begins to be public in ministry. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, the son of Joseph and Mary, but Joseph is no longer in the story. We know that Jesus was trained by Joseph to be a carpenter.[1] Yet Matthew spends no time (and neither do any of the other Gospel writers, except Luke[2]) telling us about the years he lived in Nazareth. The time had come that Jesus would reveal himself and begin his public ministry, but it was not Jesus who announced his coming at first, but rather, his cousin, John, the Baptizer.
In those days John the Baptist came
preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The
voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his
paths straight.’”
Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his
waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were
going out to him,
and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his
baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the
wrath to come?
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’
for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore
that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me
is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with
unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:1-12
It is impossible to understand Jesus’ ministry
without understanding the role John the Baptist played in God’s plans. Matthew opens the story of Jesus’ public
ministry with John appearing in the desert of Judea, preaching repentance. Deserts are lonely places, quiet, and,
normally, without people. When John
arrived in the desert we have to wonder if anyone was there to preach to. God called John to the desert even as God will
lead Jesus also face the desert. Perhaps
we immediately learn a valuable lesson that if we want to seek God we need to
discover silence and retreat from the world’s distractions.
John was a forerunner for Jesus’ coming. His message was simple and didn’t take long
to preach:
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
has come near" (Matthew 3:2).
For many of us, the natural question is – “Repent
for what?” Our culture doesn’t use the word in everyday language and it is foreign
to our concept of how to come to God.
John comes as a lonely voice that is not heard from other preachers of
his day. He is the fulfillment, Matthew
once again reminds us, of the prophet Isaiah’s prediction some seven hundred
years before:
This is the one of whom the prophet
Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight'" (Matthew 3:3). [3]
John’s call for repentance is to prepare for
the Lord’s coming. In the preceding
chapter, Kings had arrived from Persia to worship the newborn King. It’s thirty years later and John announces the
King is coming! In this lonely, desolate,
and isolated desert, the people begin to come.
The trip from Jerusalem to the Jordan is about twenty miles – a day's
walking journey. The Jordan was a sacred
place in Israel’s history. It was at the
Jordan that the nation of Israel, after their Exodus from Egypt, and their forty
years of wandering, crossed over from the Jordan which had miraculously been
divided as the Priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped into the river. Matthew seems to be reminding us that John is
preparing the nation for a new exodus. Repentance
is a call to the exodus – to leave the Egypt of our bondage to Sin and to enter
into the land of our freedom in Christ.
As they came to the Jordan, the people were
gripped with a spiritual urgency to confess their sinful state. John baptized
them symbolizing that their sins were washed away and their hearts prepared for
the Lord’s coming. The shift from mere
religion to heart faith is crucial. Repentance is a change of heart. It’s a
willingness to see how my sin is an affront to God, and how God alone can - and
has - done something about my sin in Jesus’ death on the cross. People often mistakenly believe that
repentance begins with changing our behavior so that we can gain God’s
acceptance. In truth, repentance begins when the Holy Spirit graciously creates
an internal change in our perspective about ourselves, God, and the
consequences of our Sin. We might be tempted
to think that repentance is a “once-in-a-lifetime” event, but it isn’t. Our lives should continually embrace repentance,
and confession of sin. WHY?
“The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
The Kingdom of Heaven is Jesus’ presence and
it was NOW! John the Baptist was not
excited about everyone who came to the river.
Matthew introduces us to two groups of religious leaders that would
often be at odds with Jesus – the Pharisees and Sadducees.
But
when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said
to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from
these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid
to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown into the fire” (3:7-10).
It is such a
sobering, stark rebuke that we might wonder why John was so strong in his
remarks. Yet, looking closely we realize
the Pharisees and Sadducees had rejected repentance because they believed they
were privileged as Abraham’s children and didn’t need baptism for repentance. What is it about Baptism that is so important? Baptism is a mark, a sign of our identity in
Christ. Baptism reminds us, even as we
grow, that we belong to Christ Jesus and our adoption into Christ isn’t because
we earned it or deserved it, but purely because of his sacrifice that paid for
our sin. The significance of baptism is
illustrated by what happened next. John proclaims
that baptism is a sign of the Spirit and Christ Jesus who is now come.
Matthew 3:11-12
I baptize
you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than
I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his
threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn
with unquenchable fire.
The Messiah will be
like a farmer who takes the wheat and separates the kernel of grain from the
stalks. The one is gathered; the other
is burned. Even here we begin to
understand that Jesus will certainly be the Savior for those who trust in him,
but not all will trust in Him. Now, as
if the curtain on the stage was pulled aside, Jesus entered into the public to claim his
identity with all humans.
Then
Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and
do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus,
it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented” (3:13-15).
Why was Jesus
baptized, since he had no sin? He did it
to identify with all of humanity – “to fulfill all righteousness.” The phrase means “to be right with all that
God had commanded”, or “to be in accord with God’s will”. The Apostle Paul later wrote to the
Corinthians reminding them that “Jesus
had no sin but became sin for us that we might become the righteous people of
God” (2nd Corinthians 5:21). By identifying with John’s
call to repentance, Jesus is also identifying with humanity, and the nature of
humanity is in its Sin. Jesus had not
sinned, nor ever would, but to redeem humankind, he needed to be one with us. Jesus’ baptism paved the way for all baptisms
to be sanctifying grace.
Was it what the
Father wanted him to do? The answer
followed immediately:
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he
went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw
the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and
behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased” (3:16-17).
Matthew gives us a picture of the Trinity –
the Father and the Holy Spirit appear together with the Son as Jesus comes up
out of the water. The New Testament
records God the Father speaking to, and about His Son in three different
places. The first is here at his
inaugural beginning of public ministry.
The second was when Jesus was transfigured in front of three of his
disciples – on the mount of transfiguration,[4]and
lastly, at the end of his ministry when he faced the upcoming cross[5].
Jesus
came to fulfill the Father’s will and to do that he perfectly obeyed everything
the Father gave him to do. When the
Father announces, “This is my Son, whom I love…and am well pleased”, he
is announcing that Jesus has come to fulfill the Father’s will – even unto
death.
Is there a higher
purpose in life than pleasing God the Father in all things we do? Perhaps we can learn from the saints that our
finest hours are when we seek to do God’s will, and we do that by asking how
would Jesus do what I am to do? Jesus
taught us to pray, “Our
Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name, may your Kingdom come and your
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). To be faithful to the will of God is to be real with who we are, real
with God in both our good and our bad. Yet, also it is to faithful to who we
were created to be, and faithful to the gifts and talents we’ve been given. The
following anonymous quote says it best: “What you are is God’s gift to you. What you make of yourself is
your gift to God.” Let us prayerfully strive to know God’s will
from His Word and then to do His will in our lives every day.
Peace
[1] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary (Mark
6:3).
[2]
Look at Luke 1:41-51 as it relates a story of
Jesus with his father and mother at the Temple.
[3] The context for John’s message comes from the prophet
Isaiah who predicts the captivity for the nation in Isaiah 40
“ Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is
paid, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. A
voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make
straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it
together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 40:1-5)
[4] Matthew 17:1-5
[5] John 12:27-30
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