Book of Matthew 3:1-17 September 24, 2022
John the Baptist, somewhere around A.D.26. What do we know about John.
Matthew 11:11 Truly I
tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet
whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Matthew 11:13 For all the
Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. {Last Old Testament Prophet}
John 10:41 And many
resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle:
but all things that John spoke of this man {Jesus} were true.
John the Baptist was in prison
in the fortress of Machaerus because he had courageously denounced the
adulterous marriage of Herod Antipas and Herodias. They killed him by cutting his head off.
Luke 1:15 For he will be
great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink
neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the
Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
{Was he a Nazarite? No proof}
Matthew 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea
John did more than baptizing, but he preach about the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 3:2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven has come near."
Notice what Lord Jesus was preaching about, same as John
Matthew 4:17 From that
time Jesus began to preach and to
say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand."
We see John message was a call to repentance, a call to
action, making a change of the mind, not merely to feel sorry for what they had
done. A change of direction in lifestyle. A New Way of Life.
John’s
main message wasn’t “You’re a sinner, you need to repent.” John’s main message
was “Messiah the King is coming.
If the kingdom of heaven is at hand,
then we must get ready now
Matthew 3:3 This is he who was spoken of through
the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight
paths for him.'"
About 30 years have passed between Chapters 2 and 3.
John the Baptist was born into the priesthood, born to
Zacharias and Elisabeth in their old age. He is preaching out of the camp
{Jersualem}, in the desert as he must have been rejected by the Jewish
Leadership. John fulfills Isaiah
prophecy.
Isaiah 40:3-5 The voice
of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare
the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for
our God. (4) Every valley shall be exalted And every
mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the
rough places smooth; (5) The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And
all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
The idea was to
build up a great road {repaired, smoothed, straightened, and leveled} for the
arrival of Lord Jesus, our King and to fill in the holes and knock down the
hills that are in the way
Matthew 3:4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around
his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
John also dressed like Elijah. John ate locusts and wild
honey. May have their mantle. {similar to
covering, jacket}
2 Kings 1:8 So they
answered him, "A hairy man wearing a leather
belt around his waist." And
he said, "It is Elijah the
Tishbite."
Matthew 3:5 People went
out to him from Jerusalem and all
Judea and the whole region of
the Jordan.
This term is repented 2 times, meaning that a great many
people go out to see John the Baptist.
Mark 1:5 Then all the
land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in
the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
Matthew 3:6 Confessing their sins, they were
baptized by him in the Jordan River.
John completely
immersed in water those he baptized
Then
Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him: John’s ministry met with wonderful response. There
were many people who recognized their sinfulness, their need to get ready for
the Messiah, and were willing to do something
about it.
Remember, the Jewish leadership were upset that John was
baptizing individual without their official approval. They are the only ones that can baptize
gentiles and others.
John is testifying to Jesus’ preexistence before birth:
He was Jesus’ cousin, three months older.
John 1:15 John bore
witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who
comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.' "
Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to
flee from the wrath to come?
The people and the Jewish leaders had to walk at least 20
miles from Jerusalem to hear John the Baptist.
We would look at this as an overnighter, with food and place to stay.
This is our
introduction to these two important groups in first-century Judaism. These two
groups were very different and often in conflict. Together they represented the
leadership of Judaism
Generation of vipers”: To a Pharisee this refers to Gen
3:15, the seed of the serpent. He is calling them the sons of Satan!
Genesis 3:15 And I will
put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He
shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
Matthew 3:8 Produce
fruit in keeping with repentance.
Philippians 1:11 being
filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Matthew 3:9 And do not think you can say to
yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'
I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
It was widely
taught in that day that Abraham’s merits were plenty for any
Jew’s salvation and that a Jewish person couldn’t go to hell.
Pharisees: “separatists”; the legalists, the ritualists,
out of them came the traditions of the Talmudic Jew.
Sadducees: liberalists, rationalists, “reformed”
(modernists, humanists) who denied the inspiration of the Word and didn’t
believe in the resurrection (so they were “sad, you see.”).
Matthew 3:10 The ax
is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does
not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
John likened
his ministry to the ax of God clearing His orchard of dead wood, especially
that which did not bear the fruit of repentance. Scary for those who have the spirit in man.
Matthew 3:11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one
who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
John warns them
to prepare for the Messiah’s coming, because He is coming with judgment. The
Jews thought that the Messiah
would come with judgment, but only against Israel’s enemies
Remember, Holy Spirit was not given in general until
after Jesus’ resurrection on the Day of Pentecost. Baptize with fire when the earth is cleaned
of the wicked.
Acts 19:4 Then Paul said,
"John indeed baptized with a baptism of
repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him
who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."
Acts 19:5-6 When they
heard this, they were baptized in the name of the
Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them,
and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Matthew 3:12 His winnowing fork {fan} is in his
hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and
burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
The wicked is the chaff and stubble
Malachi 4:1 "For
behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all
who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,"
Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
The Baptism
of Jesus
Matthew 3:13 Then Jesus
came from Galilee to the Jordan
to be baptized by John.
Did this include those Jesus has called as His disciples.
Matthew 3:14 But John tried to deter him, saying,
"I need to be baptized by you,
and do you come to me?"
John recognized
the irony in this situation. Jesus had nothing to repent of, and it would be
more appropriate for Jesus to baptize John
Matthew 3:15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so
now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill
all righteousness." Then John consented.
Jesus’
baptism was not just like anyone else’s, in the sense of being a display of
repentance. It was not a display of repentance, but instead it
was a righteous identification
Matthew 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he
went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove and alighting on him.
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit
descended in bodily form like a dove upon
Him {Lord Jesus}, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased."
John 1:32-34 And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove,
and He remained upon Him. (33) I did not know Him, but He who sent me to
baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with
the Holy Spirit.' (34) And I have seen and testified that this is
the Son of God."
This verses
indicates that John the Baptist saw this phenomenon and
understood what it meant.
Is this similar to Pentecost. The Law and the prophets were until John the
Baptist. John is the last of the Old Testament prophets.
Matthew 3:17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
This was God’s
official recognition to the people of Jesus as the Messiah.
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