Chapter 3
Matthew 3:1-2
1 In those days came John the baptist, preaching in
the wilderness of
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
“In those days” is
a shortcut getting us to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Matthew jumps over Jesus’ youth and into His
adulthood.
We go straight to
John the baptist, and we find him preaching in the
wilderness of
That is not a
modern “three points and a poem” sermon.
He apparently did not preach for an hour as some do today. The only example of long sermon preaching in
the New Testament is found in Acts 20.
Matthew 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the
prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
This refers to
Isaiah 40:3. John was one who was crying in the wilderness of a sinful society.
There are many today that are also crying in the wilderness of modern society,
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Matthew 3:4 And the same John had his raiment of
camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts
and wild honey.
Many think of John
as having wild hair, dressed like a Jewish homeless person. His clothing was made of camel's hair. That may have been rough in ancient days, but
do you know how much a camel hair coat costs today?
He had a leather
belt. Most men wear leather belts today.
His food consisted of locusts and wild honey. They are considered delicacies among some
people.
Matthew 3:5-6
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round
about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
People came to
John from all around the area. Some
repented, confessed their sins, and were baptized in the
Judaism also has a
baptism of repentance called a “Mikvah.” To messianic Jews, he may not be John the baptist, but Yohannan the Mikvah Man.
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?
Matthew reports
that many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized by John. Instead of greeting them with warm words of
encouragement, he was direct and to the point. “You snakes, who warned you to
run from the wrath to come?” Such direct
preaching is non-existent today.
Matthew 3:8-9
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say
unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
John told the
Jewish leadership to live lives that reflected repentance. He told them not to suffer self-deception by
thinking that their birth was enough to please God.
God is the Creator. He made all we see from the power of His Word. He is able
to make whom He wants from what He wants.
Matthew 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the
root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Here, we have
John’s prophetic warning. “Now the ax is cutting the root of the trees. Therefore, if any tree does not bring forth
good fruit it shall be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Any plant that is
separated from its root dies. Christ was
their Root and they did not know it. The
casting into a fire simply reflects the future of something that has ceased to
be useful. It is destroyed, or rendered
ineffective.
Matthew 3:11-12
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me
is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly
purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the
chaff with unquenchable fire.
John continued his
prophecy by telling them, “I baptize you with water to repentance. But, One is coming that is more powerful than
I am. I am not worthy to pick up His sandals. He shall baptize you with (in/Gr.
en-en)
the Holy Ghost, and fire! His fan is in
his hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and gather his wheat into
the barn. However, He will burn up the
chaff with fire that cannot be put out.”
“Unquenchable
fire” (Gr. puri asbestoo-puri asbestw) is a literal translation. That
simply means the fire will burn until it accomplishes its mission.
Matthew 3:13-14
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Eventually Jesus
came to John as he was baptizing in the
We do not know
where in the Jordan Jesus baptism took place.
However, we do know that His baptism (Gr. baptisma-
baptisma) was a form of Hebrew mikvah and it required
immersion in water. Sprinkling is not immersion! Sprinkling is
not baptism.
Far too many
Church attendees prefer to be sprinkled with the Holy Spirit instead of being
immersed in Him. They are embarrassed by
immersion! They are ashamed of the
gospel!
Jesus declared His
intention of being baptized by John, but John objected, saying, “I should be
baptized by You.” John had humility and
spiritual awareness.
Why was Jesus baptized?
It was NOT a
baptism of regeneration or a believer’s baptism!
Jesus “baptism”
was the Jewish Mikvah! He did that in order to fulfill the law!
Baptism had no
other value to the perfect Son of God!
Matthew 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer
it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Jesus responded by
telling John that all righteousness must
be “fulfilled” (Gr. pleeroosai-plhrwsai). Then John baptized Jesus.
Matthew 3:16-17
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and,
lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased.
When Jesus was
baptized, the Greek text indicates that He came up out of the water. That means
that he was under the water. He could
not come “up out” of the water unless he was “down under” the water.
At that point, the
heavens “were opened” (Gr. aneoochtheesan-anewcqhsan)
to Him. Then, the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and was upon Him. A voice from heaven, said, “This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
“The heavens were
opened” speaks of a realization. The
voice was inaudible to all except Jesus.
Later, John would send his followers to find out if Jesus was the true
Messiah. If he had heard the voice,
there would have been no question (Matthew 11:2-3).