#1210 Matthew 3 Part 1 A Herald In Grunge

 

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 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.’”

4 Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 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? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 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. 10 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.

11 “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. 12 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 Baptism of Jesus

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 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; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3 ESV

Matthew 3: 1-6 John the Baptist

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness - Matthew takes a big leap from Jesus returning from Egypt as a small child, to John the Baptist in the wilderness. What days are "in those days" referring to? Well, the nice thing about the Gospels is that they intertwine, even though they are written by different men, yet all inspired by the same Spirit, and all giving us different angles. Matthew's gospel really focuses on Jesus's being King, so we start with His royal lineage, the one of legal right, but in the gospel of Luke, we find the one of blood right, and that which avoids the curse, David's line through Mary. We have seen that He was born in Bethlehem, as Micah foretold, and that He was sought by the king makers, Magi, from the East, who honored Him with gold, frankincense and Myrrh, after following His star. Herod has tried to kill Him and Jesus has returned from Egypt as well. Now He is older and Luke tells us a little more about the particulars of that time in history. 

1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,… Luke 3: 1-3

We also know John to be the first person to recognize Jesus.

…40where she entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!… Luke 1: 40-42

John MacArthur comments that "the coming of the herald (John the Baptist) signified the coming of the King. The beginning of John’s ministry signaled the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (see Acts 10:37–38+)....Everything about John the Baptist was unique and amazing—his sudden public appearance, his life-style, his message, his baptizing, and his humility. He was born to a mother who was barren. He was a priest by heritage but became a prophet. He forsook his earthly father’s ministry for the sake of his heavenly Father’s. After spending most of his life in the desert, at the right moment God spoke to his heart, and he began to thunder out the message God had given him in that desert-to announce the coming of the King." (Matthew Commentary)

For this is he who was spoken of - In Isaiah 40 we first read about the herald who will precede the Lord. When a king is going to visit an area under his rule, it is not uncommon for him to send someone way in advance, to make the way clear, to look for and deal with obstacles and impediments to his arrival. If you have worked for a big corporation, then you have seen the sad side of that, that which is totally kissing up, but also totally without substance. Someone will announce that a CEO is coming, and you could be in the middle of the very business that helps write his paychecks, and that of everyone else, but his underlings, or her groveling diva worshipers come and say, everything must stop. Move that box over here, get those cob webs, take all that material that you are using to do that job, and hide it somewhere. The important people are coming and they don't want to see any signs that would make this look like a place where work was being done. When you meet these CEOs they don't seem upset about the disingenuous nature of the whole thing; it feeds their ego, even though it's not real. 

…2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.” 3A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.… Isaiah 40: 2-4

Prepare the way of the Lord - Now, unlike the CEO, God wants those who worship in Spirit and in truth. John the Baptist is bringing a message of repentance, telling the people that there is definitely something in the way of a right relationship with this king. That something, would be sin, so in verse 2, he says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The kingdom of heaven? Yes, God the Son is the One coming, the true Sovereign of the Universe, through Whom everything was created, the righteous and holy God, is on His way. This is a big problem, for nothing remains hidden from Him, no sweeping under the rug, no amount of paint or cleaning the outside of the cup will work, ritualism is dead to Him. He doesn't like flatterers or suck ups, and He hates sin, which all these people have, so John's first words are "Repent", and the people's response was to publicly identify with this great truth. How? In verse 6, "they were baptized by Him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins."

…38But the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. 39 “Now then,” said the Lord, “you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well?… Luke 11: 38-40

16No one lights a lamp and covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light. 17For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light. 18Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”… Luke 8: 16-18

Camel's hair and a leather belt - John's father was a priest, and they wore clothes much different than these, beautiful clothes, finely crafted, with jewels and precious stones to represent the tribes, but John's call took him another way. He was a man of the wilderness, and often, I think, the more a man comes to hate sin, the more time he spends away from it's cities. A man that is seeking after God, will often seek solitude, and he will grow in the strength of God's word away from the noise of the crowd. Here, in the quiet, he is not alone, for he has the much more sure Word, the Bible, and here his faith is sure to grow, for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. It is obedience and compassion that bring him back to the populated places, these things all work together to develop the message of repentance. This is a man able to tell others because he no longer cares what they think about him, and his own sins bother him more than theirs. 

And they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins - Were being baptized is in the imperfect tense (as was going out in Mt 3:5) giving the picture of one after another, a veritable stream (pun intended) of humanity coming into the river! A B Bruce says "The movement of course was gradual. It began on a small scale and steadily grew till it reached colossal proportions." One baptism after another was symbolic of a new life, but in John's baptism true new life was neither caused nor obtained, for that would await the coming of Messiah. And as stated below, many of the baptisms were not even truly symbolic, but with time proved to be hypocritical professions, so to speak.

John's baptism was different from the traditional Jewish ritual washings of hands, feet and head, washings which were repeated by the person himself, representing repeated purification for repeated sinning. But John's baptism was the entire body and was a one time event and John was the one doing the baptizing, not the individual (as with their ritual washings). Gentiles who sought to associate with Judaism were baptized one time signifying that they as outsiders were coming into Judaism. Thus for a Jew to submit to a one time baptism like John's baptism was tantamount to them admitting they were outsiders seeking entrance into the people of God! As they confessed their sins suggests that their confession of sins occurred at the same time as their baptism. MacArthur adds that "That act symbolized before the world that they realized their national and racial descent, or even their calling as God’s chosen and covenant people, could not save them. They had to repent, forsake sin, and trust in the Lord for salvation. It is that of which the baptism was a public witness, as they confessed their sins. They had to come into the kingdom just like the Gentiles, through repentance and faith—which included a public admission of sins. We know from subsequent accounts in the gospels that many of those acts of repentance must have been superficial and hypocritical, because John soon lost much of his following, just as Jesus would eventually lose most of His popularity. But the impact of John’s ministry on the Jewish people was profound and unforgettable. The way of the King had been announced to them, and they had no excuse for not being ready for His coming"

Constable comments that "John’s baptism did not make a person a member of the church, the body of Christ, since the church had not yet come into existence (Mt 16:18). It simply gave public testimony to that person’s repentance and commitment to live a holy life." As MacArthur noted above, many of these public testimonies were superficial and did not bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Mt 3:8). - Precept Austin

…25Then all the troops entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground. 26And when they entered the forest and saw the flowing honey, not one of them put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. 27Jonathan, however, had not heard that his father had charged the people with the oath. So he reached out the end of the staff in his hand, dipped it into the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes brightened.… 1 Samuel 14: 25-27