Matthew 3
Messiah by Prophetic Confirmation Chapter 3 v1-17
“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.
John, the last of the prophets, declares Him to be the Messiah.
“John came” (verses 1-12) In the first 12 verses we have the final prophetic endorsement of the last of the prophets, John the Baptist. He begins “in those days....”, this is almost 30 years after chapter 2. What were these days like? They were days of apathy in Israel, days of nominal religion, days of foreign occupation of the land. Conditions were not right in Israel and John came with a stern message. He proclaims that the kingdom of heaven was near, for the king was here. Because of this they must repent, change their thinking, change their ways for the kingdom of heaven is upon us. So what is repentance?
Ø Firstly it is to admit something is wrong and needs to change. Says John, we are not ready for the kingdom of heaven.
Ø It is not regret; regret is feeling sorry for what we have done for how it affects myself, or even how it affects others. Repentance is more than that. It is not feeling ashamed, it is not making an apology, although these may be involved.
Ø Repentance involves, a change of mind. The Greek word is metanoia which is to change the mind by changing the attitude(meta, a change; and noia the mind)
Ø Change of mind about myself....I am not fundamentally a good person, I am not the centre of the universe, I am not the king of the world or even of my own self.
Ø Change of mind about sin; I am accountable for my actions, past hurts do not excuse present failings, my offences against others are not trivial, I fall very far short of what I should be.
Ø Change of mind about God; God has a right to judge me for He is perfect, He alone is the arbiter of good or evil; He is good and kind for He forgives sins at great cost to Himself. He alone can change me.
It is hard for us to admit we are wrong and change direction, to say all my life I have been wrong, and wrong thoughts have led to wrong actions. Yet if we would enter the kingdom of heaven, the sphere in which the will of God is paramount, this is the only way.
These were religious people, but it was only surface. He will go on to say that the evidence of repentance would be seen in a change of actions, but it all starts in the mind.
John is identified as the forerunner, he was called of God, it was the voice of God through John,
“For this is He, that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight”.(Isaiah 40 v3);
and he in turn identifies the Messiah(verse 11), “..He that comes after me is mightier than I....He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire”. The one in our midst is the king, and the kingdom is near, He alone has the spiritual power to change you.
John’s mission was to “make His paths straight”, for the people of Israel were anything but straight with the Lord as his preaching will reveal. Verse four focuses on the character of the man who was preaching. This is important that the man pointing the finger is blameless himself.
Attention is focused on his mode of dress. The emphasis is on simple clothing fit for the task avoiding gaudy overdress. John was dressed for desert conditions. The new testament relates clothing to character, as in “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” or “put off the old man” and “put on the new man”. The character of the individual enhances the testimony.
Then we have his diet of locusts and wild honey; the food laws as given to Israel do not apply today for they were designed to separate Israel from other nations, by means of dietary laws. What is relevant is our spiritual food, which should be heavenly rather than earthly. In distinction to the “creeping things of earth” the locust is separated from the earth by it’s legs and their mode of travel is airborne. This symbolises “heavenly things” that was the food of the Baptist. Also the wild honey is from the flinty rock(Deuteronomy 32 v13), and as we know the rock is Christ(1st Corinthians 10). The word of the Lord is described as honey, and there we are to feed. The diet is of heavenly things and of Christ, from the word, this is where we should be feeding. Diet and dress are important in service, which is why they are highlighted here.
“Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptised of him in Jordan confessing their sins”.
In ordinary times we have to go to the people, in times of revival the people come to us, and how long has it been since we experienced this. God moves at times in different places and when He moves the people will come. In Malachi, the Lord promised to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing; there has been a 400 year gap and no blessing, but now it will come, it did come when the Spirit came in Acts chapter 2 just as John predicted. The issue was their sins, the Lord always wants to bless but our sins must be washed away. Forgiveness was contingent on confession of sins. The crossing of Jordan(of which baptism is a symbol) was a new beginning for ancient Israel, and this was to be a new beginning for the nation.
When John saw the Pharisees and Sadducees(the very leaders who had led the people astray), come to the baptism, he questioned their sincerity;
“O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance...”.
True repentance will mean a change of behaviour as well as a change of mind, and John reminds them that they are(as are all we) on this earth to produce fruit for God.
No more excuses, no more “ifs”, “buts”, and “maybe’s”, stop depending on past glories, repent and change your satanic ways right now or you face the wrath of God!
“..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”.
Dependence on genealogical connections means nothing to God; in behaviour they were nothing like Abraham. God could make of stones more the children of Abraham than they were, which is saying they are actually more dead than the stones of the desert. Your perceived heritage is nothing, your present sins are pressing, and you need to repent..
He continues; this matter is urgent, the opportunities are fast diminishing
; “And already the axe is laid to the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire”.
The Almighty is not interested in platitudes, in empty words, He will have reality, and have it now. He turns now to the heart of his message, the proclamation of the Messiah;
“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 loose....He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire”.
Says John, I am just the servant, He is the guest, and so great is He I am not worthy even to serve Him. He comes to complete the work of God, all sin will be eradicated, God’s house will be cleansed and He will act in final judgment;
“..whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather the wheat into the garner, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire”.
The picture is of the harvest threshing floor, where the wheat is separated from the chaff, and the One who is coming will be the thresher!, the final prophetic proof that He is the Messiah. He was born of the virgin, He was born in Bethlehem, He was in exile in Egypt, His coming was associated with sorrow, He was raised in Nazareth, and now He is proclaimed to be judge of all!
Messiah by Divine Approval
“Jesus came”(verses 13-17).
This section presents the Divine right of Jesus as the Messiah, and the crowning evidence that places His claim beyond the shadow of any doubt. This will be seen by the visible approval of the Holy Spirit(v16), and the audible approval of God the Father(v17).
First we have the supreme example of Jesus identifying Himself with His people. Visualize the situation, the people are being baptized confessing their sins; Jesus had no sins. They were baptised unto repentance; He had no need for repentance. Yet He had come to identify with the people in everything; we have already seen this in the flight to Egypt, now in the baptism.
John replies,
“I have need to be baptised of thee and comest thou to me?”
Jesus’ reply is just delightful “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
He had come to put everything right, and this meant being identified with the people in everything, including their sins! Righteousness(which is a big topic in Matthew), is that which is right according to God’s standard. The word is well illustrated in Deuteronomy 25 v13-16, in terms of just weights and perfect measures. There were many things of unrighteousness being practised and Christ had come to put all things right. The people were wrong and He must take upon Himself all their wrongs. He had no transgressions but “He was numbered with the transgressors”(Isaiah 53 v12); He had no sins but “He bore our sins in His body on the tree”(1st Peter 2 v24)
The response of heaven was immediate, never had there been from a human being such devotion as this. On coming up from the waters of baptism, the heavens were opened, the Spirit descended, and the voice of the Father was heard.
”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...”.
This was the ultimate approbation of His life and fitness for service. In the old testament, the offices of prophet priest and king were initiated by the anointing of oil. Oil, being the symbol of the Spirit(Zechariah 4 v1-6), this event of the Spirit coming upon Him in full bodily shape is His anointing for service, having proved His fitness in the obscurity of Nazareth. He was given the Spirit “without measure”(John 3 v34), that is the full compliment of the Divine Spirit was upon Him without limitation. Compare this when the Spirit came on the church, it was partial, “cloven tongues of fire”. The symbol of the dove is seen in Genesis 8 v6-12; as the waters of the flood were subsiding, Noah sent out a raven(a flesh-eating bird), who found plenty to eat in the putrefying dead flesh all around . He then sent a dove, a most sensitive bird, who would only eat vegetation, and “the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot”. He sent the dove out a second and third time until it did not return, the dove found rest, and Noah knew the waters were abated. When the symbolic dove rested on Christ, there was no flesh, no evil, nothing but purity and so “it lighted upon Him”. That is He came upon Him, naturally, and without reservation, this was a man whose purity of life and devotion of service would allow the Spirit to move through Him in unfettered goodness and power. This was heaven’s approval of His life, this was heaven’s commission for His service. In chapter 4 we shall see the power of the Spirit in operation in the defeat of Satan, and then in the miracles of healing to defray the havoc Satan had wrought in the world.
“...and lo a voice from heaven saying, “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”.
Now the voice of approval from the Father, whose delight in His Son does not diminish throughout His life; delight before He came, “Behold my servant whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth”(Isaiah 42 v1); delight in the prophecy of His work, “..the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand”(Isaiah 53 v10); delight in a perfect service “..I do always those things that please Him”(John 8 v29); then of course God’s delight in His finished work for He raised Him from the dead, ascended Him on high, and seated Him on the throne until the subjugation of all things. Here is the ultimate credential, the voice of the Father, who is not only pleased, but well pleased
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