THE MINISTRY OF JOHN (3:1-10). The ministry of John is first described. He has come to the Judaean wilderness with a message of fruitfulness and hope, calling for a change of heart towards God and towards sin, and this in accordance with the words of Isaiah. And his call is for them to openly admit... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. THE MESSIAH IS REVEALED TO THE WORLD (3:1-17). Many years had passed by of which Matthew tells us nothing. He is not concerned to give us a biography of Jesus' life. He is more concerned with Him in connection with His mission and purpose in coming into the world.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And in those days comes John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying,' ‘In those days' is a loose connection timewise with what has gone before. ‘Those days' in context probably refer to the pre-Messiah days, the days of preparation prior to the revealing of the Messiah, which c... [ Continue Reading ]
“Repent you, for the Kingly Rule of Heaven is at hand.” His message is simple, and yet profound. He is calling on them to ‘repent,', to turn to God and to turn from sin, because all that the prophets had hoped for is now to come to fulfilment. The Kingly Rule of Heaven, that time when God will brea... [ Continue Reading ]
‘For this is he who was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make you ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” ' We now learn that the arrival of John was no accident. He had come, as God had foreordained and declared, in order to bri... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now John himself had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins, and his food was locusts and wild honey.' John is described in prophetic terms. His raiment of coarse camel's hair, his leather (dried skin) girdle and his wilderness food all depict the prophet (compare 2 King... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan, and they were baptised of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.' The impact of John's ministry is made clear, covering Jerusalem, Judaea and the Region Round Jordan. Jerusalem had always seen itself... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” It is not clear whether the Pharisees and Sadducees actually came to be baptised, or whether they had in fact come in order to decide... [ Continue Reading ]
“Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance, 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 to Abraham.” These words are probably now more generalised. All who are listening to him are therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
“And even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” For he wants them to be clear about the fact that his baptism in itself is no protection against the axe of God, nor is their descent from Abraham. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
“I indeed baptise you in water to repentance, but he who comes after (or ‘behind') me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He will baptise you in the Holy Spirit and fire,” John has ever before his eyes the One Who is coming. That is why he is baptising in water. His baptism is a... [ Continue Reading ]
THE COMING ONE (3:11-17). John's large-scale ministry having been established in these few verses, Matthew now turns his attention to Jesus. We do not know how long John had been preaching before this incident now described occurred, but that he had a widespread and effective ministry, possibly ove... [ Continue Reading ]
“Whose winnowing fork (or ‘shovel') is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.” The ancient way of threshing grain among the relatively poor was to toss it into the prevailin... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then comes Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised by him.' Having described what is to be, Matthew now moves on to the first stage of its coming into fruition. Jesus travels from Galilee to where John is preaching by the Jordan in order to be baptised by him. This was an act of de... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But John would have prevented him, saying, “I have need to be baptised of you, and do you come to me?” ' When John saw Jesus coming he felt himself unworthy to baptise Him. As his cousin he had good reason to know of Jesus' purity of life and special holiness towards God. While he did not yet know... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But Jesus answering said to him, “Allow it now, for thus it becomes us to fulfil all righteousness (or ‘do fully what is right' or ‘advance the way of righteousness to the full').” Then he allows him.' But Jesus then set about persuading John. He clearly knew how baptising Him would make John feel... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus when he was baptised, went up immediately from the water, and lo, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him,' Having been baptised by John, Jesus came out of the water, and immediately ‘the Heavens were opened'. Nothing visible w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, (or ‘My Son, the Beloved') in whom I am well pleased.” ' And then the Voice spoke from Heaven. Here was no whisper of a voice, the quiet ‘bath qol' (daughter of a voice) spoken of by the Scribes and Pharisees which had replaced th... [ Continue Reading ]