Matthew 3 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Matthew 3

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”¹ 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

  “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
  ‘Prepare² 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,³ 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,⁴ with whom I am well pleased.”

Footnotes

[1] 3:2 Or the kingdom of heaven has come near
[2] 3:3 Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness
[3] 3:16 Some manuscripts omit to him
[4] 3:17 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved

Commentary

v1-4: John bursts onto the scene, a bright and shining star, making a tremendous impact upon the people. Attention shifts here from Joseph to John; there are around 25 years since the end of chapter 2. Strikingly, Johns' own coming is also prophesied in Is 40.3. John is no well-dressed king, see 11.8.

v5-6: John's message, although uncompromising, is popular. Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan river, come out to hear him. Many, repenting of their sins, are baptised.

v7-10: The uncompromising message; he addresses the Pharisees and Sadducees as "brood of vipers," and he would doubtless receive their criticism in return. Their dependence is on their ancestry, "We have Abraham as our father," forgetting the need to repent, and produce fruit in accordance with that repentance.

Whether Jew or not, there is wrath to come; the Jews in particular, are living on the edge of terrible times, with the axe already at the root of their tree. God does not 'need' the sons of Abraham, and He is able to raise up stones, Luke 19.40.

The axe of Christ's coming came 'not in earthquake of wrath, nor in whilrwind of judgment, but breathed in the still small voice of live and pity.' (Dr Alfred Edersheim, Sketches of Jewish Social Life)

In 1484, Italian priest Giralamo Savonarola was impressed by verse 10. Through this verse, God called him to warn the city of Florence and the Roman ‘church’ of its rebellion against God.

Dr Alfred Edrsheim comments on the Pharisees; 'Courted or feared, shunned or flattered, reverently looked up to or laughed at, he was equally a power everywhere, both ecclesiastically and politically, as belonging to the most influential, the most zealous, and the most closely-connected religious fraternity, which in the pursuit of its objects spared neither time nor trouble, feared no danger, and shrank from no consequences.' (Sketches of Jewish Social Life)

This lengthy quotation highlights to antipathy between the existing religious leaders in first century Judea and John the Baptist and Christ Himself: Christ and the gospel among Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes! (biblenotes.org.uk)

v11: John's ministry, to prepare the people for the Saviour to come, one "more powerful than I."

v12: Jesus comes to His people, His threshing floor, to save (1.21) and to shepherd (2.6). The chaff, or the tree that does not bear good fruit, will be burned; judgment begins at the house of God, 1 Pet 4.17.

v13-17: Jesus' public appearance, and approval by the Father. John comes to Jesus, "I need to be baptised by you," indicating his own humility; no self-confidence and self-sufficiency. Jesus, having no need of repentance, identifies with His people. Here too is the Father's approval, and the Holy Spirit's blessing.