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Matthew 3 – The Baptism of Jesus

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

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

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? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 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. 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.

“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. 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.”

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

*******

In chapter 1, we saw Matthew’s thesis. What was his thesis?

That Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) as evidenced by the fulfillment of prophesy. First, the prophesy was fulfilled that he was from the lineage of David. Second, the prophesy was fulfilled that he was born of a virgin. In chapter 2 the prophesy is mentioned that he will be called God with us.

How does chapter 2 continue to prove that Jesus was the Christ?

The fact that he was born in Bethlehem fulfills prophesy. The fact that the Magi worship him confirms the prophesy about him being called God with us. The fact that Jesus had to flee to Egypt fulfills the prophesy about “Out of Egypt I called my Son.” Herod killing the children fulfills a prophesy. When Jesus lives in Nazareth, yet another prophesy is fulfilled.

Now we get to chapter 3, and we find that Matthew is still proving his thesis. The fact that John the Baptist preached repentance and foretold of the coming of Jesus fulfills yet another prophesy, that a voice in the wilderness saying to prepare for the way of the Lord and make his paths straight. In ancient times, kings would construct roads to transport their armies to places they sought to defeat and incorporate into their empire. This is what is in mind here. This is a quote from:

Isaiah 40:3

“A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.”

You know of the saying, “All roads lead to Rome?” Well, all roads led to Rome because Rome built roads in every direction to transport their army and conquer. They were built so well that many of them still exist 2,000 years later, and some are even in use at least partially.

Here are some Roman Roads still in existence today:

They would even make these roads with mile markers & the creation of these roads would spawn hotels & stores near them. They became so popular that they started standards still used today. Today’s railroad tracks are the same width as the axle of a Roman chariot. One thing that can be noted about these roads is that although some are now rough because of earthquakes and such, they were originally made straight and smooth.

Verses 4-6,

“John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”

So, to make the way straight for the Lord, one has to confess their sins. So what drew people out to listen to John the Baptist? Here was this guy, living in the wilderness. He wore clothes made of camel’s hair. Here is a picture of a camel with hair:

They kind of have nappy hair. So, someone might let someone else give their camel a free haircut & that is a way that someone could get materials for clothes for free. It might not be the first choice of materials, but camel’s hair could make some warm clothing. Here is an example of what a resulting robe might have looked like:

And of course John the Baptist had a leather belt. They did have belt buckles in those times, but they probably had the belt at an extra length and tied it secure with a loop like this:

So John the Baptist kept warm at night in the wilderness, and he ate locusts and honey. I like the honey part, but the locusts you can keep. Good thing that John the Baptist watched the Field & Stream survival video on eating grasshoppers though. Grasshoppers have as much protein as lean ground beef. The same would go for locusts.

As you watch that fire in the video change, it makes you wonder how many takes they did to get him to eat the grasshoppers.

So, people went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. What was the attraction? What would attract people to come and listen to such a person?

To watch him eat locusts?
To make fun of his camel hair robe?
To hear what he had to say about the coming Messiah?

John was saying that the kingdom of heaven was near. What did John the Baptist preach about the kingdom of heaven? When Daniel uses the words, “kingdom of heaven,” it brings to mind Daniel 2:44:

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.”

Now this was part of Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The dream was about a statue with a head of gold, chest and shoulders made of silver, middle made of bronze, legs made of iron and feet made of iron mixed with clay. A stone that was cut out by no human hand struck the feet, and destroyed the whole statue. Then the stone became a mountain and filled the whole earth.

Now, the head of gold was interpreted to be Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. The chest and shoulders of silver was to be a kingdom that defeated Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, and this could be interpreted to be the kingdom of Cyrus. The bronze middle could be the Greek kingdom. The Iron legs could be the Roman kingdom. So this is where things were at in the time of John the Baptist. In view of the statue, the kingdom of God was near. Things were getting close to the end when the kingdom of heaven would come.

So, perhaps people came to listen to the message of how that the kingdom of heaven was near, and this would give people hope.

Now there was another part to John’s message because “confessing their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”

Verses 7-12,

“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? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 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. 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.

So, John preached confession of sins and repentance. He seemed to be harshest of all on the Pharisees and Sadducees. Who were these people?

“The Pharisees were an influential religious sect within Judaism in the time of Christ and the early church. They were known for their emphasis on personal piety (the word Pharisee comes from a Hebrew word meaning “separated”), their acceptance of oral tradition in addition to the written Law, and their teaching that all Jews should observe all 600-plus laws in the Torah, including the rituals concerning ceremonial purification.

“The Pharisees were mostly middle-class businessmen and leaders of the synagogues. Though they were a minority in the Sanhedrin and held a minority number of positions as priests, they seemed to control the decision-making of the Sanhedrin because they had popular support among the people.

“Among the Pharisees were two schools of thought, based on the teachings of two rabbis, Shammai and Hillel. Shammai called for a strict, unbending interpretation of the Law on almost every issue, but Hillel taught a looser, more liberal application. Followers of Shammai fostered a hatred for anything Roman, including taxation—Jews who served as tax collectors were persona non grata. The Shammaites wanted to outlaw all communication and commerce between Jews and Gentiles. The Hillelites took a more gracious approach and opposed such extreme exclusiveness. Unfortunately, the Pharisees gave equal authority to oral tradition, saying the traditions went all the way back to Moses. Evolving over the centuries, the Pharisaic traditions had the effect of adding to God’s Word, which is forbidden (Deuteronomy 4:2). The Gospels abound with examples of the Pharisees treating their traditions as equal to God’s Word (Matthew 9:14; 15:1–9; 23:5; 23:16, 23; Luke 11:42). Jesus applied the condemnation of Isaiah 29:13 to the Pharisees, saying, “Their teachings are merely human rules” (Mark 7:7). The 2 schools within Pharisaism grew so hostile to each other that they refused to worship together.”

(https://www.gotquestions.org/Pharisees.html)

“During the time of Christ and the New Testament era, the Sadducees were a religiopolitical group that held a great deal of power among the Jews in Israel. The Sadducees confronted Jesus on occasion, attempting to trip Him up (Matthew 16:1; Mark 12:18), and they later opposed the preaching of the apostles (Acts 4:1–2).

“The Sadducees, sometimes historically called “Zadokites” or “Tzedukim,” are thought by some to have been founded by a man named Zadok (or Tsadok) in the second century BC. Another school of thought is that the word Sadducee is related to the Hebrew word sadaq (“to be righteous”). The Sadducees were an aristocratic class connected with everything going on in the temple in Jerusalem. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priest, and they held the majority of the 70 seats of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin.

“The Sadducees worked hard to keep the peace by agreeing with the decisions of Rome (Israel at the time was under Roman control), and they seemed to be more concerned with politics than religion. Because they were accommodating to Rome and were the wealthy upper class, they did not relate well to the common man, nor did the common man hold them in high opinion. The commoners related better to those who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. Though the Sadducees held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin, history indicates that much of the time they had to go along with the ideas of the Pharisaic minority, because the Pharisees were more popular with the masses.

“Not all priests were Sadducees, but many of them were. The Sadducees preserved the authority of the written Word of God, especially the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy). While they could be commended for this, they definitely were not perfect in their doctrinal views. The following is a brief list of Sadducean beliefs that contradict Scripture:

1. The Sadducees were extremely self-sufficient to the point of denying God's involvement in everyday life.

2. They denied any resurrection of the dead (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18–27; Acts 23:8). Due to this belief, the Sadducees strongly resisted the apostles’ preaching that Jesus had risen from the dead.

3. They denied the afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death and therefore denying any penalty or reward after the earthly life.

4. They denied the existence of a spiritual world, i.e., angels and demons (Acts 23:8).”

(https://www.gotquestions.org/Sadducees.html)

So, we can understand that the Pharisees and Sadducees had some serious flaws, not only religiously, but also they both tended to use their positions to their own benefit as we will see that Jesus points out later in the Gospel of Matthew.

At this point, what is Baptism for?

The call to repentance and confessing of sins seems to be the voice of the one calling in the wilderness, “make straight the paths for the way of the Lord.” Making your life straight is what is being alluded here to.

Some have said that John the Baptist borrowed baptism from the Essenes. The Essenes baptized as a ritual, as though it was constantly needed as keeping the Law was constantly needed. This is not the picture that John is giving here. It is a once for all Baptism.

This is the Old Testament verse that John has in mind here. It is about the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Isaiah 4:4,

“When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.”

The picture that John is portraying is that the Lord will wash away the sin. John is portraying a once for all event that will be enacted by the Lord himself. John’s Baptism is a portrayal the Lord’s washing.

Now, were people saved by John’s Baptism?

Were people saved by their confession of sins and repentance?

Even though people should confess their sins, repent, and be baptized, none of this saved them because they still needed to be washed by the Lord. It is their faith in the Lord that saved them. Confessing their sins, repenting, and being baptized was just a start on their journey with the Lord.

John gives the Pharisees and the Sadducees a stern command and warning to emphasize what this was all about. “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” The Pharisees and Sadducees often boasted that they were inheritors of the kingdom of heaven because they were children of Abraham. But John warns them that this is not what it is all about. God is able to raise up children of Abraham from the stones on the ground. He warns them that the axe is at the root of the tree. In other words, they were not bearing good fruit and God is about to cut down their tree, their house of religion, because of their lack of good fruit.

John’s warning continues. He just baptizes with water for repentance, but he who is coming after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. John is implying here that the Pharisees and Sadducees would be the chaff that gets burned. Now the word for unquenchable here is asbesto (ἀσβέστῳ), the word from which we get ‘asbestos.’ Asbestos has been used because it is unquenchable from fire. But here it is used to describe the fire that is coming that is unquenchable.

So, here is John talking about the person that will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. What do you think is going to happen next?

Verses 13-17,

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

So, did Jesus need to be baptized like everyone else?

No. John makes it clear that Jesus does not need to be baptized when he says, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” By saying this, John not only denies Jesus needing baptism, but also identifies Jesus as the Lord that will be baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire.

So, why did Jesus come to be baptized?

He said it was fitting. Why was it fitting?

“For US to fulfill all righteousness.”

So, Jesus wasn’t doing this just for himself. He was doing this for others. Everything that would be required of those believing in him, Jesus would do so that his righteousness could be imputed to them.

Isaiah 53:11 comes to mind:

“By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous.”

So, Jesus is baptized and when he came up out of the water, the heavens are opened and the Spirit of God descends on him like a dove.

Another proof that this is the Messiah is here.

Isaiah 42:1,

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”

Wait for it... verse 17,

“...and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Mic Drop!!!

You can’t get better proof than that.

Sometimes, I hear doubters say that Jesus never said he was the Son of God. Ummm... He didn’t have to say it – God said it!

In John chapter 5, the Pharisees doubt Jesus’ claims about himself, and in verse 32, Jesus says,

“There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.”

The Pharisees and Sadducees knew of this incident. They heard about it from John the Baptist and others that witnessed it. Why didn’t they acknowledge him?

Maybe they didn’t want to be baptized with the Holy Spirit... maybe because they were the chaff & they knew it.

Shall we be baptized in the Holy Spirit?

Song: Spirit of the Living GOD (Vertical Church Band)

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