Matthew 3

Matthew 3:1

For four hundred years, the Jews had not heard a single prophet calling to them in the name of the Lord. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, came John. John preached in the wilderness, which was appropriate because Israel was going through dry, desert times spiritually. He came on the scene wearing not the fine flowing robes of the priests in all their glory, but camel’s hairthe equivalent of torn Levi’sbig leather belt around his waist, grasshopper legs hanging out of his mouth.

Matthew 3:5

Fearlessly and boldly John said, “Repent! Change direction. The kingdom is at hand. Get ready. The time is now!” Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist…Mat_11:11 (a) No wonder Jesus said of all those born of women, John was the greatest. People came from miles and miles, in those days no small feat, to hear him, sensing he spoke with accuracy and authority. But catch thisJesus went on to say, …notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.Mat_11:11 (b) Do you know whom Jesus is talking about? He’s talking about you. Jesus said you’re greater than John with all of his power and authority. Why? Because you have seen things John couldn’t. John would later question and wonder, “If You are truly the Messiah, Jesus, why don’t You do something to establish Your authority?” John struggled and stumbled and didn’t see things all that clearly. You do. You understand Jesus came as the Suffering Savior before He will come again as the Conquering King. The Lord has placed you in His kingdom, and Jesus Himself said the least in the kingdom is greater than this greatest of prophets. What a privilege! I feel so honored that God would place us in this era and include us in His kingdom. He could have had us born centuries before Christ and made us great prophets calling down fire from heaven, raising the dead, healing the lepers. Instead, He said, “I’m going to do something greater. They’re going to be part of My church.”

Matthew 3:7

Now, I don’t believe John was giving a word of condemnation here, but rather a word of surprise. Amazed, he asked, “Oh, generation of snakes. Who has brought you here, you proud legalists and you liberal intellectuals?” I can even hear a chuckle in John’s voice as he said this.

Matthew 3:8

“It’s not simply a matter of getting dunked,” John warned. “It’s a way of living. If your repentance is sincere, fruit will be produced in your life.”

Matthew 3:9

Many people want the power of the Spirit, but they are not interested in the fire, the purity. Acts chapter 8 tells of a man named Simon, a sorcerer, or magi in Greek, who performed tricks before the people. When he saw the power of the Holy Spirit dispatched by the disciples, and when he saw people getting filled with the Holy Ghost, he approached Peter and said, “Could I buy that trick from you? Here’s some money, tell me how you do that!” Peter answered Simon, “I perceive you are in the gall of bitterness and in bondage to iniquity,” as he gave him a very stern rebuke and a serious warning. I sense there are still those two kinds of wise men: the wise, wise men and the foolish, wise men. Some come to worship Jesus solely because of who He is. Others say, “I want the power to hold people captivated and spellbound.” But the baptism of Jesus in the Spirit is a baptism of firewhich speaks of purity. It’s a dying to self, a cleansing of motives. Many folks want that power, but they don’t want a changed lifestyle.

Matthew 3:13

In this passage, we see a perfect picture of the Trinitythe Holy Spirit descending upon the Son, while the voice of the Father is heard. The Trinity had been hinted at throughout the Old Testament, beginning with the first verse. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.Gen_1:1 The Hebrew word translated “God” is “Elohim.” “El” is the singular form of the word; “Elohim” is the plural form. Here in the baptism of Jesus, the Trinity is not only alluded to linguistically, but illustrated physicallythe Son baptized, the Spirit descending, and the Father speaking. We see it, yet it is a great mystery. There are not three Gods. There is one God, one God in three Persons. How can this be? Saint Patrick was one who tried to illustrate this idea in nature. He used the shamrock as a picture of the Trinitythree leaves, but one shamrock. Others have said, “Look at manbody, soul, and spirit. One man can be father, son, and brother, yet he is still just one person.” Still others have said, “Look at water. It can be liquid, solid, or gas.” And scientists tell us that at absolute zero degrees, for a split second, water can be all three at once. Countless examples have been used throughout history in an attempt to explain the idea of three in one, the concept of the Trinity. Why is the Trinity such an important concept? I struggled for many years with this question. “Lord, why three?” I asked. “Why didn’t You keep it real simple and avoid this confusing Trinity concept? We are accused of being polytheistic. We’re confused in our prayers. We get all tangled up. Why didn’t You keep it simple, just You, just One?” In recent years, however, I have come into an understanding of the Trinity, which for me personally has made all the difference. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit dwelled together in ages pasta billion years before years even beganperfectly content. The Father loved the Son. The Son honored the Father. The three of Them dwelled together in complete harmony, in total satisfaction. They are, and always will be, family. But they’re only One. What does this mean? Contrary to much of today’s teaching, it means God didn’t need me. God went through billions and zillions of years without man. And you know what? He got along just fine. He doesn’t need us, folks. So great is God’s love that He gave His only Son to die and plunge into hell in order to redeem you. He’s in love with you to be sure, but He doesn’t need you. And that takes all of the pressure off because when love is demanding, it isn’t love. “I need you. I must have you.” “Where have you been? Who were you talking to?” “Where are you going? Who are you going with? Can I come?” When love is not “trinitarian” in nature, it becomes smothering and restrictive. It causes tension and anxieties, and you feel caged in and cooped up. Many of us erroneously picture God wringing His hands, pacing the clouds, worried about whether we’re going to make it. He’s not. He’s very happy, totally fulfilled, and perfectly content. Yet He is so magnanimous and expansive that He has chosen to create us, love us, and walk with us. It’s not a demand. It’s not a need. It’s an invitation. How this blesses me! “You didn’t need me, Lord. You don’t need me now. But You still love me. You still want me to live with You forever. Wow!” Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.Mat_11:28-29 There is One who loves you, who is not uptight about you, or burdensome upon you. He is meek and lowly. And the mystery of the Trinity gives me rest in my love relationship with Him. The Baptism of Jesus A Topical Study of Mat_3:13-17 Because John’s mother and Jesus’ mother were cousins, John knew Jesus quite well. And although he did not yet understand that his second cousin was the promised Messiah, he knew Jesus was without sin. That is why, in the midst of baptizing others, John was suddenly aware of his own sinfulness when Jesus approached him. “There’s no fault in you,” declared John. “You should be baptizing me.” But Jesus immediately said, “Allow it to be so, for in so doing, we will fulfill all righteousness. It’s the right thing to do.” Why? If baptism was a sign of repentance, why would Jesus, who was sinless, say, “It’s important for Me to be baptized by you”? I suggest four reasons for your consideration.

1. Jesus’ Baptism Was an Affirmation of John’s Ministry In joining the masses and coming to the Jordan to be baptized, Jesus was saying, “Even though John knows he’s a sinner, even though John is aware of his inadequacies, I approve of his service for Me. And his message of repentance is a valid one.” When Jesus began His public preaching, repentance was His message as well. In coming to the Jordan, Jesus was affirming John’s ministryboth the man and the message.
2. Jesus’ Baptism Is an Identification with Us Personally He who knew no sin took our sin, died for us, and identifies with us in baptism. Jesus was immersed, and so are we. Consequently, there is an identification and a bonding.
3. Jesus’ Baptism Was a Declaration to His Father Prophetically In submission to the Father’s plan, Jesus came to die. Romans 6 teaches that baptism is a picture of death and burial. In baptism, Jesus was saying, “I know I have come to die. And, Father, I am submitted to that plan of death and burial.” But because baptism doesn’t end in the water, because He was pulled out again, which speaks of resurrection, Jesus also declared this to His Father, “Yes, I am submitted to Your planI will die. But I will also rise again through Your power.”
4. Jesus’ Baptism Is an Illustration of the Trinity After Jesus came out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard from the heavens. The baptism of Jesus was an affirmation of John’s ministry, an identification with us personally, a declaration to the Father prophetically, and an illustration of the Trinity practically. When I read of Jesus’ baptism, my mind goes back about twenty-three hundred years earlier to the story of a man whose name means “Comforter.” You know him by the name of Noah. Noah was surrounded by a world that was corrupt and defiled. But Scripture tells us that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And God told Noah, “I’m going to drown this corrupt, wicked world. I’m going to be merciful.” Merciful? Yes. In sending the Flood, God was doing quickly and mercifully what man was doing slowly and painfully. Noah’s society, immersed in the occult and caught up in perversion, was destroying itself. So God sent the Flood. For forty days it rained, and the world was drowned. At the end of forty days, the rain stopped, and Noah let out a raven and a dove. The raven, a scavenger, had plenty to pick on. Carcasses were everywhere, so the raven didn’t come back. But the dove, a bird of purity, circled, and finding no place to set her foot, came back and landed on Noah. The picture is incredible to me. A man called Comfort, surrounded by water, in which the polluted world has been drowned, and the dove comes upon him. Could this have registered in the minds of those who observed the baptism of Jesus? It certainly does for me, and through it, I understand something of the significance of baptisma dying to the world around us and a resurrection to newness of life as Paul declared in Rom_6:4. I am not stretching the analogy, because in 1Pe_3:21, Peter writes that Noah and the Flood are a picture of baptism. But waitthere was another man who was submerged in water, baptized radically, whose name literally means “dove.” You know him by his more familiar name of Jonah. Jonah was rebelling against the Lord when he went through a most interesting baptism. He wasn’t only immersed in water. He was thrown in! For three days, he was at the bottom of the sea in the belly of a great fish, where he was broken as he cried out to God and repented from his sin. And suddenly, he was resurrected as the whale had the “urge to re-gurge” him on the beach at Assyria. Jonah’s baptism was not a drowning of the world around him. It was a drowning of the rebellion and selfishness within him. Jonah had his own agenda, but through his baptism, he surrendered it. That’s also what baptism is about. Not only are you dying to the world that surrounds you, but to the selfishness within you. Baptism says, “Lord, I will go wherever You lead. Do whatever You desire. Whatever that might mean, I trust You. You are my God and my King.” You might be saying, “This is all very fine theoretically. But I was baptized six months ago, or six years ago, or sixty years ago, and I have failed miserably.” So did Noah. After emerging from the ark, Noah got drunk and exposed himself in a manner that caused a problem in his sons felt to this day. The sinfulness that should have been eradicated from Noah’s world resurfaced when he was drunk in his tent. What about Jonah? Jonah preached, and the greatest revival in history took place as the entire city of Ninevah turned to the Lord. Yet what did Jonah do? He went up on a hillside and pouted, angry because four hundred thousand Ninevites got saved. He failed miserably because the selfishness that should have been drowned in the belly of the whale re-emerged. During Noah’s baptism, it rained for forty days. After Jonah’s baptism, he emerged and preached, “forty days until Ninevah is destroyed.” Following Jesus’ baptism, He was led into the wilderness for forty days. Although all three had times of trial, only One emerged victorious. Only One made it successfully. Only One was baptized and moved on to total and complete victory. Was it Jonah, the great prophet? No. Noah, the man of faith? No. Only Jesus. Jesus, in His forty-day temptation, overcame Satan. He didn’t fail. And because of His victory, baptism not only says, “I am dying to the sin around me, and I am dying to the sin within me,” but most importantly, it says, “I believe in the One who died for me.” You see, gang, when you are baptized, it doesn’t mean you are going to be perfect from that point on. It means you acknowledge that you are perfectly forgiven and perfectly loved, that Jesus Christ paid the price for every sin you ever have done, are doing, or will ever do. The One who was baptized and was victorious through those forty days of trial and testing is now living in you. Thus Paul writes, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.Gal_2:20 That’s the gospelJesus Christ victorious, living in me. I don’t know when you were baptized, but I encourage you to reaffirm your baptism in your own heart. Be like Noah. Watch the world drown, and rise above it. Be like Jonah. Die to your selfishness, and walk in newness of life. And if you have failed like Noah did, like Jonah did, like we all have, know this: Jesus is your Victory. He who knew no sin became sin for you. You are perfectly forgiven. Enjoy your salvation, and live to that calling.