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1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.'" 4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. ~ Matthew 3:1-6
Today, we transition into Matthew 3 where the fast forward button has been pushed and now we find ourselves witnessing the coming of the long awaited messenger of the Lord, John the Baptist. At the end of the previous chapter we learned that the Lord Jesus grew up in the Galilean city of Nazareth. According to Luke's gospel, John the Baptist was the cousin of the Lord Jesus. He was also the hinge between the Old Testament and the New, between the story of Israel and the story of the Lord Jesus Christ who came to enact the New Covenant.
In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!'"
The events in this chapter happened some years after the death of Herod the Great. It was at that time that John the Baptist came as the herald of the coming Messiah. The name John is a contraction of two Hebrew words meaning "The LORD has been gracious." John came "proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea" a message of repentance from trying to make it through this life apart from God. John also came heralding the coming of the Messiah.
John introduced the concept of "repentance" which literally means "to exercise the mind to the point of observing and comprehending." Thus, repentance means "a change of mind." John's message of "repentance" signified a mental assertion that the thought process of the people had been incorrect and needed a change in the opposite direction. The emphasis in all of John's messages was on a change of mind.
While many believe repentance is to feel sorry for sin, a more accurate understanding of this word is that we come to the end of depending on ourselves to get life right. Many, incorrectly use the word repentance in a manner that is synonymous with removing sin from our life. The concept of repentance has been so misapplied that it no longer means to reconsider but to repair through action, something that is impossible for sinful man. The problem with this is that it makes the idea of repentance one of "fixing our life of sin before God will accept us." This is not the biblical understanding of salvation. The process of salvation is to hear the word, believe it and through reconsideration of who the Lord Jesus is and what He has done, depend upon Him for our salvation.
In v.3 of today's passage we read, "For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.'"
John, the older cousin of the Lord Jesus, was the fulfillment of a prophecy spoken by Isaiah that there would be a forerunner to the Messiah. Understanding that, Matthew next wrote, "A voice of one hollering in the wilderness." John's message of turn from depending upon ourselves to turn to the Messiah whom we depend upon for our salvation was like the rebar of a newly paved street that would last on into eternity and beyond.
Repentance is not a work we do to earn God's salvation. No one can repent and come to God for salvation unless God pulls that person to Himself. Repentance is something God gives and it is only possible because of His grace. No one can repent unless God grants repentance. All of salvation, including repentance and faith, is a result of God drawing us, opening our eyes, and changing our hearts. It is God’s patience and kindness that leads us to repentance.
In v.4-6 of today's passage we read, "4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins."
John’s appearance and his food are equated here with his ministry. He came in the form of Elijah as a forerunner of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. John came preparing the way for the messianic ministry of the Lord. His words were words of coming judgment. Everything about how John is described is given to show us hints of what has already been learned from a full study of the Old Testament.
The people of Jerusalem, despite having all of the religious leaders in that area, were spiritually bankrupt and hungry and wanted to know God. It was evident to the people who heard John's message that he spoke on the behalf of the Lord. Thus they believed and evidenced that belief by being baptized in the Jordan River for all to see. The New Testament order is always "believe and be baptized." It is not the means by which we are made right before God, baptism is God's way of having us proclaim to all others that we have by believing in His Son become right with Him.
This is the first time the word "baptized" is used in the New Testament. It is a transliteration of the Greek word meaning "to submerge." Baptism signifies full immersion. John was immersing the people "in the Jordan River" who had come to repent of their sin and were crying out to God. The word Jordan means "death" which is what sin delivers to us. John symbolically prepared the people for the coming of their Messiah by submerging them in the waters of death.
Baptism is merely an "object lesson" of how our sins were washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Both archeology and church history testify that immersion was the mode of baptism used in the early church. The symbolism is best pictured by immersion. According to Romans 6:3-4, it pictures the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, baptism also pictures the believer's identification with the Lord Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Our baptism announces that the old us has passed away, behold, the new us has been raised to eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
