Prepare the Way for the King
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Intro:
Intro:
good evening so glad to be here with you tonight to dig into God’s word with you. If you have your bibles, turn with me to the book of Matthew 3.
would you join me in prayer.
if you remember, we have been walking through this book looking at how Matthew would be setting the stage for the coming King. Remember this was Matthew’s main focus as he writes this, to show that Jesus was the promised Messiah , the coming King.
He started in Chp. 1 by going into details with the genealogy of Jesus. Proving that Jesus was of the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He was from the tribe of Judah, from the line of David. Jesus would check off all the boxes when it came to being born of the right lineage to be the promised Messiah.
Matthew then moves on to look at the announcement and the birth of Jesus. As we have mentioned before, Matthew does not go into great details of the announcement and the birth of Jesus as Luke does. In chp 2 we walked through the story of the wisemen coming from the east to meet the new born King.
we saw Herod become troubled by the news of a new born king and would move to have the babies who were of 2 years or younger be killed in Bethlehem. This would lead Joseph, Mary and their young child to flee to Egypt unit the death of Harod.
after the death of Harod, through the direction of an angel through a couple of dreams, they would go from Egypt to the area of Galilee and stayed in the city called Nazareth.
Transition
now from chapter 2 to chapter 3 there is a gap of 25-30 years.
we are not given much about the childhood of Jesus other than an incident at the temple when Jesus was 12 years ( Luke 2:41-50). All we know about Jesus in those silent years is what we have in Luke 2:5152
Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
now we to chapter 3 and we are introduced to John the Baptist the cousin of Jesus. John was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth. We have their story given to us in the gospel of Luke. We are told that they were advanced in age and were not able to have children.
the Lord would meet Zacharias in Luke 1 as he was serving in the temple. An angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him that Elizabeth would have a child.
- This child that Elizabeth would have would be a vessel in the hands of God and would be used to turn the hearts of men to the Lord . The angel would say this about him
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
- Now Zacharias would have disbelief in his heart of the news because they were advanced in age (LK. 1:20) , because of that doubt he would not be able to speak until after the birth of his son John.
- now when God opened his mouth after the birth of John, he would begin to prophecy.He would speak about how God would bring salvation to His people through the birth of Jesus, he would also prophecy about the his son John, who would go before the Lord, before the Messiah, to bring knowledge of salvation to the people by the remission of sins. He would say this about his son.
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
Transition
it is interesting to note that what Zacharias is saying is in line with what God had spoken of 400 years earlier in Mal. 3. 400 years earlier God would speak through the prophet to declare what God was going to do.
“Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
This would be one of the last times God would speak to His people for 400 years. There is a silence from the book of Malachi until God speaks to Zacharias , it is the first time in 400 years God is now speaking to His people, and the message is the same as when He last spoke, it is concerning the forerunner who would come before the Messiah to prepare the way.
I. The Description of the Forerunner (v. 1-4)
A. The Prophesied Forerunner (v. 1-3)
The Message of the Forefunner (v.1-2)
we get introduced here to John the baptist. We are told that he is preaching in the wilderness of Judea. And we are told what the message he was preaching was.
John’s Message
A Message of Repentance
that word repent speaks of having a change of mind, which causes a change of direction.
- The call to repentance gives us insight that the Nation of Israel and surrounding nations were not on the right path as they are called to turn from. They were charged to turn from there current path.
now John’s message was also of the coming kingdom.
. Interesting that repent is the first words used in John’s ministry; this would also be the first words of Jesus’ ministry
From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
2. A message of the coming King
the reason John is urging people to turn from their current path is because the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Matthew would use this term 32 times in this gospel.
- That word Kingdom in the Greek has two related meanings. On the one hand, it can mean “territory ruled by a king”. Speaks of geography, the area over which the king exercises authority.
- On the other hand , it can mean the “act of ruling”, The focuses here is on power, the power which the king exercises.
what John is preaching here is the need to repent because there is a king coming who longs to rule over the hearts of men. The people were to repent or remove the things that were currently sitting on the throne of their hearts and to make room for the one true king.
2. The Role of the Forerunner (v.3)
- This is a reminder that Matt. Is trying to link the old testament prophecies of the Messiah, with Jesus, and He being a fulfillment of those things. Here Matt. Is telling us that even the one who would prepare the way for the messiah was a fulfilment of prophecy.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
- this prophecy in Isaiah: 40:3-5 is written in a time when the nation of Israel was about to completely be taken into captivity by the Babylonians. The prophet Isaiah looked forward to a time when God would deliver the people out of their bondage , out of the bondage of the Babylonians more than 100 years from the time he wrote this.
- But this spoke much more than just the deliverance of Israel from the Bablyonians, this spoke of more than 700 years in the future of Jesus being the one who would come to bring complete deliverance from the bondage of sin and of the man who would prepare the the way.
- John would be the man God would use to prepare the hearts of the people to receive the salvation provide.
Transition
- Now this passage is a picture of a king coming to a city in ancient times. Where the people would move to make the roads ready and straight in order for the king to enter the City. Preparation was needed.
- To make what was crooked, straight. To remove any obstacles in the way. This was the role of the forerunner. He was not here to preparing roads for the king, but he was preparing hearts for the one true king.
- See the Nation of Israel was in need of having their hearts softened and prepared to receive the messiah and king. Their hearts were currently hardened by their own sense of religion and their own attempts to please God by keeping of the Law.
Personal Insight
- interesting that as you study and look at this it is obvious that John was a man who had a proper and clear view of God which lead to having a proper view of himself. He was a humble man as we will look at.
- The very message he would preach was one of repentance. To turn away from the current path , to remove any obstacles in the way, to remove the things that have made it difficult to see God clearly, and to turn to Him. To surrender the throne of their hearts.
- Often times it is the very thing that has become an obstacle in my life, that keeps me from seeing God clearly. Often the thing that becomes the priority in my life, will be the thing that sits on the throne of my heart.
- Our king is looking to sit on the throne of our hearts. And just as John would call for a message of repentance to the Jews , we need to have a daily examination of our lives and to remove any obstacles that would keep God from sitting on the throne of my heart.
- we often think of repentance as what is needed for the non christian. And this is absolutely right. Yet I am reminded of God’s message to the 7 churches in the book of revelation. And Jesus’ charge for those churches to repent who had lost their first love, who had grown luke warm, who had compromised, who had allowed the influences of the world to affect them. There was a need to turn from their current path and to make straight what was crooked.
B. John fulfilling that Role (v.4-6)
- We are given insight into the person of John the Baptist. We see that he was clothed in camels hair which was held together by a leather belt. He had a diet of locust and wild honey.
- We see here that those in Jerusalem, all of Judea and the region around the Jordan came out to hear what John was preaching. In Lk. 3 we are told that John went into all the region around the Jordan. It is possible that because he went in to all the areas they heard the word of God, and as a result they came out to be baptized in the Jordan.
while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,
- we see that the people heard the word of God at some point, they heard the message and call to repent or calling for a change of heart towards God, they were convicted by the Holy spirit, we see them confess their sins, then they make a public proclamation of their faith in the baptism.
John baptized with water.
- The washing of water was symbolic of the washing away of their sins which they just confessed.
understand that water baptism was not something that would be foreign to them. The Jews understood the full immersion water baptism. A gentile who was converting to Judaism would be water baptized as part of the cleansing ritual.
the parallel that they would have understood here was that their sins were just as great as the gentiles and they were also in need of being cleansed of these sins.
II. The Warning to those Religious Leaders (v. 7-12)
A. The warning of false Security (v. 7-10)
We see here that these 2 two different religious groups come to see what is happening in the wilderness. We have the Pharisees who would be considered the conservatives , they worked hard to keep the law. So much so that they made additional laws to help keep God’s law. We have the Sadducees who were more of the liberals. These groups were normally divided, but here you see them come together to see what is happening.
When john sees them he cries out, “broods of vipers”, . he is literally calling them offspring of Satan, deceivers. Who warned you to flee of the warning the judgement to come?
John understands that these religious leaders were not coming because they were convicted or because they wanted to repent, but rather to questions or challenge what John was doing.
Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
these religious did not have a genuine heart to be there.
- So John here asks them who warned them of the wrath of God to come. John gives us insight that God was not pleased with these religious leaders or their heart. And a heart that continued to reject God was sure to face the judgment to come.
Transition (v. 8-10)
- John speaks to these religious leaders in an agriculture context. The nation of Israel is referenced as a tree or a vine throughout the scriptures. They would understand these terms being used here by John.
Nation of Israel Referenced as..
- The vine- Ps.80:8-11
- The Fig Tree-
- The Olive Tree –
- the main concept John is addressing is that there should be a progression that should be taking place in the life of an individual pursuing God.
Progression of Faith
1. The spirit of God convicts us of our sins, which we are lead to confess
2. We are baptized in the spirit (conversion)
3. The Spirit abides or dwells in us so that we begin to bear fruit
- See as the Holy spirit dwells in us , he will conform us and direct us to live a life that pleases God and that is Christ like. We will produce things out of our life that are evident as being good, just like a tree would. Fruit is evidence that the tree is healthy and growing .
Gal. 5 tells us about the fruits of the spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
-Now a life that does not produce things out of his life as evidence of being right with God or who is not living in a way that pleases God , will be evident to all that he is unhealthy and has stopped growing. The illustration of the tree is that this type of tree that is not fruitful will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Judgement.
- we saw this play out with Jesus on his last week on earth. As he would see and curse a fig tree that was full of leaves but had no fruit. Matt 21:18-20
Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”
- see a fig tree produces fruit before it produces leaves. Therefore, if the tree had leaves on it, the assumption is that fruit had been produced. This was the problem with this tree that Jesus cursed, but this was a bigger lesson to His disciples.
- This was a picture of the Nation of Israel who had the appearances of being right with God, but there hearts were not right with Him and this was evident because there were no good fruit being produced from their lives. John is giving the same warning
and this is a great lesson for us as well. God is not interested in simply the appearance of being religious, or looking for us to just do good works. He is looking for a heart that is surrendered to Him, a heart that will be lead by the Spirit, and as a result will naturally respond to life more and more like Christ would
this the fruit of the spirit that is produced in a life that is walking in step with His savior, who is spending time with His Master.
Nearness produces likeness
C.H. Sprugeon
“Nearness to God brings likeness to God. The more you see God, the more of God will be seen in you”.
transition
the picture of where the Nation of Israel was, is found in what John says about Abraham. The Jews assumed they had a right standing with God based on the fact that they came from the line of Abraham. They had a false sense of security based on being Jews.
and so this false sense of security would lead to judgement. Going back to the illustration of the tree that did not produce fruit, he tells us that the tree will be cut down and would be thrown into the fire.
B. Jesus Baptizes with the Holy Spirit (v.11)
Here we see John’s humility. He knew who Jesus was and as a result he knew who he was. He says he is not worthy to even carry the sandals of of Jesus. This would be the role of a low servant. He sees himself as not even worthy to do that.
Later on John would say in John 3:30
He must increase, but I must decrease.
See John had a proper view of Jesus which in turn allowed him to have a right view of himself. This lead to John being a humble man. It lead him to lead a life of worship to God and a life of service to men and God.
Often it is the man who losses sight of God who will have the wrong impression of himself. He will often live a life of worship of self and to the service of self.
His baptism was with water to repentance, the water being a symbol of their sins being washes away, Jesus would come and would baptise in the spirit and with fire. Jesus would be the one who would not only make a way for our sins to be washed, He would also make a way for us to have a relationship with the father and for the Holy spirit to dwell in us.
The fire speaks of the purifying work of the Holy spirit in those who believe in Jesus.
C. The Judgement to come (v.12)
- 6 different times in this verse we see the reference to Jesus being the one who brings forth Judgment.
- John Using the farming illustration of wheat to describe the judgement to come to those who do not repent. The wheat would be gathered with the husk and all. So the farmer would use a fork to throw up the wheat and the wind would blow away the husk leaving only the good wheat to fall to the ground.
- There is a cleaning and removing process of that which is not good, the bad is what is thrown into the fire. The reference is that Jesus will separate that which is not good, those who have not repented and have not surrendered their hearts to God and will be judged.
III. Jesus is Baptized (v. 13-17)
A. Jesus comes to be baptized (v. 13-15)
We see that Jesus comes from Galilee to be baptized by John. We see that John tried to prevent Him from being baptized.
We don’t know how John recognized Him, but he did. He knew that Jesus should be baptizing him not the other way around.
Now the question comes up , why would Jesus need to be baptized, if He had no sin?
The purpose was for Jesus to completely identify Himself with sinful man. This is exactly what He did at His birth, upbringing and death. So here, Jesus stood in the place of sinful man. This was the will of God.
Jesus would say permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all rightesousness. Most believe Jesus is referring to fulfilling God’s will in the establishment of the salvation which he promised.
B. Jesus is Baptized (v. 16-17)
- Jesus is now baptized. When He comes out of the water we see that the heavens opened up to Him and the spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove. Then a voice is also heard coming from heaven saying , this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
. We have the anointing of the Holy Spirit here and the public confirmation of Jesus by God the father in this passage,
Notice with me the Trinity here as we have Jesus baptized, we have the Holy Spirit fall upon Him and we see God the Father speak.
. We see all three at work at the same time ; at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry
I am reminded of these verses.
“I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
both of these passages identify Jesus as the Messiah and the suffering servant. That’s what we are seeing right here as He is baptized , both the promised Messiah and the suffering servant who identifies with sinful man, who will take the place of sinful man.
God the father would say, this is my beloved Son in whom i am well pleased.