Baptism of Repentance (Matthew 3)

Introduction

Make way for Prince Ali…

This morning we continue our study through the gospel according to Matthew. We have made our way through the first two chapters of our study so far, and so far we have been given a mere introduction to who Jesus is and the coming about of his birth and the preserving of his life being taken. So far, Matthew’s gospel account has been intro in telling of his birth and its happenings. And still, an important intro at that. For even in the intro to his gospel account, recall what we have learned about Jesus: he is the son of David, the son of Abraham, therefore bringing fulfillment to the promises that God had previously made to both. Jesus is the one who it was long foretold was born of a virgin. He is the one who has come to take away the sins of his people. He is the one who fulfills the promises of old, and he is one who identifies with the lowly in being called a Nazarene.

But from the beginning of Matthew 2 to the start of Matthew 3, nearly 30 years has passed by. Jesus’ childhood is not at all mentioned by Matthew outside his exodus years and the re-entering into Galilee, and only one other account is mentioned by Luke at the end of Luke 2.

And now, the ministry of Jesus prepares to take center stage, but before that can take place, the way of the King must be prepared. And that is where we turn our attention to this morning in Matthew 3. Therefore I invite you to take a Bible and turn there now. If you do not have your own copy, you can use the Red Pew Bible in the seat in front of you. And you can find the passage on page #960. Matthew 3, on page #960.

And as we come now to the reading of God’s word, I’d like to invite you to stand. This is the word of the LORD from Matthew 3…

Main Idea:

Jesus alone fulfills all righteousness; therefore, if we are to enter his kingdom, we must turn from our sin in repentance.

Points:

1. The message of repentance (Matt 3:1-6)

2. The fruit of repentance (Matt 3:7-12)

3. The fulfilling of righteousness (Matt 3:13-17)

Point #1: The Message of Repentance (Mathew 3:1-6)

Repentance is one of those phrases that we are tempted to not like to talk about or think about very often. And yet, the message of repentance is central to not only the message that John preaches in the wilderness of Judea, but the whole of Christianity.

In fact, the message is so vital, that in order to make way for the King, John goes out to preach this message.

Verse 1…

John the Baptist is a unique prophet. We know from his introduction in Luke 1 that he is born to Elizabeth and Zechariah. That John the Baptist is the cousin of Jesus. That he leapt in the womb in hearing Mary, the mother of Jesus’ voice.

And yet further identifiers about John are presented here in Matthew 3. We read this of John the Baptist in verse 4…

This description is to point us back to another place in Scripture, 2 Kings 1:8 “8 They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.””

Matthew in writing here intends for his audience, both original and now to pick up on this parallel between John the Baptist and Elijah. For it is an important one. We are to see and to understand that John the Baptist is Elijah who was to come. Jesus later verifies this in Matthew 11:14 “14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.”

So John the Baptist is a unique prophet, the relative of Jesus, the returned Elijah, and even more so, has a unique ministry where he is called the Baptist or the Baptizer in the wilderness, that is the remoteness of Judea by the Jordan River.

John the Baptist does not baptize in the pools in the temple, nor in Jerusalem, but in the remote and desolate wilderness of Judea. He has gone outside the camp to cleanse the people so that they may draw near to God.

For it is this very message that John the Baptist has come to declare, a message to prepare the people for the coming of the kingdom of heaven so that they may enter. Verses 2-3…

John the Baptist comes, along with others before, as one to prepare the way of the coming King, King Jesus. John here is tied to the prophecy from Isaiah 40:3 “3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Before we consider the message of repentance that John preached in preparation, we must first consider the grounds of this preparation.

The for clause there gives us a clue that this call to repentance is for a particular purpose. It is for the purpose that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That is it is near, it is close, it is within the grasp of one’s hands.

A kingdom not like that of Camelot or Agrabah, or that of old. A kingdom that is defined as God’s rule on earth.

Now, before objections can rise, God is sovereign over every detail, even in the midst of the fall. He is over every event in human history. For when Joseph was sold to the Egyptians by his brothers, Joseph declared what they intended for evil, the LORD for good.

God’s rule has always then been present. But what is meant here in saying that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, that God’s rule is near is that his rule in the heart of his people. A people who have previously rejected him.

For though Israel was God’s covenant people, they had rejected him as king. They had refused to walk under his rule and in his ways. And therefore they had been in exile and then returned, but now they had strayed again.

And so, the way must be prepared for that rule to come, to come upon a people. A rule over their hearts and minds, for them to be renewed. It is with this preparation, this coming kingdom then that John makes way for the King. He makes way for the King by preaching a message of repentance, calling, teaching, commanding that the people must repent with the kingdom of heaven at hand!

What is meant to repent? I think Daniel Doriani gives us a helpful definition for repentance. He writes:

Matthew, Volumes 1 & 2 (The Prophetic Mission of John)

Most fundamentally, to repent is to return to God, to his covenant, to loyalty and obedience.

The message of repentance is a call, a warning for the people to return to God, to come once more under his rule as loyal and obedient children. To turn away from their rejection of his rule.

This is the needed message for the people of Israel if they are to be ready for God’s coming kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. They must turn away from their desires to hold to their man made tradition and desire to be their own kings and submit to the true king, God himself.

It is this message of repentance that John the Baptist has come out of the camp to preach, because the people themselves currently were outside the camp. And yet, in this message of repentance is God’s gracious invitation for them to turn back and be welcomed. And so, as John preaches this message, the crowds come. Verse 5…

And as all of Jerusalem and all Judea and all the surrounding region of the Jordan River came, as they heard the proclamation of God’s word they were struck at the heart through the preaching of the word, and they were being baptized as they confessed their sins. The two go hand in hand.

Confession of sins is at the heart of repentance. For to repent, we must acknowledge our guilt, our rebellion and rejection of God as King. Our breaking of his good law. And in so doing, we are changing our allegiance from being in sin to God. And the ordinance of baptism then is a symbol of these things.

By God’s grace at the end of our time this morning, we are going to be celebrating a baptism. And as I immerse our sister this morning, you will hear me say, “Buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in the newness of life.”

And this is what was happening at the Jordan River through the preaching ministry of John the Baptist, as he preached a message of repentance, as people heard, they were struck and coming to confess their sins and be baptized.

Friends, it is this ongoing message though that we must continually hear and preach today. A message of repentance.

Because it is not just Israel who has rejected God’s rule as King. This rebellion was in each and everyone of our hearts since our conception. David wrote in Psalm 51, I was conceived in sin.

Consider the smallest one here, it doesn’t take long to see that sinful nature come out in their little hearts. There desires to be right and to rule themselves, determining and justifying what is right and wrong in their own eyes.

We all have fallen short of the glory of God. We have broken God’s law and been given over to idols, worshiping other gods, telling lies, even little white lies. We have been guilty of murder, at least in our own hearts of hating fellow image bearers of God. We have broken God’s law in desiring what others have, that is coveting. We have committed adultery, even the lust of our hearts is described as this.

We have all stood as enemies of God, shaking our fists against him as King, rejecting his rule. Therefore if we are to draw near and be invited into the kingdom of heaven that is drawing near in Jesus, the one who has come to take away our sins, then we must repent. We must turn back to God’s rule and come humbly and joyfully under it.

Friend, if you are here this morning, and you have never confessed your sins, you have never turned from those sins, here is the good news for you. In God’s kindness to you, he has put you here this morning in this place so that you can hear about the kingdom of heaven and its drawing near. In fact it is not just drawing near, it is advancing now as people repent and come to Jesus. And for you, in hearing this message of repentance today, God is graciously inviting you to turn back to him and enter into his camp, his kingdom. Friend, today is the day of salvation. Repent and believe! Believe this gospel that John Calvin rightly sums up:

Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew 3:1–6; Mark 1:1–6; Luke 3:1–6

The sum of the Gospel is, that God, through his Son, takes away our sins, and admits us to fellowship with him, that we, “denying ourselves” and our own nature, may “live soberly, righteously, and godly,” and thus may exercise ourselves on earth in meditating on the heavenly life.

Friends, let us deny ourselves and turn from our sin back to God this morning! You who have yet to believe, and for us as Christians, we must see that this is not a one time event. The call to repentance is a call to keep in bearing fruit in that repentance.

Point #2: The Fruit of Repentance (Matthew 3:7-12)

Verse 7…

The Pharisees and Sadducees are two different groups of Jewish leaders. And they are major opponents against Jesus and his ministry. They were known for their hypocrisy and seeking accolades from men for their appearing religious.

So in John seeing them come out to see his baptism, John knows they are likely there to judge his ministry. And so, he calls them out for what they are here in verse 7. He calls them offspring of vipers, of snakes. Essentially here, he is saying they are seeds of the great serpent, Satan himself. John’s judgment goes further in that he asks them who has warned them to flee from the wrath to come.

The judgment may seem harsh for some, and yet it is important that a warning be given while there is still time for the imposters and hypocrites. One pastor from the 1700’s , Charles Simeon, writes:

When a profession of religion has become fashionable, as it were, and common, it is necessary for ministers to be doubly careful that they do not sanction, much less promote, the delusions of hypocrites or imposters. As such seasons, peculiar faithfulness and discrimination will be wanted, that the upright may not be discountenanced, nor the vain pretenders to piety be encouraged. (2)

John the Baptist labors to make plain that there is a difference between those who are genuinely repentant and those who are imposters. Verse 8…

Imposters will not bear fruit in keeping with repentance. They will have no sign of change in their lives. For these religious leaders, this means they may wear robes with many tassels at the bottom of these robes. They may be thought of as the teachers in Israel, as the religious leaders. Yet, without bearing good fruit and keeping with repentance, they are imposters.

And before they could object, which John anticipates, he gives them a further warning, verse 9…

One’s pedigree and upbringing are not what saves. John goes so far to make plain that God could turn stones into sons of Abraham. Friends, let this be made plain for us.

To apply it for us today, this would mean that for us, in matters not if we were raised in the church, raised by Christian parents. It matters not if we have even gone through the religious motions of praying a prayer, asking Jesus into our hearts, and even going through the waters of baptism. Nor does it matter if one was even added onto a church role as a member previously, if one does not bear fruit in keeping with repentance, one does not enter the kingdom of heaven. For they have not repented and they are not saved.

Charles Spurgeon writes:

Let none of us, because we are orthodox, or exceedingly scriptural in our religious observances, dream that we must therefore be in the favor of God and that we are under no necessity to repent. God can do without us, but we cannot do without repentance and the works that prove it true.

Repentance and bearing fruit in keeping with repentance is the mark of one who has entered the kingdom of heaven, who has turned from allegiance to sin to allegiance to God.

To bear fruit in keeping with repentance means that we are constantly repenting, that there are signs of change and transformation in the renewing of our minds, of our actions. Even if they are small steps of progress.

The call to keeping with repentance is not a call to perfection, but it is a call to progress, it is a call to visible and tangible growth in Christ-likeness. And it is to be visible not to just one’s self, but to others.

And without this good fruit of repentance working out in you, hear this warning. Verse 10…

The axe is already laid at the root to chop down the fruitless and cast them into the fire. This is not John the Baptist who will do this, it is not us as ministers today who will do this, but King Jesus himself. Verse 11…

John is a servant, a servant not even worthy enough to carry the sandals of Jesus or to loosen the straps of them. It is Jesus who comes and baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. And it is Jesus who will then chop down the fruitless and cast them into the fire. Verse 12…

Jesus stands ready to gather the wheat, all of those who repent and bear good fruit in repentance into his barn, his kingdom. He stands ready to baptize his people with the Holy Spirit. Enabling them to continue to bear fruit and to be at work in them. And those who are his, through the power of the Holy Spirit will bear fruit in keeping with repentance, for this is the visible sign that they have truly repantented from their sin.

But those who have no fruit, they will be cast into the fire, a fire that is unquenchable and never stop burning.

And friends, let us not misconstrue in our minds this fact. For yes it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that saves us. It is not our works of repentance and the fruit it bears that saves.

And yet, the grace that is powerful enough to produce faith and to save is also the grace that is powerful enough to transform us in bearing good fruit. Grace sufficient enough to save and not transform is a cheap imposter of God’s amazing grace!

Therefore, be warned imposters, hypocrites who sit here going through religous motions and duties, thinking it earn you favor. Apart from repentance, you will never inherit God’s kingdom. Let those who have ears, hear.

But for those who might be sensitive to the Spirit and easily feel guilty in hearing this and doubt. Before you doubt, grab a faithful and mature believer who knows you and allow them to encourage you by the fruit they see in your lives before you run to doubt. Look back at all the ways that God has been bearing fruit in slow ways of speaking more lovingly and gently to others, of growing in your hatred of sin and love of God. Of how repentance has been bearing fruit in you in greater self-denial and more giving of self to serve others. Be encouraged by these tangible fruits of repentance!

Point #3: The Fulfilling of Righteousness (Matthew 3:13-17)

Verses 13-14…

As all of Jerusalem and all Judea were coming to John the Baptist to hear him preach and as they confessed sins they were baptized, so now Jesus comes. And Jesus seeks to be baptized by John the Baptist as well.

John though rightly acknowledges, who am I to you, Jesus? For John has already stated back up in verse 11, he isn’t even worthy enough to carry, to loosen the sandals of Jesus as his servant. And yet, Jesus seeks to be baptized by him? No wonder John prevented Jesus from baptizing him.

Verse 15…

Jesus shows John and us why he must be baptized by John. It was to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus comes to fulfill all righteousness in identifying with Israel.

One commentator points out that Jesus here is like Daniel in exile. Daniel though he was one righteous and not one who had been responsible in leading Israel into exile still identified with Israel in praying corporate prayers of confession.

And so, like Daniel, Jesus here is publicly identifying with Israel in their sin and being baptized in identifying with them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is an encouragement for us as the body of Christ to pray together in corporately confessing our sins. Confessing our short-comings as a whole. For if our savior was not above this, why should we? We together should confess where we fail in obedience to the Savior, where we have allowed sin to enter our midst, asking God to remove it. Let us put this to practice, Land O’ Lakes Bible Church.

But there is more to this fulfilling all righteousness. Charles Spurgeon writes here:

Baptism was becoming even in our Lord, who needed no personal purification, for he was the head over all things to his church, and it was becoming that he should be as members should be. Baptism beautifully sets forth our Lord’s immersion in suffering, his burial, and his resurrection. Thus typically it fulfills “all righteousness”.

In Jesus identifying with Israel, he shows that he is the one who will take on their sin as he takes up his cross and lays down his life in order to rescue sinners from their guilt. O what a Savior we have in Jesus, that he is willing to bear our sins.

And this is where we can find our great comfort that if we are willing to repent of our sins and come to Jesus, that we stand ready for God’s kingdom. Verses 16-17…

Upon his obedience to baptism, the heavens part, the spirit descends and remains on Jesus, and the Father speaks from the heavens above. He speaks in declaring Jesus is his beloved Son! Affirming what we have already learned in Matthew that Jesus is God with us, our Immanuel. God the Father makes plain that Jesus is God the Son!

But not only does God affirm that Jesus is his beloved Son, it is the Son in whom he is well pleased. Jesus who comes to fulfill all righteousness, who obeys the Father and submits to the Father at every turn, God the Father is well pleased in him.

This statement by God the Father about God the Son is to point us back to the promise of God from Isaiah.

Isaiah 42:1 ESV

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.

How, how will he bring justice to the nations? By him becoming the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. The one who was pierced for our transgressions. He who was smitten, stricken, and afflicted. He who was a man of sorrows on our behalf. This is the Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased in.

And it is this Suffering Servant who was obedient to the point of death on a cross who has now been given a name above every name in heaven. And whom we are called to bow down in allegiance. Either now in repentance or later when it is to late. This is what we read of in Philippians 2:5-11.

Friends, will we behold the righteous and well pleasing Son and see that he alone is fit to enter God’s kingdom, yet he has made a way for us to enter in, if we will but acknowledge our sin and guilt and turn from allegiance to it and put it in him.

Let us then be a people who continually seek to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Let’s pray…

Footnotes

1. Doriani, Daniel M., Hans F. Bayer, and Thomas R. Schreiner. Matthew–Luke. Edited by Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar. Vol. VIII. ESV Expository Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021. 68.

2. Simeon, Charles. ESV Church History Study Bible. Edited by Stephen J. Nichols, Gerald Bray, and Keith Mathison. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023. 1417.

3. Spurgeon, Charles. ESV Church History Study Bible. Edited by Stephen J. Nichols, Gerald Bray, and Keith Mathison. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023. 1417-1418.