Matthew #5

John the Baptist

John’s message of repentance – , ,

John’s message of repentance – , ,

1. – Because Matthew’s primary goal was to present Jesus as King, he didn’t need to date John the Baptizer’s ministry as precisely as Luke did. Matthew’s Jewish audience already knew the information.

2. – John functioned as the King’s herald (forerunner), proclaiming the coming of the King Jesus Christ

a) – John heralded an event, the coming of the Kingdom of heaven.

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b) The Greek word METANOEO (repent) means to change and indicates the mental attitude change needed to prepare the way for the coming of the King.

1) Repentance involves a change of thinking; thus, John the Baptizer called for a change of thinking about the Kingdom of Heaven, which was at hand.

2) The Hebrew word SHUV, meaning return, was used in a similar way to indicate a fresh orientation in attitude or belief or a total shift in perspective.

3) – God’s curses (punishments) for Israel’s disobedience included removing them from the Promised Land.

4) – Neither the restoration of blessings nor the Kingdom of Heaven could come until Israel changed its mind about worthless things and turned in faith to God (the result of repentance).

5) – John’s baptism of repentance was an outward sign of identification with his message, showing that the baptized person had changed his thoughts about God’s Kingdom. No one has ever been saved through baptism.

(a) John the Baptist’s message of repentance involved a change from trusting in one’s own merit before God to trusting in Messiah for forgiveness of sins.

(b) John the Baptist’s message of repentance involved a change of mind from trusting in one’s own righteousness to trusting in the perfect righteousness of God's salvation in the person of Jesus, the Messiah.

c) – The Pharisees taught the Israelites about the coming Messiah and His literal, earthly Kingdom; however, they thought He would be a political leader who would free them from Rome. , ,

d) – Every aspect of this scene was Jewish because Matthew’s audience was Jewish.

1) John the Baptist was the Jewish forerunner of the Jewish Messiah with the Jewish message about the establishment of the Jewish Kingdom.

2) The Kingdom was popularly known in Israel as the Kingdom of the Heavens.

3) Jesus made a full and free offer of Himself to Israel as Messiah, King of the Kingdom of the Heavens. If all Israel had accepted Him as Messiah, the kingdom would have begun on earth at that moment. Instead, the kingdom won't come until the Millennium.

4) The nation of Israel’s lack of repentance (their change of mental attitude concerning their true spiritual poverty, their self-righteousness, their dead religious activities, and their need of a Savior) prevented the coming of the Kingdom of the Heavens announced by John the Baptist.

3. – All four Gospel writers linked John’s ministry to .

4. – John the Baptist’s strange dress and diet were visible signs of his separation from the false religion of Judaism. He challenged Israel to change its mind from trusting in worthless religious activity to believing in the Messiah.

5. – Many throughout the land of Israel came to hear John the Baptizer and later identified with his message of the Messiah through baptism.

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C. John the Baptist and the religious leaders – , ,

1. – John the Baptist’s message attracted many curious people, including Israel’s religious leaders.

a) – John recognized that the religious leaders had rejected God’s message. He called them vipers because they were poisoning Israel with their lies.

b) – John the Baptizer sarcastically asked who had warned them to escape God’s wrath since they thought they were acceptable to God (i.e. not under His wrath) merely because they were Abraham’s genetic descendants.

2. – John challenged the Pharisees, saying, “Being Abraham’s descendants does not make you right with God. If you have changed your minds about God, prove it by your works.”

3. –John rebuked these Jewish religious leaders for teaching the Israelites that their genetic relationship to Abraham made them acceptable to God.

a) – The Israelites believed that merely being descendants of Abraham guaranteed they would be part of God’s eternal Kingdom.

b) – John sarcastically indicated that being children of Abraham had no saving merit. He said that God could give stones a genealogical heritage to Abraham, but they still wouldn’t be saved.

4. – John the Baptizer explained that divine judgment must precede the establishment of the Kingdom. ,

5. – In humility, John, who had a large following, acknowledged that Messiah’s ministry was much greater than his own ministry.

a) – John’s ministry involved baptizing (dipping) people in water. Baptism is a transliteration of the Greek word BAPTIZMO, meaning identification.

b) – The sign of Messiah’s ministry would also include baptism: the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the future baptism with fire prophesied in the Old Testament. ,

c) – The baptism of fire is the judgment that will purify the earth so that the Kingdom of heaven can begin with believers only. ,