Matthew 3

Big Idea: Jesus’ Preparation

Doctrine: Repentance

Attribute: Person

Outline:

I. Intro:

Opening band at a concert before the person you actually came to see comes on

II. Division 1: Prepare the Way (3:1-12)

vs. 1-6: Preparation through Repentance

Who is John the Baptist

Tied to Elijah; prophecy fulfilled

Father, Zechariah was a priest

John’s message:

Kingdom of heaven is coming

Repent

vs. 8-10: Who needs repentance?

vs 7: Brood of Vipers: Pharisees and Sadducees

Pharisees:

Sadducees:

vs. 8-10: Ax at the root of the trees

vs. 11-12: It’s Time

Holy Spirit

Winnowing fork

Main Truth:

Applications:

III. Division 2: Jesus’ Baptism (3:13-17)

vs. 13-15: Why baptize in the first place?

vs. 16-17: Commissioning His Ministry

Main Truth

Applications:

IV. Conclusion

Introduction:

The Bible.

66 books. more than 40 authors, all inspired by the Holy Spirit.

God cared so much about preparing people for Jesus that he gave us the ENTIRE Old Testament- 39 books..which over and over and over again points us to Jesus…our Messiah.

In Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, as soon as sin entered the world God began preparing people for Jesus, promising that he would restore all things- that his kingdom, his reign, his rule was coming and he would make everything right and new again.

the Law God gave his people, pointed to Jesus.......Every prophet in the OT pointed to Jesus…

The very last time that God spoke to His people in the OT, he said these words in Malachi 4:4-6

Malachi 4:4–6 (ESV)

“Remember the law of my servant Moses....

he then says...

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers....

and then....silence…for 400 years...

for 400 years the people of God had been waiting…waiting on the prophet Elijah…and God’s final instructions to them were to

Remember....remember what God had given them. What God had spoken to them. Remember his law and his promises..

Know it. Live it out. and do not forget…why?

Because all that God had spoken pointed to Jesus- to the coming Messiah- and God wanted them to remember..

that brings us to our first section today: Prepare the Way

Division 1: Prepare the Way

So as we start our scripture today we have fast forward about 30 years from where we were last week.

Matthew 3:1–5 (NIV)

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’ ”

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

In Matthew’s account John appears on the scene just as abruptly as Elijah did in the OT...

Elijah was a prophet who we find in the book of 1 and 2 Kings who sort of appears out of no where…and this guy was something else.

Ravens brought him food. Through prayer he raised a boy from the dead. He challenged the prophets of the false god Baal and won, he ran 17 miles while outrunning horses and chariots....He spoke boldly and passionately- challenging kings and calling down fire from heaven to strike down false prophets —and then he was taken up into heaven in a chariot…

Elijah was not someone that you missed. Every Jew new who Elijah was..and they new the final words God had spoken, that Elijah would come back..

Here at the beginning of Matthew chp. 3 we see Matthew making a very intentional connection of John to Elijah..

He points out that John lived in the wilderness..just like Elijah

Matthew gives us a description of John’s clothes which match Elijahs

Matthew is making it clear to his Jewish audience that John was the promised Elijah from Malachi 4:5-6…

In other words Matthew is going—hello- this is it- this is who Malachi was talking about- this is Elijah- he is here. Don’t miss him!

These are Jews— these people knew their Bibles, they knew their scripture…it’s why Matthew references the OT over and over and over in his gospel..

They knew that after Elijah came the Messiah…Matthew wants to make it abundantly clear that Elijah has come and he is very intentional in his wording to make that clear.

So here is John, preaching in the wilderness.

The prophets of the OT frequently talked about the wilderness as a place of new beginnings

God had led his own people in the book of Exodus out of Egypt and into the wilderness…

By drawing people into the wilderness John is communicating that there is a “New Exodus” a “new beginning” about to happen...

See God knows that we are easily distracted- that we get so caught up in what’s going on around us that sometimes, he has to draw us away from it all to get us to listen.

And then, once he has drawn people into the wilderness…he offers them a new beginning, he says in vs 2: “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven has come near”

John is saying…the time has come- God is coming near to his people and you better get ready...

The Kingdom of Heaven is the rule and reign of God over his people

The Kingdom is not the people in the kingdom- the focus is the person ruling the kingdom- the focus is King Jesus

Jesus, the king, has come, as promised, to redeem and deliver people who live in a fallen and broken world- broken through sin..

So in order to get ready for this King- to enter into the Kingdom, a kingdom where all that is broken will be restored...you must first repent...

This brings us to the doctrine of repentance.

in Greek, the word “repentance” means to radically change one’s thinking

while in Hebrew, the closest word in English for “repent” is “to return”

In order for repentance to occur- we have to radically change our thinking about ourselves, our sin, and God.

1st: we must come to a realization that we are not the center of the universe. That everything is not about us. We live in a self-focused, self-centered culture that is constantly telling us that we are the center of everything- it tells us that we at our core- we are good people. Repentance means that we take the focus off of self and shift it to God. We recognize that it is about Him, and not about us.

2nd: We must recognize that OUR sin breaks our relationship with God. Repentance involves heartfelt sorrow over your sin. When we recognize that our sin is the problem- we stop blaming others for our sinful actions. We see ourselves as the problem and not the victim…this puts the responsibility for our sin on us and no one else- we recognize that at our core we are in desperate need of a savior, because our sin leads to death and without help, we cannot change

Repentance involves both inward change and outward change.

We must change our thinking about ourselves and then in turn begin to walk in obedience.

confession is followed by action…confession without action- without change- is not repentance..it’s just empty words.

So that takes us to vs’s 5-6:

People from all over Jerusalem and Judea went to the Jordan river, and here we are told that they confessed their sins and were baptized..

vs 7- The Response:

John’s ministry and reach was not small....This is in a time before social media existed- so the fact that John’s ministry caused that many people to come out into the wilderness shows the power behind what he was preaching says something about the type of influence his words were having on people..they were talking about it! They wanted to find out more.

In fact, he had such a following that in vs. 7, we see the religious leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees, coming to see what all the fuss is about…who is this person people are following?

Now, its important to understand that the Pharisees and Sadducees could not be more different. As we move through Matthew we are going to see them lumped together frequently but typically these groups were on opposite ends of the spectrum. They spent a lot of time fighting over who was going to have control of the nation of Israel

but as we are going to see- they become united on one thing- and that is taking down Jesus...

Pharisees: the pharisees were traditionalists; commited to upholding the Law. They followed a strict interpretation of the law designed to maintain religious purity. So you better believe if they thought someone was teaching something other than the Law to God’s people, they were going to get themselves involved.

Sadducees: these men were more liberal than the pharisees who strictly followed the law. They were part of a religious sect and tended to be pro-Roman. They were wealthy and ran all the temple business...

But these two opposed groups both show up to find out what message this John is preaching that is going to threaten their power and influence within the nation of Israel.

vs 7. starts with an accusation:

John here lumps them both together letting them know that both of them are corrupt- both of them have missed what the scriptures are saying....he does this by calling them —> a Brood of Vipers

John is calling out the religious leadership of the day by comparing them to a Viper- a snake which eats their own mothers!!

He is point out that they are destroying their own people

in vs. 8 John moves from an accusation to a command

stating that they should “produce fruit in keeping with repentance”

John is pointing out here that repentance will result in a changed life. If there is no change, there is no repentance.

in vs. 9 John anticipates their objection

it’s like when you point something out to someone and then before they can answer you say: “I already know what you are going to say.”

I do this frequently with my kids— trying to cover all my basis to reduce the amount of objection coming with whatever command I have just given them....

There was a wrong belief with the Pharisees and Sadduccees that they were saved simply because they were in the direct lineage of Abraham.

John is making it abundantly clear that your origin does not save you.

Being a descendent of Abraham does not save you.

Growing up in a Christian home does not save you.

Knowing all the Bible verses and having all the head knowledge does not save you.

Participating in all the religious traditions and activities does not save you.

Even baptism in and of itself does not save you.

John is not saying these things are bad- in fact, remember, Matthew points out that John eats locusts- a kosher food- John is following the Law God had given while acknowledging that simply adhering to the Law does not result in saving faith.

John is also saying that the Kingdom of God is for anyone who believes. God can save whomever he chooses.

in vs 10-John gives a stern warning to those who think they are saved but have not engaged in repentance...

Here he gives us a visual of an ax cutting down trees that do not produce fruit.

Now, I don’t know how many of you have ever cut down a tree- I will admit I have not, but my in-laws still use a wood stove to heat their home so I have seen how an axe is used to cut down a tree before it is thrown into the fire. At first glance, this explanation doesn’t make sense...

you don’t use an axe to cut down the root of the tree, you use it to cut the trunk near ground level..

Here John is emphasizing that the axe has cut down to the root…the very heart…there is nothing left at that point that is any good so the only thing left to do is throw it in the fire.

This fire is a warning of judgement. John is saying- repent- judgement is coming and those who have not repented will be judged and thrown into the fire.

How will you know you have repented? You will know by your fruit..

But, once you are thrown into the fire- you cannot come back out- judgement is certain.

He is saying “Your works do not save you- your works will never be enough- you need repentance” there is urgency here with Johns message..do it now- before it’s too late.

In vs. 11 we see John make a comparison to His Baptism vs. the coming Messiah...

The purpose of John’s baptism was preparation for the Messiah...

This is different than believers baptism we practice today.

Here we see John challenging t

There was an assumption within the Jewish world, specifically the Pharisees and Sadduccees, that their Jewish origin is what saved them

John challenges that notion in vs 9 by pointing out that the Kingdom of Heaven is for everyone....

John takes this point to another level when he says hits this point even harder by not only pointing out their t

Division 2:

John is the promised messenger…but he is not the deliverer.

- As we move into vs. 13-17, here we see Jesus enter the scene, no longer as a baby, but as an adult.

We don’t have a ton of information about Jesus’ childhood or early adult life. Here we know that Jesus is roughly 30 years old....

So here is John, preparing the way for the Messiah—> and in vs. 13 it says “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.”

It is unclear whether John knew in this moment that Jesus was the Messiah and later in Matthew we will see John question whether Jesus is the Messiah…however, John does recognize that Jesus was greater than he was.

And with this recognition that Jesus is greater- he says, no way, I cannot baptize you- you should baptize me!

Jesus, responding to John in vs 15 says “‘Let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ ” Then John consented.”

This statement Jesus makes holds incredible weight:

(person) 1st: He is identifying with sinners- not because he was one, Jesus was perfect- he never sinned. But was fully human. Through baptism Jesus here is showing his personhood.

Remember, Jesus is fully God and Fully human.

I recently heard a speaker describe Jesus’ personhood like a person who is put in handcuffs.

A person in handcuffs is not suddenly less of a person because they are in handcuffs.

however, they are limited in what they can do because of them....

Jesus, as a person, is still fully God, he can never not be God- it is who he is, but by willingly becoming a person, he limits some of his rights as a deity- this is an act of submission to the Father and an act of identifying with his personhood.

(obedience) 2nd: When Jesus died on the cross, he took the sin of the whole world, past, present, and future upon himself. He is submitting to the Father, saying, through this symbol of baptism I submit to your will. I will carry out the plan to take on the sins of the God’s people in order that they might be saved. This is an act of obedience to the Father, submitting to his will.

The phrase “Let it be so” is the same phrase Jesus uses on the cross

(symbol) 3rd: Jesus came to wash away their sin. That was the Father’s plan…in this moment, he is symbolizing what he will later do on the cross.

When Jesus goes under the water that is a symbol of him taking on sin and then dying on the cross, as he comes up out of the water that is a picture of his future resurrection.

Jesus’ baptism signaled the closing of John’s ministry and the beginning of Jesus’…

Let’s read vs 16: “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.”

The Spirit of God=Holy Spirit.

in Is. 61:1 it prophecies that in the year of the Lord- the spirit of the Lord would be poured out upon the Messiah.

The Rabbi’s of that time were expecting an outpouring of the Holy Spirit...

this moment was the fulfillment of that prophecy....the outpouring of the Spirit

It doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t have the spirit before and now all of a sudden he does, the Holy Spirit was always fully with Jesus…but this is the symbol of the outpouring of the spirit.

And this picture of a dove would have reminded the Jewish people of:

End of the Noahic judgement, when God signaled the flood was over and a new beginning was starting...

A dove is also a symbol in the OT of the nation- suggesting humility and servanthood.

A dove descending down onto Jesus would have acknowledged Jesus a humble, servant— signaling the true Israel.

And finally, we come to vs 17:

“God says: This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.”

At 1st glance, this seems like a loving statement from a Father to his son, and it is that, but it is also so much more..let’s unpack this for a moment:

“This is My"son is from Psalm 2:7, which says “You are my Son; today I have become your father.”

“Whom I love” is from Genesis 22:2: referencing when God asked Isaac to sacrifice his one and only son..

And finally, “with him I am well pleased” is from Isaiah 42:1- where God promised to put his spirit on his son, and that he would bring justice to the nations.

So ladies- this is it…the time has come....the way has been prepped and it is tim.

Jesus’ ministry is about to commence and we see each part of the trinity involved in this process.

Jesus- the son, submits to the Father’s will

The Holy Spirits descends on Jesus like a dove

and God the Father speaks- telling the world that this is His son…He is the suffering servant…Jesus is God- he is the true Israel...

2nd Truth: