Matthew 3:1-17

Matthew’s gospel account begins with the early years of Jesus (Matthew 1-2) and quickly fast forwards to the beginning of His earthly ministry.  The writer has already established that Jesus Christ was the divinely promised Messiah for the Jews and, ultimately, for the world; He was sent to the world by God the Father to forgive and save mankind from sin (1:21).  In Matthew 3, the readers are introduced to John the Baptist, who is known as the “forerunner” of Jesus Christ. In a secular sense, a forerunner was an individual who would travel ahead of the king to remove any obstacles which would delay the king’s journey.  In a spiritual sense, John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, meaning that he was preparing the hearts of the people before the arrival of the King; in this case, John the Baptist challenged people to turn from sin (repent) so that their hearts would be ready when Jesus arrived (3:1-5).  In order to outwardly demonstrate the cleansing of the heart from sin, John baptized people in water (3:6).  His practice of water baptism is the basis of the name, John the Baptist.

The preaching of John the Baptist conflicted with the teaching of religious leaders, who taught a system of works righteousness and believed that they were automatically part of God’s family because they were descendants of Abraham and therefore worthy of God’s acceptance (3:7-10).  John’s message was that all are sinners in need of  forgiveness and without repentance, God’s judgment awaited them (3:11-12).  After Matthew reveals the conflict between the religious leaders and John the Baptist, the reader is introduced to Jesus the Messiah who comes to the Jordan River to be baptized of John (3:13).  John resisted the thought of baptizing Jesus because He was without sin and baptism symbolized a cleansing from sin (3:14); however, Jesus chose to be baptized so that He could identify Himself with those for whom He had come to save.  Jesus’ baptism was a necessary part of fulfilling righteousness for sinners (3:15).  After He was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and God the Father spoke from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (3:16-17).  The triune God is beautifully pictured at this event.  It is through this event that we also see Jesus, the sinless Son of God, identifying with sinners and entering into public ministry so that He might “save His people from their sin” (Matthew 1:21).

Dear God, it is comforting to know that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to identify with sinners so that he might forgive sin and bring hope.