Matthew 3:1-12
The Messenger of the King
Open your Bible to…
Matt. 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness
of
Matt. 3:2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Pray
Intro
√ The Messenger of the King
Every king has a herald, a person who goes before him to prepare the people for the king’s arrival.
Such is the case as we pick up Matthew’s Gospel in chapter 3.
Matthew introduces us to the Messenger of the King, his message and his ministry.
There’s much that we can learn from this Messenger because we have a similar duty in our generation!
We too are called to herald the King’s message to the people of this world and to prepare them for His soon arrival!
The Person whom God sent (vs. 1-4)
Matt. 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness
of
Matt. 3:2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Matt. 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare
the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
Matt. 3:4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather
belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
√ The person whom God sent
Matthew tells us that God sent John the Baptist, or Baptizer to prepare the way for the King.
Interesting to note that John is mentioned in all four Gospels.
He played a significant role in the Gospel story.
Many of the apostles followed John before they were called by Jesus.
Matthew is fairly brief in his description of John and his ministry, note that he tells us that John…
Lived in the Judean wilderness (East of Jerusalem)
Ministered along the
Wore strange cloths (camel hair)
Ate strange things (locusts)
In many ways John was carbon copy of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) which, prompted the religious leaders to ask him if he was Elijah.
“And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” – John 1:21
Jesus told the disciples…
“And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.” - Matt. 11:14
…in the sense that John operated in the spirit and power of Elijah (ref. Luke
So, John was first and foremost the messenger of the King.
√ He was a priest
What is not obvious is that John was also a priest! Luke gives us some insight on John’s parents in the 1st chapter of his Gospel that reveal he was a Levite…
…thus, called by God to the priesthood.
Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of
John’s father was a priest descended from Abijah (I Chr. 24:10) and his mother was a descendant of Aaron!
Had John followed tradition he would have grown up to serve
in the
Yet, we find John in the wilderness,
not in the
Why?
To fulfill prophecy! Note vs. 3…
Matt. 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare
the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
God had indicated by the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 40:3) that the
coming King would be announced by a voice out of the wilderness, not out of
√ Why the wilderness
Many have wondered how John ended up out in the desert.
While the Bible is silent on the subject it does provide us with a couple of clues (his clothing and diet) that may help us discern how he ended up there.
That information evaluated along side of a interesting
record discovered in
The Essenes were a apocalyptic group (cult) whose leader took Isaiah 40:3 to be a literal instruction to wait for the Messiah in the wilderness.
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
They believed that God was telling them to…
Go to the wilderness
Prepare themselves for the Lord
Wait till He showed up
They did that by living a very a strict (legalistic) life dedicated to preparing themselves for the coming King.
They were also known for picking up orphaned children and raising them in their community!
Finally, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls mentions a man named John who lived with them for a short while before departing to follow God’s call on his life!
So, while we can’t be sure that John was an Essene, or that
he spent time with them at
…he lived where they did, ate as they did, and his ministry was based on the same verse that their entire community was founded upon.
√ Why John?
The first reason that I believe that God used John was that it was the duty of the priests to point the people to the King.
Secondly, John was the only priest available for the job.
That is, the priests in
Some out of envy of Jesus (Luke 20:9-19)
Others out of fear of the religious leaders (John 19)
But, John was anointed by God to be a “lone ranger”, a man like Elijah who was lion-hearted in his faith and willing to go toe-to-toe with those in power.
Ap. Sometimes God has to work outside the establishment!
If you study the history of
People get so caught up in maintaining their tradition, or so comfortable with the status quo…
…that they cease to seek the Lord for fresh vision.
The end result is that God’s people are often not open to doing what God wants them to do.
May we always keep our relationship with Jesus fresh and may we never substitute tradition for relationship.
The purpose for which God sent him (vs. 5-6)
Matt. 3:2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
And…
Matt. 3:5 Then Jerusalem, all
Matt. 3:6 and were baptized by him in the
√ The purpose for which God sent him
The purpose for which God sent John was two fold…
1) To prepare God’s people for the coming King
2) To present the King to the people when He came
(We’ll look at the second purpose in our next study!)
Regarding the first purpose for which God sent John, that is, to prepare God’s people for the coming King, we note that he did so by…
Preaching a simple message, vs. 2…
“Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand”
Practicing a simple ritual vs. 6…
“baptized by him in the
√ Preaching a simple message
John’s message wasn’t complicated! He called God’s people to repent of their sins that they
might enter into the
While that doesn’t surprise us, it was a huge revelation (and stumbling block) to the Jewish mind!
That is because the Jews believed that they would automatically be made citizens of the coming Kingdom because of their physical relationship to Abraham (vs. 9).
John, however, made it clear that citizenship in God’s Kingdom would be granted to those who were spiritual heirs of Abraham…
…not just physical heirs!
Ex. Cultural Jews
I have friends and family who are Jewish by physical lineage, but have no relationship at all with the God of Abraham.
They’re Jewish in name only, not in practice, or belief.
It was no different in the days that God sent John to prepare His people for the coming King.
The people had drifted far from God and needed a change of heart and mind (i.e. repentance)…
…to qualify for entrance into the Kingdom.
√ Practicing a simple ritual
As part of the preparation, John baptized those who confessed their sins as a sign that they were committed to living a holy life in anticipation of the coming King.
While a Jew might baptize one self (i.e. mikvah)…
…John was the first to baptize other Jews!
That’s why we read of such a hostile response from the Jewish religious leaders. They saw John’s baptism of Jews as an affront to their self-perceived spirituality.
Ap. We have the same purpose!
Christians today share the same mission that John had! We’ve been sent by Jesus to prepare people for the King.
How do we prepare people?
Preaching a simple message…
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” Acts
Make sure that you’re available to be used by God so that He doesn’t have to look outside to find a person who is willing to do His bidding in our generation.
The problem with God’s people (vs. 7-12)
Matt. 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to
his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the
wrath to come?
Matt. 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
Matt. 3:9 and do not think to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God
is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Matt.
Matt.
Matt. 3:12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
√ The problem with God’s people
John’s ministry and message wasn’t welcomed by everyone! We note in this section of scripture that John discerned the hearts of the religious leaders…
Their doctrine and life style was poisonous…
“brood of vipers” – vs. 7
Ex. Buying our first
lawn mower in
“Watch out for them vipers, they’ll latch onto ya!”
They were also filled with spiritual pride…
“We have Abraham as our father.” – vs. 9
The Pharisees and Sadducees made
up the Sanhedrin, a religious counsel who were responsible for administering
the religious law in
As such they were supposed to check John out and discern whether or not he was sent by God.
While John’s message was certainly of God, the Pharisees and Sadducees rejected it because he revealed their sin and called them to repentance.
That has always been the problem with God’s people! That is, once a person becomes a child of God and experiences His Grace…
Forgiving their sin
Transforming their behavior
Developing holiness in their life
…they begin to think of themselves as better than others.
We call that attitude “self righteousness.” But it isn’t limited to the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Christian Church, which should know better…
…is beset with the sin of self righteousness.
Ap. Self righteousness makes us spiritually blind and deaf
Whether it was the religious leaders in John’s day, the Church of the Laodiceans in the Revelation, or you and I today…
Self righteousness blinds us to our true spiritual condition…
…and seals our ears from the hearing the word of God when it cuts too close to our heart.
Beware if you find yourself unwilling to receive a rebuke from a person that God sends your way!
√ Judgment
In verses 10-12 John warns the
religious leaders that to reject God’s message will result in judgment, not
just for them, but for the whole nation.
Note vs. 10…
“And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
John’s word of warning parallels
Jesus’ teaching (parable of the vineyard and the evil workers, the cursed fig
tree, etc.) in that we’re reminded that God
is looking for fruit in our lives!
True spiritual fruit that demonstrates the heart of God to the world.
The people of ancient
Vs. 11-12…
Warn the religious leaders that if they did not prepare themselves for the King by repenting of their sins and being baptized in water…
…then the King when He comes would baptize them with the fire of the Holy Spirit!
Those who are prepared will be blessed (Acts 2)
Those who are not prepared will be burned
John’s comments here are prophetic, speaking of the future judgment of God when He calls each person to give account for how they used their life.
Ap. We’re called to minister to Pharisees and Sadducees!
We live in a day much like John did, and we too are called to minister to religious people who are self-righteous, spiritually blind and deaf!
Cultural Christians
Most of the people in our community have been inoculated against the Gospel message that we’ve been sent to preach. They rest on their physical relationships believing that…
Christian tradition
Church membership
…will automatically grant them entranced into the coming Kingdom.
And like John, you and I have been called to try and reach them with the Truth that God requires a spiritual birth and a real relationship with Him.
It isn’t always and easy task, but it’s the one God has given us to do so let’s get after it and not give up!
Close
√ The Messenger of the King
God sent John, a priest, to prepare His people for the King, a model for Christians today that we might herald the coming King.