“1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as He came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to Him and He saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on Him. 17 And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” Matthew 3:1-17.
After the infancy of Christ in chapters 1–2, Matthew’s Gospel jumps ahead many years to speak about important events that lay the foundation for Jesus’ public ministry. Matthew first reports that John the Baptist has begun his mission to “prepare the way of the Lord,” as he calls on Israel to repent and be baptized at the Jordan River (3:1–12). Then Jesus himself comes to be baptized — an event that marks the formal inauguration of His mission as Messiah and the confirmation of His Divine Sonship (3:13–17).
John the Baptist’s ministry was based at the Jordan River. To get there, crowds from Jerusalem would travel about twenty miles through rugged desert terrain in a hot, barren wilderness. Why would John base his movement out in the desert? Well, God led the Israelites across the Jordan River at the end of their forty-year journey from Egypt to the promised land. Thus the Jordan represented the climax of the exodus story and the fulfillment of God’s plan to bring Israel to the land of Canaan.
The desert also carried rich symbolism for the Jews because it recalled this exodus story, for it was in the desert that Israel became established as God’s covenant people as they journeyed to the promised land. In addition, the desert brought to mind hope for Israel’s future, for a new exodus, in which God would rescue his people from their present-day oppressors just as he had liberated them from Pharaoh long ago. The prophets foretold that God would lead his people back to the desert to renew his covenant with them. Hosea, for example, described how God would lovingly draw his sinful people back to him like a husband wooing an unfaithful wife (Hosea 1:2&3).
Matthew also introduces two groups that will figure prominently in the life of Jesus: the Pharisees and Sadducees. Their presence at the Jordan indicates that the Jewish leaders felt the need to investigate this new movement of John’s in the desert. They do not seem to be moved to repent and be baptized, for Matthew describes the Pharisees and Sadducees as merely coming to his baptism — in contrast with the crowds who were actually “being baptized” by John “as they acknowledged their sins” (3:6). The religious leaders were coming as investigators, not as sincere penitents interested in participating in John’s movement. This is why John responds to them so severely, calling them a brood of vipers and ironically asking them, “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” — as if the Pharisees and Sadducees desired to be a part of the repentant crowd! John warns that the “day of wrath” (see Zechariah 1:15; 2:2–3; Malachi 4:1) — the tribulations and judgment of God that the prophets declared would come when history reached its final phase — is drawing near. Only those who sincerely repent of their sins will escape the fury of this judgment.
So with all this in the background, I have always been so moved by what John addresses next — those who have come to actually receive baptism, informing them of two things. First, John declares that someone is coming who is mightier than he. John even says, “I am not worthy to carry his sandals.” Of all the tasks a servant in the ancient Mediterranean world would perform for his master, the most demeaning involved touching his master’s feet. Later Jewish disciples were expected to do everything for their rabbi that servants would do for their master except take off his sandals. Yet remarkably, John the Baptist says he is not worthy to do even that most base task for Jesus. Such humility is so admirable in our Christian life.
Finally, John the Baptist’s words remind me of the tremendous power of Christian baptism. John’s baptism of his followers at the Jordan served as an important visible expression of one’s repentance in preparation for the Messiah. Nevertheless, take careful notice of how John recognized that his baptism paled in comparison to what Christ would offer: “The one who is coming after me is mightier than I. . . . He will baptize you with the holy Spirit” (3:11). What makes the baptism that Christ offers so powerful? It imparts an identity that we could never earn on our own. Through baptism, God freely forgives all our sins and fills us with his Holy Spirit, making us his children — a status we could not achieve through our own efforts. Christian baptism also gives us the power to live in a way that we could not do on our own. Baptism with the Holy Spirit does not merely express a desire to live a better life; it actually changes the person, uniting the soul with Christ’s death and resurrection and filling it with his divine life, so that it has the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Filled with Christ’s Spirit, we Christians can begin to love not with our own fallen, selfish love, but with Christ’s divine love that overcomes our weaknesses.
As Paul wrote, “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
So take time today to consider in prayer all that Christ has done in you and for you. He has forgiven you and filled you with his Holy Spirit. Give God thanks in your prayer today for uniting our souls with Christ’s death and resurrection and for filling us with his Holy Spirit.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things” Galatians 5:22-23.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you”
John 14:16-17.
“Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you see and hear” Acts 2:33.
“In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory” Ephesians 1:13-14.
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