The Ministry of John the Baptist
TRANSLATION
(1) And in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, declaring, (2) “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (3) For this is he who was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.’”
(4) Now John himself wore clothing made of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. (5) Then the people of Jerusalem went out to him and all Judea and all the region round about the Jordan, (6) and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. (7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance. (9) And do not say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. (10) And even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (11) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I. His sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (12) His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor. And he will gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
OBSERVATIONS
Repeated words in this segment included “John” (vss. 1 & 4), “Judea” (vss. 1 & 5), as well as several forms of “baptize” and “Baptist” (vs. 1), “baptism” (vs. 7), and three occurrences of the verb “to baptize” (vss. 6 & 11). “Repent/repentance” is found three times (vss. 2, 8, & 11). “Fruit” occurred twice (vss. 8 & 10) as did “Abraham” (vs. 9), and “tree(s)” (vs. 10). “Fire” appeared three times in the last three verses (vss. 10, 11, & 12). While this segment focused mainly on the ministry of John the Baptist, it anticipated the coming of someone far greater, the one whom John was sent to introduce.
OUTLINE
I. The ministry of John the Baptist fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy about the forerunner. (1-5)
II. The message of John the Baptist called Israel to repentance in preparation for the coming of one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (6-12)
IDEA STATEMENT
John’s earthly ministry, foretold by Isaiah’s prophecy, served to introduce a far greater person, the anticipated Messianic ruler.
APPLICATION
Baptism as practiced in the early church has continued over the centuries to be how believers publicly demonstrate their identification with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection and testify to others regarding their personal commitment to the life of discipleship. Baptism practiced by John the Baptist was something quite different. In Judaism, immersion in water was normally reserved for proselytes seeking to become Jews. By baptizing Jews, John was powerfully communicating that something new and revolutionary was now taking place, something that demanded more purity than had ever been required previously. That is why John called the Pharisees and Sadducees whom many considered some of the most virtuous among the Jews the “offspring of vipers.” His ministry and message pointed to someone far greater whose baptism by the Holy Spirit and fire would be something never before seen or experienced in Israel.
By introducing John as the Messiah’s forerunner, Matthew was again careful to point how his ministry was the fulfillment of prophecy, in this case Isaiah’s description of the one who would come to “prepare the way of the Lord” (Is. 40:3). This was, in fact, the sixth instance in less than three chapters where Matthew declared how Jesus’ life and ministry had been anticipated by the authors of the Old Testament.