Bible Study #3
Matthew Chapter 3
Scripture is in red. King James Version
As we saw in Chapter 2 Jesus had been taken to Egypt to keep King Herod from killing Him. We do not know how long Mary, Joseph and Jesus were in Egypt but quite some time had passed, as we will see in this chapter. Mary, Joseph and Jesus returned to Israel and settled in Nazareth.
Verse 1: In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
As you can see John the Baptist is preaching in the wilderness. John and Jesus were cousins and near the same age so Jesus must have been nearly an adult when He retuned to Israel from Egypt.
Verse 2: And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For reference this prophecy is spoken of in Daniel 40:3. The kingdom spoken of is Christ Jesus.
Verse 3: For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. We find this in Isaiah 40:3: The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. This is important because “the voice says” “prepare ye the way of the LORD…a Highway for our GOD”. This shows it is GOD that is arriving, not a human. It will be God in a flesh body. The quote “Make His paths straight” is interesting. I believe this is speaking to all those that follow Jesus. If we are to make his path straight then we should be “preparing the way” by introducing others to the teachings of Christ Jesus, showing what Jesus has done in your life, planting the seed so that God can lead those that have not heard or understood the Word of God and therefore be fruitful for Jesus. In other words make the path easier for others to follow Him, make knowledge of His path more available.
Verse 4: And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. John has disregarded the comforts of the flesh. His mission and his life’s purpose is preparing the way for Christ Jesus. Nothing else matters to him.
Verse 5: Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
Verse 6: And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. Why were they all baptized in the Jordan River? If you recall Joshua led the Children of Israel over the Jordan. This river parted for the Israelites just like the Red Sea. The Jordan River was an important part of God’s plan and it was an example of the salvation of Christ. The Jordan and Red Sea both foreshadow our crossing over from flesh bodies to spirit bodies with God showing the way. When Jesus was crucified the sword parted his body and the veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom. Both were parted so that we could all have access to God without other men between God and us. Jesus became our access and intercessor to God. The Red Sea and the Jordan River parted so that the Israelites had access to the Promised Land (Heaven). I hope you can see the connection. I know there is much more to this verse than this but like many verses and chapters of the Bible it is nearly impossible to connect and explain everything in a short study so I will leave it there.
Verse 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “generation of vipers”, what does this mean? When the Bible speaks of a generation we know it is speaking of whom you are descended from. Satan and the fallen angels are the vipers. Right off the bat we know that these people are NOT of God. As we will see throughout the New Testament these people are the nemesis of Christ. The question “who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Is a rhetorical question because John had already answered it, the answer is Satan.
Verse 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: We know repentance was accomplished with the sacrifice of animals. The fruit of repentance here is not actual fruit of a tree. Fruits in the Bible often refer to what people have accomplished. In this instance John wants them to show that he is wrong and show what they have accomplished by way of bringing people closer to God and to His truth. He knows they cannot do it.
Verse 9: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. John is saying here that the Pharisees and Sadducees are as much sons of Abraham as the stones and in fact the stones could be closer related to Abraham than they could ever be.
Verse 10: And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Which tree brings forth bad fruit? Satan. Who will be cast into the fire? Again the answer is Satan. A tree indicates person or a family and the descendents from the source of that tree. Just like a family tree we know today when we research our family history. If you follow Satan you have joined his family tree and your future will be the same as his. There are only two positions to hold, follow God or Satan, there is no middle ground here.
Verse 11: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: John acknowledges that he is not the judge but that God is the Judge. He will baptize them if that is their desire and perhaps they will actually forsake Satan and follow God so he is more than willing to give them a chance. John also acknowledges that he is not the Messiah but only one to “make the paths straight” for the Messiah, Christ Jesus. Jesus is the one who will determine if they are truly worthy of Heaven. The baptism by fire can be found in Malachi 3:3 and 4:1. Malachi 3:3:
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Malachi 4:1: For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. From these two passages we can determine what the baptism by fire means. In Malachi 3:3 (talking about Jesus) a person who sits as a refiner of silver places the silver in a very hot fire and that person must watch the silver closely and must leave the silver in the fire the precise amount of time. If the silver is in the fire too long it will be ruined, too short of a time it will not be purified. How can he tell the correct amount of time? When the worker of silver sees his image in it. Jesus will see His image in you when you are purified. If after the purification Jesus does not see His image in you then you will be burned up, you are worthless. In Malachi 4:1 it is talking about the judgment seat. This fire will be the fire of damnation and those that are impure will be cast away into the fire just as you would clean a field of waste material left after the harvest.
Verse 12: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Still talking about Jesus) The fan here is a broom and Jesus will sweep the floor clean and the chaff (the unusable part of wheat) will be separated and burned up while the wheat will be placed in a place of safety (Heaven). John is warning the Sadducees and Pharisees and actually all those present that if they do not actually repent and follow God instead of Satan then they will be destroyed in the fire. There will be many examples of wheat and chaff to come. Are you wheat or chaff?
Verse 13: Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
Verse 14: But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? John knows he is not worthy to baptize Jesus because Jesus is “God with us”.
Verse 15: And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. If you think about this verse you must wonder to yourselves why Jesus needed to be baptized. At this time Jesus is God but also man. Jesus surrendered his Godly powers to become flesh. Baptism in this sense indicates or simulates the (future) death and resurrection of Christ, ergo, entering the grave and arising from it. The baptism of Christ set the stage and example for the future and “cleansed” Him for his work on earth. What is humorous is that if the Pharisees and Sadducees were still there they had no idea what this meant. Jesus talks about several mysteries in later passages. These are mysteries because Satan does not know the plans of God and Christ will reveal them to His apostles. I believe this is a mystery to the Pharisees and Sadducees watching because they do not understand how Christ Jesus will defeat death and Satan their leader yet God is boldly demonstrating the future to them. Their future failure and destruction is right in front of them and they cannot see it.
Verse 16: And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Verse 17: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Pharisees and Sadducees probably took a huge step backwards. They now realize that God is on earth in a flesh body and His appearance signals failure for them and Satan. This is where the battle begins between Christ Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees yet they still do not understand how they have lost.
