The New Testament with Commentary Matthew 3

Ministry of John the Baptizer—26 AD

1 Now in those days John the Baptizer began preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has come near!” 3 For this is he who was referred to by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

“A voice crying-out,

‘Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord,

make His paths straight.’ ”*

4 Now John actually used clothes made from camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; while his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea and all the region of the Jordan went out to him, 6 and were being baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

A bunch of snakes

7 But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: “Brood of vipers! Who tipped you off to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and don't even think to say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father,’† for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 Indeed, already the ax is being laid to the root of the trees.‡ So every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize you with water unto repentance, but the One coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with Holy Spirit.§ 12 His winnowing shovel 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.”*

Baptism of Jesus

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 But John tried to dissuade Him saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and You are coming to me?”† 15 But in answer Jesus said to him, “Permit it now, because thus it is appropriate to us to fulfill all righteousness.”‡ Then he permitted Him. 16 And having been baptized Jesus came up directly from the water, when wow, the heavens were opened to Him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and alighting upon Him.§ 17 And wow, a Voice from the heavens saying, “This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am always well pleased!”*

* 3:3 The reference is to Isaiah 40:3. Hebrew poetry, and prose, makes heavy use of parallel or synonymous statements. From the context in Isaiah it seems clear that “in the wilderness” goes with the verb ‘make straight’, not ‘call out’. But why a straight road in the wilderness? Any road facilitates the movement of people and goods, but a straight road through accidented terrain is a major asset. (Actually, Isaiah 40:3-4 describes the construction of a modern superhighway.) John was the voice, but it was the people who had to make the road. So how about us? Are we supposed to be making such a road, and if so, how? At the very least we should be proclaiming biblical values to the world by every available means. † 3:9 They had notions of spiritual privilege based on birth, but as someone has said, God has no grandchildren. Later on Jesus will make clear that they did in fact reject John's message—they were not baptized. ‡ 3:10 The Messiah was already present, and He would condemn the Pharisees and Sadducees. § 3:11 There is no article with ‘Holy Spirit’, so I take the phrase as a proper name. The ‘and fire’ we are used to is read by only 20% of the Greek manuscripts. The 80% includes the best line of transmission. However, Luke 3:16 has the ‘and fire’. * 3:12 Can you have wheat without chaff? Isn't the chaff part of the wheat plant? What might the implications of this analogy be for the Church? What percentage of the plant is edible wheat? Wherever Christianity is the state or majority religion, or part of the prevailing culture, a large majority of the ‘Christians’ will be chaff. Where Christians are persecuted a high percentage will be wheat. Since Judaism was part of the prevailing culture, presumably most of John's hearers were chaff. The ‘unquenchable’ fire is presumably a reference to the Lake. † 3:14 John knew that Jesus was the Messiah. ‡ 3:15 Our Lord's statement here seems difficult to us. Since Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3 state that it was “a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins” but Jesus had no sins to repent of, in what sense was He “fulfilling all righteousness”? Perhaps as Messiah and Great High Priest He needed to identify Himself with those of His people who were truly repentant. § 3:16 The episode is presented from John's perspective, while in Mark 1:11 and Luke 3:22 it is presented from Jesus' perspective. Just as at Pentecost the Holy Spirit translated into the ears of the foreigners, I take it that here Jesus heard one thing and John another. * 3:17 The Trinity is clearly manifested: voice = Father, Jesus = Son, dove = Holy Spirit. This was an important confirmation for Jesus.