Jesus’ Messages In My Life - Matthew 3

 

Jesus’ Messages In My Life - Matthew 3

Introduction: 

We are preaching chronologically through the Bible and this past week in our readings we came to story of John The Baptist, someone who we often overlook, but John was a towering figure, a powerful man of God in his and any day. The writers of the Gospels realized this for all of them give accounts of John’s ministry and Mark, the most concise writer of the Gospel accounts, begins the New Testament not with the birth of Jesus but with John The Baptist.

Mark 1:1-4 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

How important was John in God’s plan for the ages? John’s birth was one of only three announced by an angel, even his name which means “Jehovah Gives Gracious Gifts” was pronounced by the angel as was the name of his cousin “Jehovah Is A Salvation” better known by us as Jesus.

John’s ministry was foretold in the Old Testament and fulfilled in the New Testament. 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. Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Johns’ way of dressing in camel’s hair with a leather girdle was in keeping with this office of the last Old Testament Prophet, it is similar to Elijah’s clothing and was often the dress of the prophets. His food, locusts and wild honey marks him as a man of the wilderness, an outsider come into the nation of Israel to call for repentance for the Kingdom of Heaven was at coming soon.

John was the forerunner of Jesus the Messiah. His calling was to prepare the way of the Lord. He fulfilled that calling by preaching the messages of the Lord. When we look at those messages we are reminded that we also are to prepare the way of the Lord into the live of those around us. No we are not at all in the same category as the “last old testament prophet and the first new testament prophet” but the messages he preached and sometimes shared with Jesus are the same messages we are to preach today.

 John Preaches Repentance - Matthew 3:1– 6

1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 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. 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. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

A Message of Repentance And the Coming Kingdom

John’s work was to preach and that message was not the good times Gospel being preached today. John’s preaching centered around his prophetic office, like the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah and all the others that were sent by God, he was sent first warn the people. The message of prophecy is first about warning of God’s judgement against sin. We think of it as foretells events but the vast majority of prophecy is about warning. Today all biblical prophecy is confined to the Bible and is only no longer an office or a calling, but only a gift exercised strictly within the confines of when the Bible says, “Thus saith the Lord!”

The words of Ezekiel could have been preached by John, Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Or Isaiah in Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

John’s message, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” has and immediate power in it because it is being preached just before the first coming of the Messiah. Though Israel was no longer worshipping idols, it was still a sinful nation full of pride and iniquity and John’s first message is “Repent, your king is coming and your judgment as a nation and as people is coming with Him.”  

Imagine you live in the area around Jerusalem or travel the main road for commerce that runs from Jerusalem to the Jordan valley and into your camp, or village one day walks this rough looking, man of the wilderness and he calls out in a loud, commanding voice, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” It was a short message, but the people of Israel knew what it meant.

Repent literally means “to change the mind,” but it carries much more weight and responsibility in this context, just as it does today. We are not talking about repent in the sense of seeing you were wrong about who won the 1998 World Series, or who the  president should be. No, this is you being wrong in your relationship to your Creator, your God and your judge. Repent here means a complete change of mind and heart when it comes to sin, God and you. That change is emotional, intellectual and spiritual. It should be accompanied by sorrow, if not outwardly then inwardly, sorrow for my sin and a desire to change through submission to God.

The nation of Israel needed to repent in order to be ready for the coming King and His Kingdom and John was the forerunner, the catalyst, that was starting the spiritual chain reaction that would explode when Jesus declared himself as Messiah, Lord, and Savior.

Our Message Of Repentance

When you think about it, that message of repentance is still the message we are to share today. “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” We have been given a fuller revelation of Jesus and His kingdom, but the elements of that simple message should still be our message today.

This message emphasizes repentance and the Kingdom of Heaven. Entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven hasn’t changed but our understanding of that Kingdom has be expanded. When Jesus come and presented himself as Messiah to Israel, the rightful heir of the throne of David, the nation was presented with a choice. Accept Jesus as King on His terms or reject Him. We all know what happened there were many individuals who believed but the nation and its leaders called out, “We have no King but Caesar!” And they crucified the Lord and just as John had warned them judgment fell and in 70 AD the Temple was destroyed by the Roman Army and vast numbers of people were killed, captured and made slaves. This terrible punishment continued for centuries. They were a people dispersed, persecuted and without a nation until 1948.

But we are not the nation of Israel and the Kingdom of Heaven for us in this age, is not a physical Kingdom in this world today. We as the adopted children of God in the New Testament are not promised the physical promises of Israel or granted the blessing of their Covenants.

But we still must repent to enter the Kingdom because before the Kingdom of Heaven comes physically to the earth and it will, before it can be entered physically, it first must be entered spiritually through repentance and faith.

Kingdom Scriptures - This is what the Sermon on the Mount was all about Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit (the repentant) for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This is what Jesus had to make Nicodemus understand, John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

And that Kingdom for us today is not of this world but in our heart and of the world to come. John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world …. In Luke 17:20-21, Jesus said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Today we are citizens of a yet still-approaching Kingdom and a soon returning King. He is coming to claim His rightful place upon the throne of David as He has claimed His rightful place on the throne of our heart. He is the King of Glory and until He returns, we must live, believe, work and preach the message of repentance as citizens of that coming  Kingdom. I was born an American, but I was reborn an Heavenman. Yes, I made up that word. It sounded better than Heavener, or Heavenite. But it doesn’t matter how you say it, what matters is that you know it, share it, and preach it, it is a message of Jesus for us to carry and give to others. “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is as close as your own heart.”

John the Baptist preached the coming Kingdom, but he was especially known as a fiery prophet who would not keep silent when it come to the sin that was all around him and he called it what it was, and he told those involved in it that judgment was coming. Look at vss 7-12

John Preaches Judgment - Matthew 3:7– 12

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? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 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. 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. 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: 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.

 A Message of Sin’s Consequences

Matthew next introduces the Pharisees and the Sadducees, two groups of religious and political powers that had appointed themselves as the moral watchdogs of the nation.

The Pharisees name means “to separate.” They began during the Maccabean Wars for freedom from the Greek Empire and they resolutely stood against any and all idolatry. They called each other neighbor and though they came from the common people, they prided themselves on being separated from the common people by their strict adherence to God’s Law and anther thousands upon thousands of additional laws they had made up and added to God’s law, which in their mind made it much better.

The Sadducees were not from the common people but were wealthy, the elites of society drawn from the caste of the priests. They take their name from a high priest named Zadok, but the name Zadokees was probably too hard to pronounce, so they went with Sadducees. (Not really, just kidding about that one.) Though they came from the priest caste, incredibly according to the Gospels, the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the body, and did not believe in angels or spirits. Talk about corrupt shepherds of the people, very much like many pastors today.  

Both groups were very political and felt it was their duty as the moral overseers of the nation to check out any new political or religious movements and so they both show up at John the Baptist’s revivals. After this message in Matthew 3, they probably wished they had stayed home. These were the most respected, powerful groups during John and Jesus time and yet, listen to what John calls them.

Matthew 3:7 O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Whoa! He calls them poisonous snakes that are crawling away from an approaching fire. Like a bush that has been set ablaze and rattlesnakes and cotton mouths come pouring out the bottom to escape the flames. Not very respectful. Nor is he done.

He tells them their ancestry to Abraham is worthless, no better than a dead, dry rock. Matthew 3:9 I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Then John says the most offensive and derogatory thing he could say to these moralistic, legalistic, guardians of the people. He says they are like dead trees with no fruit and that an axe has been laid to the base of that dead worthless tree. Not hard to figure out the imagery here. John says you are the dead trees and the coming Messiah is swinging the axe of judgment and once He cuts you down, you  will be thrown into the fires of punishment.

He tells these moralists, these law upholders, to repent and then to show that repentance. Not just a change of mind but a change of their lives. Repentance means to turn your eyes, to turn your heart and also to turn your feet.

Our Message of Fire

As the forerunner, John the Baptist, uses baptism, the symbol of his calling, to tell of the coming Messiah. Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto (because of, showing) 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: 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.

John says that the Messiah is coming, and he, the prophet John, is not even good enough to carry his shoes. And when the Messiah comes, he will bring a baptism not in water like John’s but in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Now, there are two ways of seeing this prophecy.

One interpretation sees Jesus who by His coming, death and resurrection would establish the New Covenant, and that covenant would be seen and sealed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and by a baptism of judgmental fire.

The other interpretation, sees Jesus instituting the New Covenant, showing its reality by the baptism of the Holy Spirit but baptizing not sinners in the fire of judgment, but His church in the Shekinah Glory, the cleansing, divine fire of God. The same divine fire of God seen by Abraham when God made His covenant, by Moses at the burning bush, by Solomon when the Temple was finished and on the day of Pentecost by the Lord’s new house of witness, the church.

Sometimes I lean one way on these two options and some days on the other, but I think the best interpretation is that this is the baptism of fire seen on the day of Pentecost, when the church was immersed in the Holy Spirit and tongues of fire alighted on their shoulders. I think the next phrase is about the message of judgment and punishment, Matthew 3:12 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.

This section of Matthew 3 shows John in his work as the Prophet of God. John is warning if sin’s consequences, preaching against self-righteousness, proclaiming the justice  of God on the unjust and the wrath of God on the unrepentant.

The Warning Remains the Same  - The warning then is the same warning today, “Repent, turn your eyes, turn your heart and turn your feet toward the Lord, Jesus Christ.” Turn your eyes from desiring this world, turn your heart from loving this world and turn your feet away from following the paths of sin and by His forgiving power turn to Jesus. Now set your path toward heaven.

But just as in John’s day, that is not the end of the message. You must repent, but you repent because of the One who is coming. The One whose forgives when you repent and put your faith in Him but also the one who will punish your unbelief if you do not.

True repentance is always accompanied by true faith. They are the two sides of the same coin called salvation. God’s word tells us we must believe and repent.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

You can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven, unless you are willing to bow in repentance before its King, Jesus Christ. Part of that message of repentance and faith is knowing the consequence of rejecting the King. Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat (the believers) into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff (the unbelievers) with unquenchable fire

That part of the message of Jesus will never change. John preached it hard. Jesus preached it even harder, saying more about Hell than He did about heaven. The people then needed to hear it and the people today need to hear it. Repent or suffer the eternal consequences of your unbelief and rejection of the One sent to save you, Jesus Christ.

You can’t preach the Gospel, you can’t tell of salvation from sin unless you also tell of the punishment of sin and unbelief.

Now in vss. 13-17 we come to John doing the very thing that gave him his name, he is baptizing. It is the same thing that gave us our name as Baptists. We don’t get our name from John, we are the church of Jesus but both we, John and Jesus have the same commissioner. God the Father sent John, Jesus and today He is sending us, to be baptizers.

John Preaches By Baptism - Matthew 3:13 – 17

13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 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. 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: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

A Message of Fulfilling Righteousness

This event is also recorded in John’s Gospel and some details are added from John’s viewpoint. Perhaps because John, the future apostle,  had first been a disciple of John before following Jesus.

John 1:29-34 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

Jesus comes to the Jordon River to be baptized. This is incredible but Jesus comes be baptized at by his cousin John, the same person who said, “I’m not worthy to even carry his shoes.”  If it seems strange to you, that the Messiah, the King, the Son of God should submit to John, the camel hair clad, locust eater, then you can understand why John said, “I should be baptized by you not you baptized by me”

And listen to the gracious words of Jesus, Matthew 3:15 Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” “Let it be this way now, for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” The same Jesus that submitted to the will of the father and come to earth, the same Jesus that submitted himself to wash the disciple’s feet is the same Jesus who submitted to John, His own forerunner. It was the right thing to do. John accepts this baptizes His Lord, Messiah and King.

Then the heaven’s open and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends and settles on Jesus and the Father’s voice calls out in full confirmation, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

We read in John’s Gospel that when God had commissioned the Baptist as the forerunner, he would be given a sign, that could not be misunderstood nor denied. That sign was what John saw and heard when Jesus rose from under the waters of Jordan. John had known Jesus as his cousin. I’m sure he had heard his parents talk of Mary’s miracle, he knew the Angel’s prophecy but now He had seen God’s fulfillment, His confirmation of that prophecy of the identity of the Messiah. And he would need that miraculous sign from God because he would not see Jesus’ miracles, or his triumphal entry or his resurrection. Their paths diverge and John would give up his ministry and his disciples to Jesus. He would decrease as Jesus increased, but right now he needed to see God’s sign, the confirmation and also the culmination of his work as the forerunner. All accomplished through the message of baptism.

Our Message of Water

Wouldn’t it have been something to have been there that day and see John baptize Jesus? Wouldn’t it have been a day full of wonder? Hearing John’s fiery message to repent, then watching as those who believe walk down by their hundreds to the river and watch as John immerses them in the river. That would be wonderful, but then you hear the whispers start, someone has stepped out of the crowd. Someone who is truly great and wonderful. John’s face shows it, he was not expecting this One to come to the banks of the Jordan.

Perhaps we can hear as John and Jesus talk, perhaps not but we can tell something is different, finally John lowers Jesus under the water and when he comes up, water still running from his hair and beard, the heavens are opened, not just one heaven, but the heavens, all the way to the throne of God. A dove descends from that heaven and lands on Jesus and we hear a voice that says, “This is my beloved Son.” Some say that only John saw and heard, maybe so, maybe not, but we can see it now though God’s written Word.

Through the Gospels I can see through John’s eyes that day, I can see the amazement in the faces of the disciples when Jesus walked on the water, or the joy in the smiles of Martha and Mary when Lazarus walked out of that grave. And I can even sit in that locked dark room with those frightened apostles and see the glory of the resurrected Lord, when He appears and drives the shadows from the room and the doubts from their hearts.

This Book contains all I need to see and know, until that day that I will no longer need to walk by faith, but my eyes shall behold the glory of God.

The Message of Baptism - You know what is also wonderful and glorious here and now? The wonder of our sharing this message of Jesus, the message of baptism. If you were saved in a true church of Jesus Christ then you know that following your salvation, you took your first step of discipleship and were baptized for the same reason Jesus was baptized, “To fulfill all righteousness.”

Your baptism is your first message telling the world “I believe in Jesus.” My baptism is the gospel, being shown through the medium of immersion in water.  

Paul said it this way in Romans 6:3-6 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin

You proclaim the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His death, burial and resurrection is your death burial and resurrection and it is symbolized by immersion and ascension under and then out of the water of baptism.

What a wonderful way of telling the message of Jesus Christ. Never underestimate the power of symbol of baptism. The Bible teaches it, John was sent by God to administer it, Jesus submitted to it and we the church of Jesus Christ, the Baptists have protected it with our lives. Baptism does not give eternal life, but no other symbol can so wonderfully and powerfully show it to the world.

 Conclusion

Our Messages Till Jesus Comes

We have been commissioned, called, and commanded. We are to preach the Kingdom, knowing that Jesus is the King, soon to return and claim His Kingdom. We are preach repentance and faith, make and baptize disciples, warn a lost world of the consequences of sin and the terrible judgment of Hell. We must be faithful to Word, tell the wonder of the One, and wait for that wonderful day when heaven becomes our eternal home.

So go and share the Messages of Jesus!