THE THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Put all of your trust in the Lord for even the smallest of tasks so when the big ones come, and they will come, you will know His voice
“5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)
Matthew 3
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
Understand that Matthew did not start writing his Gospels until around AD 67.
The baptism of John is the beginning of the Gospels
Mark 1:1-3 (KJV), “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
The Gospel of Mark was written approximately one year prior to Matthew’s Gospel.
Matthew 3:1 (KJV), “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea.”
Matthew is starting here, 30+ years after the death of Christ. There were around 300 some years of silence after Malichi. Malichi had the understanding that there would be no real prophets until John when he said;
Malachi 3:1 (KJV), “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.”
The time when John appeared; In those days, long after what was recorded in the previous chapter, which left the child Jesus in his infancy. In those days, in the time appointed of the Father for the beginning of the gospel, when the fulness of time was come.
The place where he appeared first. In the wilderness of Judea. It was not an uninhabited desert, but a part of the country not densely populated, as other parts were; it was such a wilderness as had six cities and their villages in it.
Joshua 15:61-62 (KJV), “61 In the wilderness, Betharabah, Middin, and Secacah, 62 And Nibshan, and the city of Salt, and Engedi; six cities with their villages.”
The kingdom of heaven
Matthew 3:2 (KJV), “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
According to Malichi, written hundreds of years after Daniel, John the Baptist was to prepare the way for Israel’s Messiah.
Daniel 2:44 (KJV), “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”
We can look at many of the Old Testament Messianic prophecies and see how they all lead in one direction
Matthew 3:3 (KJV), “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.”
Isaiah 40:3 (KJV), “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.”
John knew what the prophets had said. He knew the immense responsibility he had to prepare the way of our Lord and Saviour. He was dressed with the clothing of a country husbandman, for that’s where he lived.
Matthew 3:4 (KJV), “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.”
Matthew 11:28 (KJV), “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
It is good for us to put ourselves to the place and condition which God, in his providence, has put us in. John appeared in these clothes to prepare the way for Our Saviour. To show that, like Jacob, he was a plain man, and not of this world, and the delights and pretentiousness of it.
John was preaching that the kingdom of God is at hand. This was something everyone had been waiting for. They came in droves to see John and be baptized in the Jordan.
Matthew 3:5 (KJV), “Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan.”
But you know how the story goes; yes, the kingdom of God is at hand since now Jesus has come to save us from eternal damnation. But where are the armies? Just as today when we hear a great sermon or attend a revival, many are caught up in the moment and emotions are piercing every fiber of our being. Then our reality sets in. We need to make it our responsibility to follow up and disciple.
Matthew 3:10-12 (KJV), “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.”
He descended on him like a dove
Matthew 3:16 (KJV), “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.”
The Holy Spirit is just that—spirit—He is not visible to us. On this occasion, however, the Spirit took on a visible appearance and was doubtless seen by the people. It was important for the people to see a sign of peace descending upon Jesus. Whether it was an actual dove or not, something was evident. The scripture does not say the Spirit of God descended as of dove but like a dove.
As a dove
Strong’s Concordance (5616) – hósei: as if, as it were, like. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon – a. as it were (had been), as though, as, like as, like.
God wanted to make it perfectly clear that this was The Son of God
Matthew 3:17 (KJV), “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Grow in the Word of the Lord 