JOHN THE BAPTIST
Matthew 3

Remember how excited churches became when Billy Graham came to town? Perhaps you were able to attend one to see this phenomenon. A similar excitement spread over Israel when John the Baptist came on the scene. Because the Christmas season is at hand, the quarterly temporarily bypasses the birth of Jesus stories and will come back to them the next two weeks. But Matthew jumps straight from those birth stories to nearly 30 years later and the beginning of Jesus's ministry. Actually, we have only one other story from that interval in the gospel of Luke – the boy Jesus in the temple. This reminds us that a gospel is not a biography. Matthew was not written as a life of Jesus, but as a witness to the Messiah and His ministry.

John was nothing if not spectacular. Dressed something like a Tarzan in animal skins and preaching on the edge of the wilderness. The thrust of his message was simple: Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Exactly what Jesus began preaching.

Israel had been looking for a Messiah for years. In 160 BC Israel won its independence from Greece. A band of guerilla fighters under Judas Maccabeus took advantage of Grecian troubles elsewhere to win first, freedom of worship, and later relative independence. That's why the people of Jesus's day thought they could overthrow Rome, not realizing how much stronger Rome was than Greece. Besides, the Lord through His Messiah could bring victory. BTW, I  often recommend Bible students read 1 Maccabees, a history of that rebellion, that explains a lot of what was going on in the 175 years just before Jesus was born. You can simply google it and read the whole book online.

Part of their expecting a messiah was the expectation that the prophet Elijah would return first to prepare the way for that messiah. John the Baptist filled that role. Amid great excitement, the people flocked to John as the harbinger of God's intervention through Messiah. So they were to repent in preparation and witness that repentance through Baptism.

Through the Dead Sea Scrolls, we are pretty sure that the archaeological ruins near the caves where the scrolls were found was Qumran, the home of a Jewish sect called the Essenes. Many Bible scholars feel John had spent time in that community, and that they influenced his message. Among other things Qumran had several pools, and they put much stress on ritual bathing or baths to symbolize cleanness of soul. John's baptism was different. You were baptized only once for repentance. And that repentance was preparing for the coming of the Messiah.

John appeared preaching in the “wilderness,” a barren land south of Jerusalem near the Dead Sea. His baptizing, however, was in the Jordan River, far from a barren place, more like a small jungle in places.

He preached repentance. In the NT, the word means a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. The OT word meant “turn,” just as a physical change of direction. Again, the Bible is not much concerned with how you feel, but how you behave. Feeling sorry for you sins is good, but repentance is being sorry enough to quit!

Books have been written and heated arguments ensued over the term Kingdom of Heaven. Israel had been a kingdom since the days of Saul, and it was their preferred manner of government. David was the hero king, their George Washington, and they envisioned a descendant of David ruling once more the most respected kingdom on earth. Jesus taught the Messiah would not be an earthly king. Though indeed a descendant of David, he was to be a “suffering servant” as depicted in Isaiah. He did indeed establish His kingdom, but of a very different sort. “Kingdom” implies a ruler and some subjects. In the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus is king, and His followers are the subjects. The Kingdom is present where two or three gather in His name. A Christian is a citizen of that Kingdom.

Some writers insist the Kingdom of Heaven is only future, a final kingdom after the return of Christ. Others emphasize that His rule begins here and now: “The Kingdom is within you.” Still others see the Kingdom as past, present, and future. The Kingdom came in Jesus, continues in his followers, and will finally be revealed in glory when Jesus comes again. I like the last view.

John's food was a bit  unique in his day, but not as weird as today. Locusts, like grasshoppers, were kosher for the Jewish diet, and desert dwellers often ate them as readily available for the gathering. I've even seen them in specialty sections of grocery stores. Haven't bought them, nor chocolate covered ants.

Verse 7: Saducees and Pharisees often hated one another. They disagreed on almost everything, but they made common cause against John and Jesus. John was not very complimentary. He called them a bunch of snakes. He called on these, the religious leaders of their day to repent. He charged they thought being born as a descendant of Abraham assured their good standing with God. He assured them that God didn't need them, He could turn the stones into His people if He chose. Rather their lives should show radical change and bring forth good fruit. He warned the coming Kingdom included judgment. Just as finding a woodsman's ax leaning against a tree, one can expect God's wrath against the wicked.

People have trouble with God's wrath. A seminary prof I respected like to say that wrath is the underside of God's love. An old saying has it that hell has no fury like that of a woman scorned. Reject her, and in fury she will reject you. God's wrath is the kickback from rejecting or refusing His love.

Then John pointed to Jesus. He was supreme, and John was unworthy. His baptism would be with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Fire here may refer to judgment, since the word has just been used in that sense. But fire is also used as a sign of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2 the disciples experiences “tongues like fire” on their heads as the Spirit came upon them. We also use the expression of excited Christians being on fire for the Lord. We sing “Set My Soul on Fire, Lord.”