Matthew 3:1-6, part 1

Matthew 3:1-6

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

DAY 12
July 21, 2024

John The Baptist, part 1
Matthew 3:1-6

Review of last week-

The Two Camps and God sovereignly and supernaturally superintending (or directing) history to fulfill His purposes and His will, which is – the salvation of our souls: Our redemption. If you look, you will see both of these points illustrated in chapter 3. (But not so much in today’s lesson)

I was reading from about Pro. 14:16 on thru Pro. 15.)

PRAY

The sins of the people of Israel in the OT flowed up and down like the peaks and valleys of mountain ranges. When the people of Israel followed God and obeyed His laws and commands, things went well. When the people of Israel followed God and obeyed His laws and commands, the OT prophets activity of calling out the people for their sins was much less. During the “peaks,” when they obeyed God, the people were blessed. But there was a cycle where, as things went well, people tended to get proud. They forgot about God and slid back down into sin. When this happened, the activity of the prophets increased. They would again begin calling out for repentance and for a return to God; for repentance. At the time of Jesus birth – somewhere between 4-6 BC, Israel was at a very low point in her history. They were in a very deep spiritual, sin infested valley. This is the scene that John the Baptist was born into. Israel was in a deep trouble spiritually, and not able to dig her way out. And the spiritual leaders of the day, the Pharisees and Sadducees were not only not not helping, they were actually making things worse. Israel’s biggest troubles early in the first century were not with Rome as they had supposed. Their biggest problem was with God. And so comes John on the stage, the first prophet in Israel for four hundred years, preaching repentance and the kingdom of heaven. 

Now, in Matthew Chapter 3, it is now about 28 years or so after the end of chapter 2. In chapter 2, Jesus was a very young child. Now, He is a man, and both John and Jesus are each about 30 years old. 

In the OT, one of the main ways that God spoke to the people of Israel was thru His chosen servants the prophets, and, as we have mentioned in previous weeks, prophets and their prophecies are huge in Matthew’s Gospel.

And now comes John the Baptist with a similar mission as most, if not all the TRUE OT prophets before him: To declare that Israel was in a big mess. As our Holman commentary states on page 33, “The people of Israel had been thinking wrongly about God, themselves, their sin, their righteousness, and the nature of the kingdom.” To put it briefly it says, the people were “spiritually blind.”

Our commentary also says, (page 32, bottom) to further describe how bad the situation was, that “The priests who were supposed to represent the people to God were crooks! They were the wicked men that Isaiah had prophesied about” in Isa. 28:1-29

Now consider this situation and how bad it was. They were occupied and oppressed by Rome. And as we learned last week, the King of Judea was a puppet king installed by Rome and most likely not even legally, by Jewish customs, laws and genealogical requirements not even a rightful king. And King Herod was notoriously ruthless and paranoid. 

QUESTION: Considering all that, if you were John the Baptist, and it was your job to give the people a message, what would your message be???
What does “confess” mean? (Page 36, middle)
What does repent mean?
What is the difference??? 

Let’s take a quick look at who John the Baptist is.

John the Baptist: 

Just a little background. Luke gives us much more info about John than Matthew. One thing we learn from Luke is that  both John’s parents came from the lineage of Aaron. His father was a priest, so John, thru his genealogy, was qualified to be a priest. But God had much bigger plans for John. And his mother, Elizabeth, was related to Mary, the mother of Jesus, so it is likely that Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins. You would think that they would be close, or at least know each, but interestingly, The Gospel According John the Apostle says in vs 1:31 and 33 that John did not know him, which could mean a couple of different things. (1. He never met him, or 2. He simply didn’t know or recognize Him as ”Lord.”

The NIV Application Commentary says, that “John is an immensely important historical figure, especially because he is the link between God’s saving activity in the Old Testament and his saving activity in the ministry of Jesus.”

The Gospel According to Mark, in vs 1:4 says that “(NIV) John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Pastor and commentator John MacArthur says that John was greatest man who ever lived. 

In Matt 11:11 Jesus says, “(NIV) 11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” We will discuss that when we get to chapter 11.

But for now,  What do you think made John great? Why do you think Jesus said he was great?

  1. He was humble
  2. Filled with the Spirits
  3. Obedient to his calling 
  4. Self-controlled
  5. Led many to Christ
  6. Proclaimed God’s Word
  7. He was fearless
  8. He was focused
  9. Faithful to the message

(See definitions of Repentance and Kingdom of Heaven below, down the page)

————————

Repentance 

Secular dictionary definition (incomplete, not biblical) definition: 

feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin. (Oxford)

to feel sorrow for one’s sin and make up one’s mind to do what is right

: to feel sorry for or dissatisfied with something one has done : REGRET (Merriam-Webster Webster)

Does anyone see a problem with these”secular, cultural” definitions?

(CWSB Dictionary) metanoéō; contracted metanoṓ, fut. metanoḗsō, from metá (G3326), denoting change of place or condition, and noéō (G3539), to exercise the mind, think, comprehend. To repent, change the mind, relent. Theologically, it involves regret or sorrow, accompanied by a true change of heart toward God.     It is distinguished from metamélomai (G3338), to regret.

(CWSB Dictionary) In a religious sense implying pious sorrow for unbelief and sin and a turning from them unto God and the gospel of Christ. Used in an absolute sense

(CWSB Dictionary) meaning to repent and turn to God from idolatry;

(First-Century Study Bible Notes) Word Study

Repent:   metanoeō μετανοέω

Matthew 3:2

Metanoeō means to “change one’s mind” or “to have a total change of one’s thought or (and!)  behavior.” In Greek thought, the mind was one of the ultimate centers of a person’s being (the other being the heart). The Hebrew term for repentance is teshuvah, meaning to “turn or change directions.” Both the Greek and Hebrew concepts of repentance express a total transformation of the individual, what might be called a conversion.

Jewish source – Hebrew (OT) word for repentance. Typically, teshuvah is translated from the Hebrew as repentance, but it literally means return, as if turning back to something you’ve strayed or looked away from. 

The Complete Jewish Study Bible Notes says about v 3:2 “Turn from your sins to God.” Saying that the underlying concept in the Hebrew is seen in the word t’shuvah, which I mentioned last week, and means turn, or turning, or return or returning, meaning to turn to God from one’s sins or to return back to God from one’s sins. The Jewish understanding of repentance is that each individual must make t’shuvah, yet that requires God’s grace to be able to do it: That squares beautifully with the universal Protestant doctrine of salvation as clearly seen in Eph. 2:8-9. Then the Jewish Study Bible adds something very amazing: It says, “ADONAI, turn us back to you; and we will come back” What I find really cool about that statement is that it is a quote from the Old Testament!   (Lam. 5:21- Jewish translation)

But that begs the question: return to what?

Depending on the time and place, there have been different answers —The Hebrew Bible sees teshuvah as principally a return to God. “Come, let us return to the Lord,” the prophet Hoshea (14:2) tells the people of Israel. 

Traditional rabbinical commentators have interpreted this to mean that teshuvah requires confessing your sins to God.

(From https://www.brandeis.edu/jewish-experience/holidays-religious-traditions/2021/september/atonement-yom-kippur-mirsky.html#:~:text=Typically, teshuvah is translated from,strayed or looked away from.)

In light of the previously mentioned spiritual trouble Israel was in when John came on the scene, 

  1. Why is understanding this term – REPENTANCE – so important? And
  2. Why is it so important to ACTUALLY repent? 

In the gospels, generally, who does it seem dud most if the repenting, and who did not? And why?

Have you confessed and repented?

Kingdom of Heaven

What is the kingdom of heaven? 

Short, but incomplete answer: That place where God rules, or reigns, such as the hearts of believers.

Here in Matthew 3:2, John the Baptist gets the conversation started about the kingdom of heaven, then as we will see in Matthew 4, Jesus will take over the conversation from John, and speak about it a LOT about the Kingdom of Heaven in the rest of Matthew’s gospel. If you recall from our introductory comments back in April and May, the Kingdom of Heaven is a major theme in Matthew’s gospel. In fact, he uses the term 32 times, in addition to using the parallel term Kingdom of Heaven about 4 times. So about 36 times altogether. The phrase, “Kingdom of Heaven” is used nowhere else in the NT.

A little longer answer (but still incomplete) might be: The term translated “kingdom” is the Greek word basileia, which means “the realm in which a sovereign king rules,” of which there are two aspect: The kingdom currently at hand, or near, and the kingdom to come when Jesus returns in glory. The kingdom is now “partly” here, but not yet “fully” here, or fully manifest. 

These are two aspects to the kingdom of heaven are 1) the kingdom that is partially here now, and 2) the fully consummated kingdom kingdom yet to come when Jesus returns and creates the new heavens and the new earth. This kingdom yet to come is referenced in the Lord’s Prayer – Your kingdom come -, and at the end of Revelation 22:20, which says, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

In the physical, material world of the monarchs of the earth, a kingdom would normally refer to a physical space or define an area, like the kingdom of England or of France. 

In the spiritual world, it can mean a similar thing; God can and does rule over an area that is committed to Him and submitted to His loving rule, such as a church or a devout Christian household. But in the spiritual world it means even more. It signifies that God is the ruler of our hearts. The CWSB Dictionary says,  “Spiritually, the kingdom of God is within the human heart (Luke 17:21).” That is a good definition for this day and age. However, when Jesus returns for His second coming, He will vanquish all His enemies and will completely rule, not only His believer’s hearts, but the whole of the physical and spiritual universe. 

Question: 

  1. Why is this good news?
  2. What are implications of this for your everyday life on this side of heaven?

make straight paths for him.’”

Which is a quote of Isaiah 40:3

————————————

Questions and APPLICATION: 

What can you say about John the Baptist from this short passage – from what scriptures tells us about him?

What kind of man was he? Good? Patient and kind? Righteous? Biblically correct? Fair? Was he clear in his message? 

What about his character? 

How did he handle himself?

Was he humble? How? (Contrast him with the Pharisee)

DO YOU SEE ANYTHING IN HIM THAT YOU THINK CHRIST FOLLOWERS TODAY SHOULD EMULATE? Is there any way in him, or anything in him that should motivate us or inspire us, or that we should copy?

How can we PREPARE THE WAY for the lost to hear about Jesus?

Quote: The best theology will not remove mystery from your life, so rest is found in trusting the One who rules, is all, and knows no mystery.  Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies, day 4

——————————————

After class note


Bible Project Gospel of Matthew, Summary part 1

Bible Project Disclaimer: While the Bible Project Animation Videos are generally very good, we at the Orchard Church do not necessarily agree with every single point of every single video. Particularly, for example, we do not agree with everything they teach regarding the Atonement (which is NOT referenced here in the Matthew summaries.)
All authors, teachers, preachers and churches have points upon which we disagree, are flawed or mistaken in some way or another. Only the Bible is perfect in all it says and teaches. Grace abounds, even while holding tight to sound doctrine. Know your Bible well! For more disclaimer info, go to our Links page.

The Olive Tree Bible App is free and comes with several free books. You can buy additional books if you like.
Olivetree Bible App website – home page

Holman Commentary of Matthew in Olive Tree r

Olive Tree Support page “HOW TO” videos

What is a Covenant? By Keith A. Mathison on TableTalkMagazine.com

What is a Covenant in the Bible? by Ester Kuhn at firmisrael.org

Discover the Five Covenants in the Bible – an article on the Olivetree Blog

Why was geneologies so important to Israel? By gotquestions.org

What is the Relevance of Geneologies in the Bible? By gotquestions.org

Good article on The Kingdom of God by Tim Barnett of Stand To Reason website

Why did God give us Four Gospels by GotQuestions.org