Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 178th episode. In this episode I want to continue our study of the book of Matthew. We are in chapter three. This chapter gives us some insight into John the Baptist as well as showing us the baptism of Jesus Christ. Christ’s baptism at the hands of John marks the official starting point of the gospel. Both Mark and Peter use this event as representing the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry. Some refer to John the Baptist as the morning star which rose in the sky before the Son of God. This is like when you go outside on a cold morning and the sun hasn’t risen just yet but you can still see a star in the sky. The idea is meant to illustrate how the ministry of John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of King Jesus.
John preached a doctrine of repentance. He called for all people to repent of their sins and be baptized because the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The prophet Isaiah predicted the rise of John the Baptist when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!” So the life and ministry of John the Baptist fulfilled the scriptures as well. We see by this chapter that John lived a separated life which possibly included a vow of poverty. He dressed in a garment of camels hair fastened with a leather belt and his food was locusts and wild honey. Multitudes of people heard the call of John the Baptist and made their way into the wilderness to see him. There were people from Jerusalem, from all Judea, and from all the district around the Jordan. These crowds of people submitted to John’s baptism and many of them confessed their sins in that moment.
This chapter also presents John’s sermon to the Pharisees and Sadducees who were the religious elite of this time period. It was John’s effort to bring them to repentance and thereby open their eyes to the Savior Jesus Christ. Immediately following John’s call for repentance and his baptizing of the crowds there arrives Jesus Christ on the scene. Jesus permits John to baptize Him and in that seminal moment which marks the beginning of the gospel the Spirit of God descends on Christ and the Father’s voice is heard from Heaven. It’s one of the rare and glorious moments in Scripture where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are pictured in the same scene as one marvelous Trinity. Let’s read verses 1-6:
Mat 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
Mat 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Mat 3:3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'”
Mat 3:4 Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Mat 3:5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
Mat 3:6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
The preaching and baptism of John was the ministry which prepared the way for Jesus Christ and marked the beginning of the gospel. Notice how the previous chapter left us with Jesus as an infant and now picks up with Him as a fully grown adult. God is patient and all of His work takes place in precisely the season He wants it to. When you consider all the prophecies which pointed to Jesus at and before His birth you would think His divine presence and power would be made manifest even when He was very young – but it didn’t happen this way. To a lesser degree this same idea applied to John the Baptist. He was spoken of very highly but his ministry didn’t really begin until he became an adult. If you’re young and you’re listening to this, you shouldn’t allow your youth to discourage you – but you must understand that God’s will for your life may not unfold until you reach the fullness of time and enter into the season He has appointed for you.
When you really consider it, most of the earthly lives of both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were lived in obscurity. This reveals something about the nature of our God. He is a God who, despite being the all-powerful Lord of all, humbles Himself to remain gently hidden until His people are ready for His divine work. The office of Jesus Christ as our Savior and His work on the cross is how God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. Noticing how Jesus – who is God incarnate – humbled Himself so as not to boast in His own power and divinity presents a lesson for all of us. No matter how talented any of us are, none of us are worthy to put ourselves forward as deserving of honor and glory. Jesus is the only One who deserves honor and glory. And if even Jesus didn’t readily Lord His status over us in order to garner some form of cheap praise – there’s no human who has ever lived or will ever live who should be doing that. Even the most talented and impactful ministers would do well to practice modesty: to be quick to listen and slow to speak.
Matthew doesn’t give an account of John’s birth but Luke does. Until John the Baptist, the Church had been without a prophet for over three hundred years. Malachi was the last prophet before John and he was also the prophet who pointed most directly to John. John did most of his preaching in the wilderness of Judea. This place was not desolate but it was less populated than some of the major city-centers. Sometimes you hear people talk about how they most tangibly experience God when they are withdrawn into peaceful places like the woods or outside somewhere in nature. This kind of thing certainly has biblical precedent. In this manner John lived a life of contemplation before beginning his ministry. King David wrote Psalm 63 in the wilderness of Judah and he spoke of his sweet communion with God. Jesus was known to withdraw into the quiet places for times of prayer. Also the law of the old covenant was given to Moses in the wilderness. Cities are great and I love cities. But cities are often concentrations of worldly spirits which can get in the way of your experiencing the quiet presence of God. Whether you live in a city or not I think it’s wise to unplug regularly and connect with Jesus through the beauty of His creation.
The fact that we find John preaching in the wilderness while we know Jesus spent much of His time in the Temple reveals to us the transition from the old covenant to the new covenant. Here’s what I mean: John the Baptist belonged to the priesthood of Aaron. So he was authorized by lineage to do ministry. Jesus did not belong to the order of Aaron. Jesus being in the Temple while John preached in the wilderness shows us that the King has come and all the previous ministers – while being used by God for His divine purpose – were simply precursors to the arrival of the Good Shepherd. The fact that the gospel begins in the wilderness also points to God’s intention of bringing His word to the Gentile world. The work of Christ on the cross opened the pathway for everyone all over the world to call themselves children of the Most High.
It’s no accident we find John preaching instead of fighting or debating. For whatever reason God has chosen those who preach the word of truth faithfully and accurately as His vessels for advancing His Kingdom. We should continue to preach carefully, faithfully, and persistently even if we aren’t seeing the results we would like right now. The reason we should remain faithful with this work is that God has chosen it as a primary means by which humanity hears His word. If God has ordained preaching as one of His tools then we can take peace and encouragement in knowing we are doing the right thing. The theme of John’s preaching was repentance. He called on those around him in the land of Judea to repent. Many of these people would have been Jews who had already made professions of faith – but even these religious people needed repentance. John’s preaching of repentance took place in the wilderness which tells us even those who live far outside the cities still need to repent. When you isolate yourself from other people in rural areas it can be easy to convince yourself you’ve done no wrong. You live far away from the temptation-centers which make up most cities so you can begin to feel inherently more godly. But even the most secret, most obscure places of this world are not hidden from the sight of God.
The purpose of John’s preaching was to alert humanity to repent of their sins. This meant standing back and evaluating your own heart as well as giving careful thought to your motives and actions. To repent is to admit you are wrong and to turn away from being wrong so God can make you right. True repentance is very difficult because without knowing Jesus and without the forgiveness He offers the guilt of sin is overbearing. A person who is truly repentant becomes careful to no longer continue in the sin from which they repented. John came before Christ preaching repentance because repentance is a necessary step in preparing your heart to receive the comfort of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The need for repentance is a direct consequence of the fall of humanity. Had humanity remained upright in the sight of God there would be no need to repent in order to experience the divine consolations. It’s kind of like when you need surgery. Surgery is an invasive process that would be incredibly painful were it not for anesthesia. But surgery is necessary in order to save the patient. Without surgery, the wound would fester and spread until it consumed the entire body.
Notice the motivational reasoning John gives for urging the people to repent. He says they must repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Throughout the Old Testament God’s people were called to repent in order to avoid national judgments. Their cultures and their societies would begin to crumble the further they separated themselves from God. The same is true of us today, but notice the difference in John’s reasoning over against the reasoning of the Old Testament prophets. John’s reasoning is focused on the transcendent value of the kingdom of heaven whereas the prophets reasoning was focused on the temporal value of earthly kingdoms. The focus is shifted away from entire people groups or societies and instead narrowed on each individual and their relationship with God. This change in dispensation represents the gospel covenant of grace and how the kingdom of heaven has been opened to all believers – regardless of their respective people group – by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The kingdom of heaven is an eternal space in which Jesus Christ is sovereign and each individual must become willing, faithful subjects to His sovereignty. God’s kingdom is not of this world but rather it is a spiritual kingdom which exists from everlasting to everlasting. During the time of John the baptist the kingdom of heaven was at hand, meaning it would not be long before Christ’s crucifixion opened the gates to eternity. For us the kingdom of heaven is no longer at hand but it has already arrived. The pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit and the divine riches of gospel grace means that progressive sanctification is available to us right now. This means we can become more like Jesus right now – we can access and develop into our divine, eternal identities right now by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Having gospel grace available to us presents a very good incentive to repent and establish our relationship with God. The major motivation for knowing Jesus is not avoidance of hell, rather it’s the immeasurable blessing of living your life in accordance with reality and allowing your own spirit to draw close to the Comforter who is the Holy Spirit. Loving Jesus and accepting His forgiveness causes the human heart to break free from sin. I want to be careful here. I’m not saying you will instantly overcome the sins which you struggle with. That process of sanctification will likely take the rest of your life. But once you put your faith in Jesus your aim immediately changes. You begin to aim at heaven and simply aiming at heaven will transform your experience on earth.
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom yes, but this fear is more like a reverential respect. The same kind of fear you’d give fire itself. You have to treat fire with respect or else it will burn your life down – but you don’t completely abandon the use of fire because it brings great blessings as well. Your relationship with Jesus should be founded on His loving kindness. True kindness has a way of conquering hearts in a manner which intimidation and brute force can’t achieve. People will follow a leader they fear but they will die for a leader they love. Also once you realize all the ways in which you’ve sinned against God despite His loving kindness, this realization brings with it a tremendous sense of humility. It doesn’t feel good to hurt someone when you finally understand that person has been looking out for you the entire time. In fact I would suggest the sense of guilt and shame is so severe that without gospel grace and knowing you are pardoned it is impossible to approach God.
The ministry of John the Baptist fulfilled a prophecy spoken by Isaiah – namely that John was the voice which prepared a way through the wilderness for the arrival of King Jesus. Despite being the subject of divine prophecy, John was careful to maintain his humility in admitting he was merely a mouthpiece for the word of God. In this particular moment of history the mind of God is simply being made known through the preaching of John. The same is true for the apostle Paul and everyone else God has chosen to speak through. All of these men and women of the Bible are touched by the Spirit of God such that He reveals aspects of Himself through them. Jesus Himself is a bit different since He is God incarnate. Jesus is called the Word made flesh – which means Jesus is the clearest, most articulate manifestation of God. When we look at Christ we see God Himself – the Son reveals the Father and the Spirit.
I don’t believe God is speaking authoritatively through human beings anymore – I believe we have a closed canon of Scripture and that the word of God is sufficient. However, when you allow the Spirit of God to sanctify you through the study of Scripture and you clothe yourself with the righteousness of Christ I believe God is revealed through you to others. A person who walks in the Spirit and carries him or herself with a Christlike mode of being becomes a window through which others can look to see the image of God. John the Baptist was the voice God used to rouse humanity, and then Jesus is the Word which God used to instruct them once He had their attention. It’s interesting to note how John’s father was stricken deaf and mute until John was born especially considering how John would be characterized as the voice crying out in the wilderness. This kind of redemption shows us the power and sovereignty of God to do whatever pleases Him through even the most unlikely instruments.
Even John’s appearance was meant to convey the nature of the Kingdom of God. John didn’t show up on the scene dressed in luxury, rather he was more like a hermit. Earthly Kings might have sent ornately garbed heralds ahead of themselves to declare the pomp and circumstance which attended their arrival. But the King of kings sent John the Baptist who looked homeless. John’s lowly appearance sends us a twofold message regarding Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven. First is that God doesn’t need our approval for His own glory. The glory of God is inherent to who He is. He can send a vagrant to be His herald and still arrive with infinitely more honor and glory than earthly kings who send top officers to announce their arrival. Second is that the economy of value in Heaven is going to look very different from how we value things here in the world. Our sense of value is often inextricably linked to material wealth. Material wealth means nothing when measured against value in the kingdom of heaven because material wealth is temporal and the kingdom of heaven is eternal. The MacBook I’m writing this podcast on is worth a lot now but in a few short years it won’t be worth anything. This progressive loss of value doesn’t exist in the kingdom of heaven.
John preached to a generation wherein the Jewish church was not very healthy. The Scribes and Pharisees had stripped away the true meaning of God’s word so they themselves could acquire power. They had a functional monopoly on religious thought and they also had gained access to the government. The religious elite had become arrogant and self-righteous. Their sense of self-righteousness made them blind to their own sin and shortcomings. Even being made a province of the Roman Empire wasn’t enough to humble the Jews whose false piety had hardened their hearts. Human beings are naturally opposed to God. Our fallen nature is bent in opposition to Him. So when you become proud of yourself and allow arrogance to harden your heart you will readily reject the word of God. Pride blinds you to your own sins and when you are blind to your sins it becomes very difficult to accept gospel grace – that’s why repentance comes before forgiveness.
So John’s act of preparing the way for Jesus wasn’t to flatten literal mountains and clear pathways through literal wilderness – rather it was to reduce the mountains of unrepentant sin and clear a path through the wilderness which made up the hardened hearts of those sinners. The same idea holds true today. When you acknowledge and repent of your sins you are participating in the same kind of ministry John the Baptist was working through with his generation. Just as Jesus arrived following John’s preaching of repentance, so He will arrive in your own heart following your own repentance. God desires a broken and contrite spirit which means a heart that’s been humbled away from the blindness which attends arrogant self-righteousness and has been made aware of sin. The haughty visions of a fallen human being must be brought down and subdued into obedience of Christ before forgiveness and sanctification can take place. When a person lives without Jesus his or her paths are desperately crooked. But when that same person puts their faith in Jesus his or her paths are made straight.
We know John the Baptist was humble in appearance and Christ Himself was not much different during his Incarnation. But we want to be careful we don’t emphasize this appearance of humility too much. It’s actually possible, and often happens, that Christians become proud of how humble they look. The whole point in humble clothing is to keep your heart humble. If Christians create an economy of prestige surrounding humble clothes and whoever looks most homeless gets praised the highest then we’ve defeated the purpose. Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less often. So it’s best to dress yourself in accordance with wherever God’s providence has you at this moment and then think nothing else of it.
In the eyes of the world a humble Christian can often appear plain and simple. A person who basks in the joy of the Lord has less of a need for the trivial adornments which make up luxury in this life. A proper Christian will also resist the temptation to value others based on their appearance or their wealth. John the Baptist clothed himself in much the same way as the prophets of the Old Testament. His rough leather belt would have stood out as the mark of a workman during a time when finer, more delicate belts were favored. I’m not opposed to finery when a person can dress themselves that way while protecting his or her heart against arrogance. But there’s something to be said for clothing yourself in such a way that you are prepared to deal with the harshness of this world. In Luke’s gospel we are told to be dressed in readiness and to keep our lamps lit. The idea here is that Jesus is coming back, we don’t know when, but we should do all we can to be prepared for when He does.
In addition to his humble clothing John also ate a rather plain diet. Locusts and wild honey supplied his nutrition while he was hidden away in solitude for prayer and contemplation. It’s unlikely that he never ate anything else, but it’s just that these two items made up the staple of his diet. I’ve never eaten locusts but apparently they are quite good for food. Locusts are like a flying insect and they’re both nutritious and easy to digest. In Ecclesiastes one of the marks of infirmity from old-age is the inability to digest the grasshopper and the locust. Wild honey would have been easy to find in this area because Canaan was known as a land which flowed with milk and honey. You could find wild honey in the hollows of trees, in rock formations, or anywhere else the bees built. Even though locusts and wild honey weren’t rare in the region – it was probably still far less food than a person would be accustomed to when living in a city. John probably ate sparingly because he was so taken up with spiritual concerns that his time spent hunting and gathering was sparse.
John’s lifestyle of self-denial and the serious nature with which he conducted himself was well in-keeping with the doctrine of repentance that he preached. You might look at John’s life and suggest that any pastor or spiritual leader who calls for the mortification of sin should also life a serious life of self-denial. To be honest I struggle with this. I see many effective preachers who embrace humor and seem to enjoy the Christian walk through life. I don’t think being a Christian means you must turn your entire life into doldrums and never have fun. But it does mean both recognizing and squaring with the terrifying reality of sin and the corrupt nature of this world. Once you witness and accept the reality of evil something inside you changes. Especially when you understand the capacity for evil you see in others is the same capacity which lurks in the dark corners of your own heart. It’s like you realize two terrible things at one time – first is that you are broken and you need a Savior. Second is that if you choose defiance and refuse to repent, you will fall into the hands of the living God. John had a deep understanding of how evil his own generation was and this understanding caused him to fast almost every day.
But there is good news at the center of this seeming tragedy. There is a light in the midst of the darkness. That good news is the gospel and that light is Jesus Christ. Not only was John familiar with the influence wickedness had leveraged over his generation, but he was also familiar with the power of God. He was acquainted with divine and spiritual goodness and this acquaintance caused him to look at the sinful pleasures of this world with a holy indifference. Like John, Christians who know Jesus and who are being sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit will see the vanity of this world for just what it is – so much of it is here today, gone tomorrow, and carries no eternal significance. Allowing yourself to be transformed so that your heart is no longer fixed on vanity is one of the key steps in repentance which clears the way for Jesus to become Lord of your life. Learning how to enjoy the good things in life without becoming attached to the rest of it is how you allow the kingdom of heaven to spread through your heart. That’s why Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit.
John’s preaching of the word of God did not return void. People from Jerusalem and all over Judea came out to hear what he had to say. This demographic included men, women, young people, old people, upper-class elites and also the poor. Even the religious scholars, the Pharisees, came out to hear John preach. It would have been a great honor for John that so many people came to listen to him. I’ve met preachers who regularly speak to thousands of people each week. From the outside-looking-in it’s easy to assume these preachers are arrogant and high on their own glory – but my experience has shown me the opposite is true. Admittedly there are some bad actors who have large audiences, but most of the popular preachers I’ve met are similar to John in that they do not chase after glory and honor.
Remember God is still sovereign and He can choose to lift up any preacher He wants to. And we know that God honors those who are humble and brings down those who are arrogant. When a humble person carries himself with a sense of seriousness and self-denial, he garners the respect of those around him in ways he may not even realize. This is because humility, seriousness, and self-denial are all hallmarks of the character of Jesus Christ. Since we are designed in God’s image we cannot help but admire individuals who accurately model our Creator in the way they carry themselves. And the crazy thing about arrogance is that it is no respecter of actual talent. A cursory study of history in almost any field of inquiry will show you multiple examples of individuals who truly were the best of the best at their craft and yet were still brought down because of pride. God doesn’t care if you’re better at what you do than all the other humans – you’re still merely a human and that means you have no reason to be arrogant and God has no problem bringing you down.
The crowds coming to listen to John were an indication that God was with Him and the power of God was moving in his work. If we remain faithful to preach and teach the word of God accurately there’s no reason He can’t work through us as well. There’s no reason we can’t see multiple generations gather together and press into the kingdom of heaven. The people of John’s generation had a cultural expectation that the kingdom of God would appear in their own lifetimes. You might wonder why they were so degenerate if this was the case, but simply look around you today. The western world is majority Christian and many of today’s Christians would also say they expect the return of Christ in their own lifetime. But the seductive power of corruption continues to wreak havoc nonetheless.
John’s teaching and lifestyle was so different from the Pharisees that many who saw him mistook him for Christ Himself. Church leaders live in a constant tension between desiring to be Christlike while also constantly reminding their followers about the danger of idolatry. The more Christlike your leader is the greater the temptation to idolize him or her. We must never allow this because regardless of how holy any human appears, our own righteousness is like filthy rags compared to that of Jesus. If you want to be able to teach and preach like John the Baptist there are at least two principles you need to prioritize. First is that you must seek out the word of God and do not wait for it to come to you. Your Bible isn’t going to read itself and your intimacy with God will be perpetually stunted if you fail to study His word. Second is that you need to set aside time to get away from the noise of this world and sit in the presence of God. This means being still in a quiet place and asking God what parts of your heart need purified. This is a difficult and intimidating task but once you understand the grace of God and how He loves you then you’ll be able to do it and the spiritual rewards will be great.
In John’s case not everyone who came to hear him preach readily accepted what he had to say. This rejection is something you should be prepared for if you ever intend on sharing your faith. Don’t allow the rejection to discourage you because even Christ Himself was rejected by the people who were supposed to know who He is. Crowds of people came to listen to John, yes, but not all of them were in the same place spiritually and many probably walked away skeptical at best. Just because a church has high attendance doesn’t mean it’s full of actual Christians. It’s impossible to say how many people will go to church for the novelty of it or to hear a silver-tongued preacher but will never be changed by the power of God’s word. Since we have no reliable way of measuring it the best thing we can do is be faithful in our work and allow God to handle the fruit of it.
Out of the crowds of listeners some came forward to John and wished to be baptized. This was like the rite of passage John provided so his listeners could publicly demonstrate their repenting of sin and their acceptance that the kingdom of is at hand. They confessed their sins to John but likely they only did this in a general sense. As Christians I don’t think it’s wise to become enamored with confession in such a way that we are marinating each other in the taboo details of our specific sins. The people who John baptized probably confessed simply that they were sinners who needed to be cleansed. When it comes to the specific details of your sins you should reserve these for two parties: first is God and second is a trusted counselor. You should confess them to God because He already knows them and God is the One whom you have sinned against. As far as a trusted counselor is concerned, this does not mean your best friend or one of your close brothers and sisters in Christ. This means a professionally trained, objective third-party who has established a therapeutic relationship with you. This person is not your friend and does not maintain a relationship with you outside of the professional therapeutic context. This person is also bound by confidentiality and does not have a biased interest in telling you what you want to hear.
One of the key differences between the repentance John preached and the repentance the Jews practiced was that John’s repentance was focused on the individual heart. The Old Covenant which the Jews practiced allowed for a collective confession and repentance of sin once per year on the day of atonement. The problem with keeping this confession at the collective level was that it prevented any real reflection on the damage corruption had done on each person’s heart. Without the realization of their individual brokenness many of the Jews failed to acknowledge their need for a Savior and became trapped in self-righteousness. John’s claim was different in that his call for repentance meant only those who took an honest look at their own personal sins were in a position to receive the forgiveness of Christ.
Part of what John’s baptism symbolized was that each individual would be cleansed of their sins. The water itself did not do this but was merely a token for how God would purify them. The practice of baptism itself was not exclusive to John or to the teachers of the faith who followed Christ either. The Jews would often baptize people who they admitted into their religion as proselytes. It might also be the case that other prominent religions of that era used baptism as a way of admitting people in. This is one of the reasons why Jesus asked if John’s baptisms were of heaven or of men. Of course John’s baptism had the heavenly characteristic that it was a baptism of repentance. You might wonder why Christ was baptized by John considering Christ had no sin from which to repent. Even John himself wondered this and doubted himself whether he was fit to baptize Jesus at all. But Jesus reassured John and told him it should be done to fulfill all righteousness which could mean to satisfy the prophecies established in Scripture.
Many of John’s baptisms took place in the Jordan River although it’s possible he baptized people in other places as well. The Jordan River was famous for Israel’s passage through it so it was a fitting place for Christ to be baptized. But regardless of location, the important part of John’s baptism was the repentance. John helped a lot of people accept reality and turn their lives around by confessing their own brokenness and making a holy resolution to do better by the grace of God. We do the same thing today when we are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is a public profession of faith which tells our community that we’ve opened our hearts to the sanctification of the Spirit of God. You don’t need to be baptized in order to be saved and go to heaven when you die. But baptism is important insofar as doing it follows the example Christ modeled and also gives you a symbolic starting point for the transformation which will take place across the rest of your lifetime.
It’s never to late to repent of your sins and accept Jesus and your Lord and Savior. You can do it right now. And part of that decision is understanding you will continuously need God’s grace even after you become a follower of Jesus. You won’t do it perfectly and that’s okay because God’s grace is sufficient for you. Sanctification is a process and becoming more like Jesus is going to take time – but shifting your initial aim so that your eyes are on heaven is the most important part. Choosing to walk the journey of life with Jesus by your side as opposed to walking it alone is going to make all the difference.
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