Jesus Begins His Adult Ministry

¹ In those days, John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, ² “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near (or has come).” ³ The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for Him!’” ⁴ John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. ⁶ And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. ⁷ But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath? ⁸ Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. ⁹ Do not just say to each other, ‘We are safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. ¹⁰ Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I am not worthy even to be His slave and carry His sandals. He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with His winnowing fork. Then He will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into His barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” Matthew 3:1-12 (NLT)

After approximately twenty-five years of silence, Matthew takes us from Jesus’ childhood home in Nazareth (Matthew 2:23) into the barren Judean wilderness, where John the Baptist is preaching his message of repentance (Matthew 3:1-2). It has been more than twenty-five years since Joseph and his family moved back to Nazareth. The focus of Matthew’s Gospel now shifts to Jesus’ adult ministry. Jesus was about thirty years old when He began His public ministry (Luke 3:23). The Gospel of Matthew, like the three other New Testament Gospels, is not a biography of Jesus’ life. Instead, the four New Testament Gospels are theological portraits of Jesus that reveal Him as the Messiah (Christ), God’s unique Son, and the long-awaited “Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1, 16), who is the rightful “King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2) and “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Jesus promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

With this new section, Matthew begins Jesus’ adult ministry with an announcement by John the Baptist to “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2, NLT). Significantly, when Jesus begins His public preaching, His first sermon is the same as John the Baptist, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17, NLT; see also Mark 1:14-15). Both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ begin their message with a call to repentance. Repentance is a demand for change in our thoughts and actions by turning our whole hearts and minds from sin (selfishness, self-protection, and self-centeredness) and turning to God with wholehearted allegiance to Him. Our selfishness always leads to wrong actions such as lying, cheating, stealing, gossiping, taking revenge, abusing, and indulging in sexual immorality. God wants everyone to love Him and lead holy and righteous lives that bear good fruit and deeds toward others (Matthew 3:2, 8, 10; see also Matthew 5:16; Galatians 5:22-23).

With the arrival of Jesus, God’s reign and rule had now arrived into the world (Matthew 1:23). John the Baptist, as well as the New Testament apostles, proclaimed that God’s reign and rule with Jesus demands our confession of sins, repentance, and obedience to God (Matthew 3:5-6; see also Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; Acts 17:30-31; Acts 26:20). God’s blessings and grace falls upon those who repent of their sins, wholeheartedly obey to Him, and receive His Son, Jesus Christ. Those who repent of their sins and accept Jesus will receive the blessing of God’s Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15-17) while the unrepentant will receive judgment and God’s wrath (Romans 1:18-32).

As before, Matthew explains how Jesus’ personal history repeats certain aspects of Israel’s national history. Like Israel of old going into the wilderness (Exodus 15:22), God leads Jesus from Egypt into the Judea wilderness (Matthew 3:1; see also Matthew 4:1-11). The wilderness has special meaning in the Old Testament, having both positive and negative connotations. In the Exodus, God takes Israel into the wilderness after leaving Egypt to teach His people to trust Him, purify them of their sins, and bring His people into a covenant relationship with Him. John the Baptist comes inviting all people into the wilderness for baptism and repentance so they can bear good fruit as evidence of their repentance and get into a relationship with God (Matthew 3:2-10). Jesus the Coming One had arrived into the world with the power of God to inaugurate God’s Kingdom. Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire to change our hearts from the inside out (Matthew 3:11-12). Even more, Jesus would make a clean sweep of your lives and place everything false into the trash to be burned (Matthew 3:12; see also Matthew 7:19; Luke 3:9; John 15:2, 6).

References

Life Application Study Bible (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005).

Message Bible (Colorado Springs, CO:  NavPress, 2002).

ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008).

Ross, Mark E. Let’s Study Matthew (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009).