The Baptism of Jesus Christ - Matthew 3:1-17

ANALYSIS

At this point in the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 3) the narrative is brought forward a number of years. We are introduced to John the Baptist, the man prophesied of by Isaiah and also referenced to in John 1:6-8 who would “bear witness about the light” and make HIS way straight. Matthew 3:1-6 records John’s appearance, his message, and his impact. He is described as wearing a garment of camel’s hair with a leather belt, and his diet is said to consist of locust and wild honey. John came preaching a message of repentance warning all who passed by to turn their hearts to God. His impact was dynamic and far reaching as verses 5-6 say that all in the surrounding region were going out to him and being baptized.

In the next paragraph John openly rebukes the many religious Pharisees and Sadducees who had come down to hear them speak. He rebukes them presumably because of their religious formalism and sternly warns them not to place their trust in man-made rituals and ideas of salvation; instead, he tells them to bear fruit with repentance. An analogy, which stands for all of us, is made referring to an axe which will chop down all the trees which do not bear fruit. These trees will be cast into the fire. In verses 11-12 he foretells the coming of Christ and repeats his warning, this time with the analogy of wheat and chaff. Christ will baptize those who are his, and thus bear fruit, with the Holy Spirit and will gather his wheat into the “barn,” but those who are not his, and therefore remain fruitless chaff, will be baptized with “unquenchable fire”

In the last paragraph we witness Christ’s Baptism. It is significant that we see in these verses a clear glimpse of the Trinity. As Jesus comes out of there water there appears the Holy Spirit as a dove, and God the Father declares Jesus to be his beloved Son.

RESPONSE

What stands out in this passage as significant to me, is John the Baptist’s warning to the religious elite of that day. They had placed their faith, not in the sacrificial lamb which was to come, but in their religious rituals and largely in being “sons of Abraham.” This is an important message to many of us who profess to be Christians. Just as in biblical times, people today have a propensity to replace true spirituality with dead formality. We (meaning I) are easily distracted from the true purpose in life and worship, glorifying God. Instead we start to do things because we are supposed to. We replace a vertical focus on God with a horizontal focus on man and self, and we end up with the form, but not the function. I need to be constantly reminded to live a walk of repentance and judge the thoughts and intentions of my heart.