Matthew 3
EverettMatthew 3:1-4
Justification: The Kingdom is Inaugurated through the Presentation and Justification of Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:1 to Matthew 4:11) – The narrative material recorded in Matthew 3:1 to Matthew 4:11 shows us how Jesus’ was ordained, or inaugurated, into His ministry in fulfillment of God’s standard of righteousness through three testimonies. Matthew uses the testimonies of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-12), of God the Father (Matthew 3:13-17), and of Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 4:1-11) to verify the fact that mankind is sinful (Matthew 3:1-12), that Jesus Christ is well-pleasing unto God (Matthew 3:13-17), and that Jesus is without sin in fulfillment of the Mosaic Law (Matthew 4:1-11). (The Gospel of Matthew will include the testimony of Jesus’ miracles in later narratives, but He has yet to begin His public ministry.) Within this passage we have material to support the fulfillment of one Old Testament Scripture found in Isaiah 40:3, which testifies of the ministry of John the Baptist, who was sent ahead of the Messiah in order to prepare the way for the presentation of the King to the Jewish people through a water baptism signifying their repentance from sins (Matthew 3:1-12) and through the audible testiomony of God the Father at the baptism of Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:13-17). Immediately after His water baptism Jesus is driven into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil in order to testify of His sinless character (Matthew 4:1-11). In other words, this passage of Scripture testifies of man’s sinful nature and God’s impending judgment through the testimony of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-12), of God the Father’s testimony justifying His Son Jesus Christ as the appointed Messiah (Matthew 3:13-17), and of Jesus testifying of His sinless character as His justification to fulfill the office of the Messiah (Matthew 4:1-11). Thus, we understand that the three stories recorded in Matthew 3:1 to Matthew 4:11 support the testimony of the fulfillment of Isa 40:3 in which John the Baptist was sent ahead to show the Messiah to the Jewish people, and to reveal to them that repentance from the heart is God’s standard of true righteousness, as seen in the sinless character of Jesus Christ. The baptism of Jesus is the ceremony that God used to present Him to the people of Israel.
Jesus demonstrated true righteousness before the people by receiving baptism Himself and having God the Father’s audible voice justify His Son. Jesus was then led into the wilderness to demonstrate true love and devotion to His Father as the purest expression of righteousness before God. The Old Testament prophecy that was fulfilled within these events is Isaiah 40:3, and is quoted in Matthew 3:3. Isaiah 40:3, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Matthew 3:3, “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Outline: Here is a proposed outline:
- John’s Testimony of Jesus’ Righteousness — Matthew 3:1-122. God the Father’s Testimony of Jesus’ Righteousness — Matthew 3:13-173. Jesus’ Testimony of His Righteousness — Matthew 4:1-11 The Motif of Righteousness in the Narrative Material Preceding the Sermon on the Mount - In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew uses the Greek word δικαιοσύνη five times (Matthew 5:6; Matthew 5:10; Matthew 5:20; Matthew 6:1; Matthew 6:33). Matthew uses this Greek word only on two other occasions in the rest of his Gospel (Matthew 3:15; Matthew 21:32). The first use is found in the narrative material preceding the first discourse (Matthew 3:15) in which Jesus demonstrates true righteousness prior to teaching on the topic in the Sermon on the Mount.
Thus, the motif of righteousness is embedded within the first discourse, in which Jesus teaches on God’s true standard of righteousness for mankind. This is what Jesus meant by saying, “For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” Exodus 1-15 versus the Baptism of Jesus the King – The second part of our spiritual journey is our justification through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. We call this our salvation experience in which God delivers us from our sins and from the bondages of this world. We see a type and figure of this part of our journey in the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt as these people were “baptized unto Moses” (1 Corinthians 10:2). 1 Corinthians 10:2, “And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;” We see in the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in this section of Matthew’s Gospel a symbol of our death, burial and resurrection in the act of salvation. This passage establishes the way a person becomes a member of the Kingdom of Heaven, through repentance as man’s way of fulfilling God’s standard of righteousness.
Matthew 3:13-17
God the Father’s Testimony of Jesus’ Righteousness: The Baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, John 1:29-34) – Matthew 3:13-17 records the water baptism of Jesus Christ which presented Him to the world as the Messiah. At this baptism, God the Father speaks from Heaven declaring Jesus as His beloved Son in whom He is pleased. No man had ever fully pleased God by his own merits. The Jews spent their lives under the Mosaic Law trying to please God by obeying its statues and later associated traditions. However, their own consciences told them that they had come short of pleasing God. Now God speaks from Heaven to declare Jesus Christ justified in His sight as sinless, perfectly pleasing God in every aspect of His life. Matthew 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. Matthew 3:13 — Word Study on “cometh” – Strong says the Greek word παραγίνομαι (G3854) means, “to become near, i.e. approach (have arrived).” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 37 times in the New Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “come 35, be present 1, go 1.” Comments - We read in Matthew 3:1 that John the Baptist made his public appearance; then in Matthew 3:13 the same Greek word is used of Jesus’ public appearance. The Greek word παραγίνομαι adds a prophetic tone to this narrative material in that we picture prophecy unfolding in God’s divine time line. In other words, these “appearances” are being divinely orchestrated in order to fulfill prophecy. Matthew 3:13 — Comments - Scholars locate the place of Jesus’ baptism near Joshua’s crossing of the Jordan. John 3:26 tells us that Jesus was baptized by John “beyond Jordan.” John 1:28, “These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.” John 3:23, “And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.” John 3:26, “And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.” John 10:40, “And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.” The Greek preposition πέραν, translated “beyond” in the KJV, can also be translated “on the other side of,” or “across,” as in John 6:1, “And Jesus went away to the other side of the lake…” Perhaps the phrase “beyond Jordan” in describing the place where John was baptizing was referring to a territory on the other side of the Jordan River, i.e., Peraea. For example, this same phrase “beyond Jordan” is used in Matthew 4:25 and Mark 3:8 to refer to a specific region, which according to Josephus, was the region of Perea (Wars 1.29.4, 2.20.4). Matthew 4:25, “And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.” Mark 3:8, “And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.” Matthew 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? Matthew 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. Matthew 3:15 — Comments - Why did Jesus have a need to be baptized, since He had no sin in His life of which to repent? John G. Lake said, “Jesus committed Himself publicly at His baptism…before all the world…”[348] Thus, one reason for His baptism would be as a public testimony that He was entering into His earthly ministry. [348] John G. Lake, John G. Lake: His Life, His Sermons, His Boldness of Faith (Fort Worth, Texas: Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1994), 6.A further insight into the meaning of Jesus’ statement, “For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,” can be seen when looking at this passage within the context of the outline of Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew 3:1 to Matthew 4:11 contains three testimonies that Jesus Christ stood sinless, and thus righteous, before God. The testimonies of John the Baptist, God the Father speaking from Heaven, and Jesus while being tempted in the wilderness, all verify Jesus’ righteousness, for He was without sin. Jesus’ water baptism by John serves as one of three important testimonies to us that Jesus stood righteousness before God.
Jesus performed His water baptism in order to offer this testimony of righteousness to mankind so that all can believe in Him and be saved. He was baptized in order to fulfill these testimonies so that all might have the opportunity to believe in Him and be justified before God. This is what Jesus meant by saying, “For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus’ baptism also serves as our example of how to be obedience to God when we put our faith in Him for salvation; for we too are commanded to be water baptized when we repent and place our faith in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus on Calvary as a public testimony of our faith. Thus, this act of water baptism served to demonstrate how every believer is also to follow in obedience in order to stand justified before God. When comparing this passage with the parallel passages in the other three Gospels, Matthew is the only one that records the statement by Jesus Christ in Matthew 3:15. This is because Matthew places emphasis upon the fulfillment of Scriptures as they testify that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. His baptism was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah in the sense that he spoke of the coming of John the Baptist and his ministry of water baptism (Isaiah 40:3, Matthew 3:3). Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: Matthew 3:16 — Comments - Note that the anointing of the Holy Ghost follows water baptism, as in Acts 2:38. Acts 2:38, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” What would be the significance of the Spirit of God descending upon Jesus Christ at the time of His water baptism in the manifested form of a dove for others to see? We do know that this was the time when Jesus Christ was fully anointed for the ministry in which He was embarking. In addition, we know that the Jewish concept of the Spirit of God hovering over something or someone goes back to the Story of Creation in Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3 in which the Spirit of God hovered over the earth. We see this concept again in the Old Testament when the cloud and the fire hovered over the Tabernacle. We will later see how the Spirit manifested Himself over the 120 disciples in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost in the form of cloven tongues (Acts 2:1-4). Thus, the Jews who witnessed the baptism of Jesus Christ would easily identify the Spirit of God descending in the form of a dove as a sign that God was with Him and had anointed Him as a Prophet to the people. Thus, the visible manifestation was probably as a sign for the people to believe in Him and not for the sake of Jesus Christ alone. Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:17 — Comments – The voice of God the Father spoke from Heaven to mankind on a number of occasions. God spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar when he took his mind from him for a season (Daniel 4:31). God spoke from Heaven at the water baptism of His Son Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22). God spoke to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35-36, 2 Peter 1:17-18). God spoke to Jesus when He rode into Jerusalem before His Passion (John 12:28-29). Jesus spoke to Paul from Heaven on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-7). Matthew 3:15-17 — Comments - The Meaning of Jesus’ Baptism - Jesus was buried to His past life as a carpenter (representing us being buried to past life of works of the flesh) and Jesus was raised to walk by God’s Holy Spirit and His anointing (representing us being raised to walk in the newness of life).