Walking With Jesus – Matthew Chapter Three Verses One to Ten

 

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

 

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

make his paths straight.’”

 

4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 

From <https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/mat/3/1/s_932001>

 

Verses One to Four: John the Baptist came to Judea and preached the gospel of the Kingdom. This was a gospel of repentance and the coming Kingdom of God. John preached that this was spoken of by Isaiah the Prophet when he spoke of one crying in the wilderness crying ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ By saying this he proclaimed the coming of the Messiah. The Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Verse Five to Six: All of the peoples from the region of Jerusalem and Judea came to hear John preach and were baptized by him in the river Jordan. They confessed their sins unto repentance. By preaching repentance John was instructing them to turn from unrighteousness and to stop sinning. Instead to obey the Law and to walk in righteousness in obedience to God.

 

Verses Eight to Ten: The Pharisees and Sadducees came out to observe John, probably to see what all the commotion was about and whether John represented a threat to their rule. He immediately confronted them accusing them of being a brood of vipers and expressing dismay that they would come to hear him preach that they might escape the wrath of God. He noted that they claimed to be the children of Abraham but because they were not repentant and did not truly understand the Law the rulers were not really truly the sons of God. John told them God could raise children for Abraham from the stones around them. He told them that if they were not careful God would take the axe and cut them out of spiritual Israel.

 

John's preaching in here matches the preaching of Jesus Christ to the rulers of Israel in Matthew chapter twenty three verses thirteen to thirty six and his preaching about the vine dresser in John chapter fifteen verses one to ten. The apostle Paul also speaks of the olive tree and the unproductive branches being torn out and new Christian branches being grafted in Romans chapter eleven verses seventeen to twenty four. John the Baptist was laying a common foundational theme for how God viewed the Pharisees, Sadducees and other rulers of Israel at the time of Christ and what God would achieve through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary.