Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

3:1 John the Baptist was born around 6 b.c. to devout parents who were both of the priestly line and well advanced in age (Luke 1:5-25, 39-80). John will play an important historical role in linking God's saving activity in the OT and his saving activity in the person and work of Jesus.

3:2 To repent, or "change one's mind," in the OT called for a change in a person's attitude toward God that impacted one's actions and life choices; it involved the idea of "turning," that is, from one way of thinking and living to a different way. Common external signs of repentance included prayers of remorse and confession and renouncing of sin. The term kingdom of heaven is found only in Matthew's Gospel but is interchangeable with "kingdom of God," found in the other Gospels (cf. Matt. 19:14 and Mark 10:14). is at hand. The kingdom of heaven has come near to people in the person of Jesus (the Messiah), who was soon to be revealed as the "beloved Son" of the Father (Matt. 3:17), and who himself was soon to begin proclaiming that message of repentance, because "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (see note on 4:17). Here John calls for the people to remove the obstacles from their lives that might hinder their reception of the Messiah and his kingdom.

3:3 John the Baptist fulfills Isa. 40:3 and also the prophecies in Malachi about the messenger who prepares the way before the Lord (Mal. 3:1; cf. Matt. 11:10) and about Elijah (Mal. 4:5-6; cf. Matt. 11:14; 17:10-13; Luke 1:17).

3:4 a garment of camel's hair. John's appearance would have evoked images of prophecies about "Elijah," who was to return to prepare the way for God's wrathful appearance (cf. 2 Kings 1:8; Mal. 3:1; 4:5-6). John's garments were common to nomadic desert dwellers and thus were associated with poorer people. Locusts and wild honey were not an unusual source of food for people living in the desert (on locusts, see Dead Sea Scrolls, Damascus Document 12.14-15). The desert locust (Gk. akris) is a large grasshopper, still eaten today by poorer people in the Middle East and Africa.

3:5-6 going out to him. John's startling declaration of the nearness of God's kingdom draws even city dwellers out into the wilderness. "Baptize" (Gk. baptizō) means "to plunge, dip, immerse," and John was immersing people in the river Jordan. When people were baptized by him, going under the water symbolized both the cleansing away of sin and a passing safely through the waters of judgment and death (cf. Gen. 7:6-24; Ex. 14:26-29; Jonah 1:7-16; see notes on Rom. 6:4; 1 Pet. 3:21). Christians today differ over whether full bodily immersion is required for the symbolism of baptism. Having made the difficult journey from Jerusalem, the people demonstrate their repentance by confessing their sins.

3:7 Pharisees. A laymen's fellowship, popular with the common people and connected to local synagogues, chiefly characterized by adherence to extensive extrabiblical traditions, which they rigorously obeyed as a means of applying the law to daily life. Sadducees. A small group who derived their authority from the activities of the temple. They were removed from the common people by aristocratic and priestly influence as well as by their cooperation with Rome's rule. (See Jewish Groups at the Time of the New Testament.) brood of vipers. Vipers were well known for their subtle movements and lethal strikes. the wrath to come. The coming Messiah will bring punishment for those who do not repent.

3:11 He who is coming after me expresses strong messianic expectation. is mightier than I. John announces the nearness of the kingdom, but the Coming One will arrive with the power of God to inaugurate messianic rule. baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. John's water baptism will be superseded by the baptism associated with the Coming One (see note on 1 Cor. 12:13). Those who repent and trust in him will receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit (cf. Joel 2:28-29; Acts 2:16-21), while the unrepentant will receive the judgment of eternal fire, and even the repentant may undergo a purifying fire.

3:12 Winnowing fork (cf. Ruth 3:2) is used figuratively for the separation of the repentant from the unrepentant. The harvest has begun.

3:13 The precise location of Jesus' baptism is disputed, and today competing venues vie for visitors. The traditional baptism site is Qasr el-Yahud, on the western bank of the Jordan River. However, the scene might instead be identified with "Bethany across [i.e., on the eastern side of] the Jordan" as noted in John 1:28 (though this text may imply that John had baptized Jesus earlier and perhaps in a different locale). It is likely that John baptized people in more than one location (cf. Luke 3:3; John 3:23; 10:40).

3:14 Jesus goes to the desert to be baptized by John, but John would have prevented him, because he knows Jesus' identity as the mightier one who brings messianic baptism.

3:15 for us to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus' baptism inaugurates his ministry and fulfills God's saving activity prophesied throughout the OT, culminating with his death on the cross (cf. John 1:31-34). In so doing, Jesus also endorses John's ministry and message and links his mission to John's. Although he needed no repentance or cleansing, Jesus identifies with the sinful people he came to save through his substitutionary life and death (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21).

3:16 The Spirit of God anoints Jesus as Israel's King and Messiah and commissions him as God's righteous "servant" (cf. Isa. 42:1).

3:17 The voice from heaven confirms the eternally existing relationship of divine love that the Son and Father share as well as Jesus' identity as the messianic Son of God (Ps. 2:7). This beloved Son is the triumphant messianic King, yet he is also the humble "servant" into whose hands the Father is well pleased to place the mission to bring salvation to the nations (Isa. 42:1-4).