👑 Matthew Chapters 3 – 4 🦁

🙏🏻 Heavenly Father – We return to You to continue reading Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus the Messiah. We are told this is Your mystery, hidden for generations before, now being revealed to all of mankind.  Our spirits call to Your Spirit.  Stay with us.  Help us understand this mystery; we don’t want to miss this! We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”[Isaiah 40:3]

⁴ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Points to Ponder: John the Baptist is introduced as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.  By describing his clothes, Matthew brings us immediately to the image of Elijah – the incredible prophet of God from the Old Testament. [2 Kings 1:8]  Many Jews in the area would be intrigued… their hearts would be stirred.

The prophets of the Old Testament repeatedly warned Israel and Judah about their unfaithfulness to God after their ancestors entered into a covenantal relationship with God. They were told to repent and turn their hearts back to God.  They didn’t… first they had civil war… then they were defeated by their enemies: Assyria and Babylon. Israel is first exiled… then Judah… there is a return from exile to Jerusalem, but never without a foreign ruler. It’s been 400 years since the last prophet, Malachi, spoke.  

The Jews knew their history. They would remember that before their ancestors entered into that covenantal relationship, they were slaves in Egypt for about 400 years. Scripture records that God had told Abram this from the start! [Genesis 15:13] And God did not forget them. [Exodus 3:7] While slaves in Egypt, God sent Moses, delivered Israel through the Red Sea and a covenantal relationship was entered at Mt. Sinai. God promised… Israel promised… Israel broke the promise again and again.

Enter John the Baptist… looking like Elijah.  Boldly claiming the same prophetic message that the Israelites have been ignoring throughout their history.  Confess your sins and repent – turn back to God.  Be baptized – the symbolic replaying of God’s deliverance of the nation Israel from Egypt, when He parted the Red Sea and allowed them to cross through, unharmed… reminding them that their ancestors died in the wilderness because of their sinful rebellion. Then, Joshua led the next generation through the Jordan river to the promise land.  (That generation and the subsequent ones did not remain faithful either.) 😔

Here’s John, standing at the same river.  Not promising to lead them anywhere, but reminding them about their sins and unfaithfulness. He’s calling them back to a covenantal relationship with a faithful God… he’s calling them to declare publicly a humble realignment of themselves to be under the authority of God.  He condemns the religious leaders – calls them a brood of vipers!  That’s nasty, that’s bold – he called them the children of the snake! That’s a throwback to God’s first promise in Genesis 3:15 when God told the snake that there would be enmity between the snake and the woman… between the offspring of the snake and the offspring of the woman… and the woman’s offspring will win!

Dang!  In the first chapter we had hints that God was doing something new… just as God said He would. [Isaiah 43:19]  We were introduced to the woman, Mary, and her offspring, Jesus.  Now, we are surprised by the announcement that the offspring of the snake is identified as their religious rulers. WHAAAT ?!?!?! 😵

That should be enough to shake our thoughts out of its comfort zone.  We don’t like being uncomfortable.  We reread John’s words and realize there is more… something about producing fruit. Someone baptizing us with the Holy Spirit and… fire!?!  😬 Something scary about a winnowing fork and unquenchable fire. 😲 A thought enters our minds about the 2000+ years between when these words of warning were written and now, when we can read them comfortably on our phones or at our desks.

This thought tells you… ‘You have time to investigate this later.’  Do not even entertain that thought… it’s a lie, do not take that path. (Instead, create a ‘parking lot’.  Write a mental post-it note about the parts of the Gospel you don’t understand… the parts that make you uncomfortable… and tell God that you need a little help with them. Put them in the parking lot for later… and move on!)

The Baptism of Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. ¹⁴ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Points to Ponder: Baptism doesn’t give you the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit comes to you when your soul – your mind, will, and emotions – are fully surrendered to God.  As John said earlier… confess your sins, repent, and be baptized. Here we see Jesus, our sinless savior, go first as our substitute.  Jesus graciously models for us, how to start life as a Christian.

It is in this short section that we get a glimpse of the triune God.  Jesus, as God the Son, is joined by God, the Holy Spirit, pleasing God, the Father. There is something so heartwarming in this display of communal love that we sense that we desire to be part of it. 💕

And while I put the scary stuff in the parking lot earlier, I read here about God being well pleased and I am so grateful to wear the banner… TEAM JESUS! 😍

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”[Deuteronomy 8:3]

Points to Ponder: Led by the Spirit? Yes.  There is a certainty that we need to understand about the Christian life and Jesus models it for us.  The Scriptures have not been avoiding the reality of spiritual warfare… Matthew just reminded us of God’s first promise in Genesis 3:15 when he called the religious leaders, ‘children of the snake’.  Apparently, they were tempted away from God to serve the devil so Matthew now records the testing and tempting of Jesus. This is the fire that John the Baptist was referencing when he said that one more powerful would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire.

First, we notice that Jesus is physically weak, He is hungry.  The devil knows who He is and the power He has.  He tempts Jesus by questioning His identity, tells Him to prove it by making some bread to satisfy His human hunger.

Jesus knows who the devil is as well. The devil leads to death, serving the devil leads to death, even when it temporarily appears to look like life, like food does! 

Jesus uses scripture to exalt the word of God over food for life! 💖

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” [Psalm 91:11,12]

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” [Deuteronomy 6:16]

Points to Ponder: The devil is crafty, but so inferior.  He tries again to attack the identity of Jesus by quoting Scripture.  Jesus doesn’t fall for it… Jesus still knows the devil leads to death and God’s Word is life.  Context is important and the whole Biblical story is important.  This section is meant for us to see the whole picture.  We are not to take Scripture out of context to suit our desires… when we do that, we are repeating what the devil modeled here… not what Jesus modeled, overall.

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” [Deuteronomy 6:13]

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Points to Ponder: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. [James 4:7] The devil is crafty and sneaky the first two times, but can make no headway with Jesus. He goes straight to the temptation that crumbles most humans:  power!  With power comes status, wealth, possessions… but look at the lie!  The power and authority that the devil promises, comes with a catch… the power and authority would have to be under Satan’s own power and authority.   

Jesus gives us a powerful weapon here.  When you think to yourself, WWJD – What would Jesus do? Remember this… Jesus put the Word of God first.  Jesus reminds us that in the daily battles, we worship the Lord our God and serve Him only. [Ephesians 6:17,13]

Jesus Begins to Preach

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.” [Isaiah 9:1,2]

¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Points to Ponder: John the Baptist is imprisoned. We know from history that it does not end well for John. Why didn’t Jesus do something?!?!?! In the rest of this chapter, Matthew gives us some thoughts to consider.

Here he records the movements of Jesus around specific areas so that he can tie another Old Testament prophecy to its fulfillment by Jesus.  The prophecy highlights that the people are living in darkness… in the land of the shadow of death… and Jesus is the great light for them.

Why a great light?  (Genesis 1:1-5) Matthew is stirring the hearts of his readers to recall the creation story and that through Jesus there is new life… re-creation! 

Fun fact about light and darkness… as much as you may enjoy or be familiar, even comfortable, with darkness, you cannot bring it into the light… it’s a one thing or the other… not both.  We are being told that this new life, ushered in by this great light, Jesus, is the kingdom of heaven and we need to repent of our darkness in order to enter it.

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Points to Ponder: Matthew retells how people become disciples. Apparently, you are just doing your own thing when Jesus calls and the disciple immediately follows!  These men did not make themselves disciples. They weren’t born disciples. They weren’t children of a family of disciples. This is something new.  Jesus called them and they answered the call. 

These last two sections remind me of how Matthew’s Gospel first started… there was a great light.  And magi from the east immediately headed to Jerusalem to find the one who was born King of the Jews.  From prophecy, they knew!  It took them two years to get there and they were overjoyed when that light reappeared to guide them to Jesus.

Don’t wait for a great light to appear, that was a one-time event in the history of humanity. Jesus still calls disciples when they hear the Word of God.  (Some of us didn’t answer immediately – Thank You God for Your Faithfulness!)

Jesus Heals the Sick

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Points to Ponder: Matthew places the emphasis of Jesus’ ministry on teaching.  From town to town, the area described here is around 2800 sq. miles. Jesus taught about God’s kingdom.  So why all the healing? A few reasons: (1) Illness, disease, deformities, and death were never part of God’s plan for humanity. They are all consequences of man’s original sin.  (2) The healings that Jesus did during His ministry was miraculous.  Not once, but regularly.  There was no case too severe for the great healer. The devil knew who Jesus was, but the people didn’t. 😞 [1 Corinthians 2:8]

These healings spoke to the authority and power that was in Jesus.  The healings commanded their attention.  After all, they didn’t have the Gospels to read. 😁 Jesus did not come to establish a political kingdom on earth. He came to save sinners – those living in darkness. He invites them to follow Him into an eternal Kingdom of God, while demonstrating that He has the power and authority to walk and talk this powerful message of hope.

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Summary: The great mystery being revealed is that it is God Himself, coming to earth to redeem broken and sinful people. Jesus teaches and behaves in such a way that He leaves context clues as to what His Kingdom will be like.  It will NOT be a restoration of Israel’s previous kingdoms. He preaches repentance – a reminder that His is a kingdom of light not darkness. If we are to follow Him, we must be prepared for something new, something different.

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🙏🏻 Heavenly Father – We thank you for Your Word and Your faithfulness.  You offer new life and the offer is not difficult to understand.  It is difficult to accept – because we have lived in darkness for far too long.  Soften our hearts and enlighten our minds to understand the reality of Your invitation.  Help bring us to new life, Father.  It is in the precious name of Our Savior, Jesus, that we pray this. Amen.