Matthew 3:1-6

Friday is here and it doesn’t feel like we got to much sleep this week. At least the weekend if almost here. Continue praying the fires will stop in CA. Pray for Avery in daycare, I wish we didn’t have to put here there but the Lord will be with here there. Thank you for your prayers.

--------------
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
      “ The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
      ‘ Prepare the way of the LORD;
      Make His paths straight.’”
Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 

Matthew 3:1-6
------------

We approach chapter three of Matthew and now thirty years have passed since the events of the previous chapters. Now we will see Jesus being baptized and then tempted in the wilderness. Matthew introduces a man called John the Baptist who is yet another fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. From Luke’s account we learn that John is Jesus’ cousin born three months before Jesus. John is also the son of a priest and is bringing a message of repentance to the people outside of the city, where most people would be preaching. He wore the clothes of an Old Testament prophet and ate the traditional food of the desert.  He stood announcing the coming of the Christ. 

Judaism was expecting three different people to appear based on various Old Testament passages and traditions. For one they believed in the Messiah coming, they did not know who it would be but it was often thought one Messiah would be a suffering servant and the other a victorious King. Elijah was also prophesied to return which is why many Jews leave an empty chair by their tables when they eat, ready for his return. Also there is a Prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy 18, that is also to appear. John denies being all of these in the Gospel of John (the Apostle not the Baptist). He does testify to Jesus’ pre-existent nature, though he was born three months before Jesus. 

John challenged the actions of the people and held a strong stance against iniquity. He preached repentance to a people who had not heard a message from the Lord in over four hundred years since the last Old Testament prophet had spoken. Jesus tells us later that the Law and the Prophets ended with John. He was the close of one period, while Jesus was going to reveal something new. 

It can often seem difficult for us to go against the authorities and ideas of this world. Even harder is standing for truth and righteousness when sin is so abundant. God calls us to individual and corporate repentance. A confession of our hearts must be made, for it is through confessing that we will find freedom.