Study Audio Download

Matthew 3:1–17 John the Baptist Prepares the Way

[Study Aired March 10, 2025]

Introduction

Today’s study is about John the Baptist and His ministry. It also highlights the baptism of Jesus by John in the river Jordan. The name John means Jehovah is gracious. In the Bible, gracious means to be kind, compassionate, and merciful. It can also mean to be generous, or to give goodness to others out of love. 

2Ki 13:23  And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet. 

Psa 145:8  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 
Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Num 6:25  The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 

The ministry of John therefore shows us the Lord’s compassion and His great mercy towards us, His elect, first, and then to the whole of the human race.

Luk 1:72  To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 
Luk 1:73  The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 
Luk 1:74  That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 
Luk 1:75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 

The author of the Book of Matthew did not go into the details of how John the Baptist came from the wilderness to start preaching the word of the Lord about repentance. However, the Book of Luke goes into details of how He was born and what His ministry represents. This additional information is needed for us to understand what the ministry of John represents. 

Luk 1:5  There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Luk 1:6  And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 
Luk 1:7  And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
Luk 1:8  And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, 
Luk 1:9  According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 
Luk 1:10  And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 
Luk 1:11  And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 
Luk 1:12  And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 
Luk 1:13  But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 
Luk 1:14  And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 
Luk 1:15  For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 
Luk 1:16  And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 
Luk 1:17  And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 

What we can glean from this narrative by Luke is that John the Baptist’s ministry would attract many children of Israel as they repent and turn to the Lord. In Luke 1:17, we are told that he shall go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah. When Elijah came on the scene, he proclaimed a drought over the land of Israel, and as a result there was no rain in the land for a period of three years. After that he pronounced abundance of rain over the land of Israel.   

1Ki 17:1  And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 

1Ki 17:7  And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 

1Ki 18:1  And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
1Ki 18:2  And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. 

The ministry of John came at the time when the word of the Lord was rare in the land of Judaea. His message of Christ was the beginning of the abundance of rain in Judaea. It was the beginning of the fulfillment of the tender mercies of the Lord and the raising up of the horn of salvation for us, His elect. As a result, we no longer grope in darkness, but our feet are guided into the way of peace.

Luk 1:67  And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 
Luk 1:68  Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 
Luk 1:69  And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 
Luk 1:70  As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 
Luk 1:71  That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 
Luk 1:72  To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 
Luk 1:73  The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 
Luk 1:74  That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 
Luk 1:75  In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 
Luk 1:76  And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 
Luk 1:77  To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 
Luk 1:78  Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 
Luk 1:79  To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 

As Jesus said, the ministry of John the Baptist marks the end of the law as he comes to prepare the way through repentance, facilitating Christ’s coming into our lives. 

Mat 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 
Mat 11:13  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 
Mat 11:14  And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 
Mat 11:15  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

John the Baptist: Appearance on the Scene

Mat 3:1  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 
Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
Mat 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. 

John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judaea is to show us that the ministry of John is relevant to us at the time of our lives when we were in the world without hope as we were conforming to the standards of this world. We were therefore deprived of the word of the Lord which is the significance of the wilderness from which John came with his message. 

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 

John the Baptist’s ministry therefore represents all those who came to us with the need to repent of our sins as a precondition for the coming of Jesus Christ into our lives for our salvation. As indicated in the introduction session, our repentance is the beginning of the mercy promised to our fathers.

Luk 1:72  To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 

In verse 2, we are informed that the reason that we have to repent is because the kingdom of Heaven is here with us. This kingdom of Heaven is the same as the kingdom of God. The question is, “What is the kingdom of Heaven?” It is the rule or reign of our Lord Jesus Christ as king in our lives and later the world at large. Thus, currently, the kingdom of Heaven is unseen as it is within the Lord’s elect that Jesus is exercising His kingship in our lives. 

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 
Luk 17:22  And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 
Luk 17:23  And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 
Luk 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. 

In the fullness of time, the kingdom of Heaven shall be known outwardly as it encompasses the whole world as the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 

The kingdom of Heaven is therefore Christ coming to us with His judgment to cleanse us of all unrighteousness as He sits in the throne of our hearts and minds directing our affairs. John the Baptist therefore saying that we must repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand is to let us know that before we can experience Christ in our lives, we must first repent of our sins. We cannot repent of our sins if we do not know our sins. The main purpose of the Law of Moses is to let us know our sins so that we can repent. Knowing our sins and coming to repent of our sins is the whole essence of the ministry of John. John’s ministry therefore hinges on the Law of Moses, which is what the physical churches of this world, or Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children, practice. 

Rom 3:20  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (ESV)

John’s ministry was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah as shown in verse 3, which states that there is a voice of one crying in the wilderness that we should prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight. From verse 2, we can see that preparing the way of the Lord and making His paths straight means repenting from our sins. That is what paves the way for the Lord to come into our lives with His judgment to establish His kingdom within us.  

Act 3:19  Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 
Act 3:20  that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 
Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

These verses show us that repentance is the necessary requirement for the Lord to come to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to restore all things in our lives. “Whom heaven must receive” in Acts 3:21 refers to Christ coming to establish His throne in the hearts and minds of His elect first, before the restoration of all things.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:   

Mat 3:4  And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 

The description of John the Baptist’s garment together with the food that He ate shows us the kind of ministry that John was involved in. John was clothed in Camel’s hair. As we can see from the word of the Lord, garments represent righteousness. The Lord’s elect are clothed with a fine linen garment which represents the righteousness of the saints which is the righteousness of Christ imputed on us as we believe. 

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

Any other garment signifies our own righteousness which blocks out the righteousness of Christ just as the sackcloth of hair darkens the sun which symbolizes Christ. 

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 

John clothed in Camel’s hair therefore represents the self-righteousness which comes from the law of Moses which blocks out the righteousness of Christ. That is why Jesus, in making reference to John the Baptist, said that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. This is because the least in the kingdom of God bears the righteousness of Christ. John being the greatest among the prophets is to emphasize the fact that John saw Christ and preached Him even though He operated under the Law. 

Mat 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Rom 10:5  For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  

Rom 3:21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 
Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

John’s food of locusts and wild honey also shows us that John was not given to understand the strong meat of the word of the Lord which causes us to grow in Him. In other words, he understood the rudimentary gospel of Christ or the milk of the word of Christ. The fact that he ate wild honey is to suggest that it was the Lord and not man who gave him the understanding of Christ’s coming.

Lev 20:24  But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. 

Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

John had a leather belt which suggests that he was given the truth of the rudimentary gospel of repentance. This distinguishes him from the false apostles of Babylon who propagate false doctrines.

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 

Mat 3:5  Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 
Mat 3:6  And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. 

As indicated earlier, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied concerning the ministry of John that it would attract a great following from Jerusalem and all of Judaea. In other words, John’s message of repentance to prepare for Christ’s coming into our lives with its attendant baptism is very attractive to our brothers and sisters in Babylon, who consider salvation as repentance from our sins and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior. However, many do not understand the ministry of John in the sense that he was only emphasizing repentance as the beginning of the process of knowing Christ and not an end in itself, as we shall see later. 

Repentance only paves the way for the coming of Jesus Christ with His judgment to come into our lives. Christ coming to us with His judgment is the message of the cross which many are not ready to accept. It is only the Lord’s elect who are granted to accept this. This is what Paul had to say: 

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 
1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 
1Co 1:20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 
1Co 1:21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 
1Co 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 
1Co 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 
1Co 1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

The physical Jews look for signs, and we, the gentiles (Greeks), look for wisdom. Our message of the Lord’s judgment of our flesh to make us His sons is therefore a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the gentiles. However, to the Lord’s elect, this is the wisdom of God.    

Mat 3:7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 
Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 
Mat 3:9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Here in these verses, John was warning the Pharisees and Sadducees that it is not enough to repent from our sins. We must go further to bring forth fruits that commensurate with our repentance. As we are aware, the Pharisees and the Sadducees represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon who think that by repenting, they can escape the wrath of God to come. Bringing forth fruits in accordance with repentance is attained through the unleashing of the wrath of God through His judgment of our old man or flesh. This is not acceptable to our brothers and sisters in Babylon who think they have fled from the Lord’s wrath already. The truth of the Lord’s words is that all humanity are recipients of the Lord’s wrath. Some in this life and others in an age to come. 

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 

John also warned the Pharisees and Sadducees that they should not consider that since Abraham was their father, they are destined for the Lord’s salvation. This is because the Lord is able to raise stones to become children of Abraham. Here John was hinting of the Lord raising up the gentiles to become part of the commonwealth of Israel. 

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 

Mat 3:10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 
Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 
Mat 3:12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 

In these verses, John is revealing to us the judgment of the Lord when He comes to us, following repentance, to make us learn righteousness.

Everything within us that does not glorify the Lord in our lives is destroyed by the fire of His words. As John declared, our sins are like chaff which must be burnt with the fire of God’s word, causing us to be gathered as wheat into the Lord’s barn. 

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.   

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

In verse 11, John stated that the Lord is the one who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Just as the Lord sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to the disciples to strengthen them, He is doing the same to us as we are given the Holy spirit to guide us into all truth. Baptizing us with fire entails going through the Lord’s judgment of our old man or flesh, resulting in us learning righteousness.  

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 

The Baptism of Jesus

Mat 3:13  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 
Mat 3:14  But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 
Mat 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. 

Spiritually, baptism signifies the dying of self in Christ and walking in the newness of the life of Christ. It therefore means death and resurrection. Jesus coming from Galilee to be baptized by John is therefore portraying how Christ will come and die for our sins and be raised up by God to serve as the source of salvation for the elect first and later the rest of the world. Jesus submitting to John’s baptism was therefore to complete all righteousness. Our dying to the flesh and walking in the newness of life is therefore what completes the righteousness of Christ in us.   

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

Mat 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: 
Mat 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 

It is instructive to note that it was through the baptism of Jesus that the heavens opened to him as He saw the spirit of God descending upon him like a dove and resting on him. As He is, so are we in this world. As we continue to die to the flesh and walk in the newness of life, our heavens will continue to be opened as the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. That is when we are assured within our hearts and minds that we are the beloved of our Lord Jesus in whom He is well pleased. We are indeed blessed of the Lord to be given eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.  

The question that comes to mind is that “Should we physically be baptized just like Jesus?” The answer is definitely, no. This is because it is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing. In other words, physical baptism profits nothing. It is spiritual baptism that counts, that is, dying spiritually and being raised to life in Christ. No wonder Jesus never baptized anybody. We, the Lord’s elect, are the ones who are worshiping the Lord in truth and in spirit.

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.   

May His Name be praised for counting us worthy to open our eyes to see and ears to hear!! Amen!!