John the Baptist

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Jesus was so different from the Messiah people expected, even John the Baptist had a moment where he wondered if Jesus was the Messiah. If he’s really a prophet, how could John become confused?  In this passage, Jesus answers that question.

Review

After Jesus warns his disciples that people will reject them because they reject Jesus, Matthew records several stories which highlight the growing opposition to Jesus and how he failed to meet their expectations.  No story highlights that theme more than the doubts of John the Baptist.  How could even John the Baptist become confused? Jesus explains.

Passage

NOTE: Matthew 11:7-15 contains several technical, grammatical and interpretative challenges. Please investigate the commentaries for a more complete understanding.

⁷As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  ⁸What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.  ⁹What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.^“ – Matthew 11:7-9

• The disciples of John asked Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another.”  The crowds overheard this Q&A. Now Jesus addresses any concerns that discussion may have raised in the crowd.
• John lived in the wilderness far from the comforts of the city (Matthew 3:1-4).
• We don’t expect a man who lived in the wilderness to be like a reed shaken by the wind (as opposed to a tree which barely moves in the wind). Nor do we expect him to dress in luxurious clothes. We do expect someone living like John to be a prophet.
• At the moment, John is confused because Jesus is not acting like he expected the Messiah to act, but that confusion does not call his whole ministry and message into doubt
• John is indeed the rock steady prophet that the people went out to see.  In fact, John is even greater than the rest of the prophets. 

¹⁰This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’  ¹¹Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  ¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.  ¹³For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,  ¹⁴and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.  15He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” – Matthew 11:10-15

• Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1 to support his point that John is “more than a prophet.”
• In God’s plan of redemption, no prophet has a more important role than John the Baptist, because John announced the Messiah and was blessed to see him face-to-face. No prophet had a more important announcement.
• Like many Jews of his day, John expected the Messiah to come once in judgment. He’s confused by the fact that Jesus isn’t handing out more judgment.
• Even John could stumble over this confusion. He must decide to trust Jesus even when Jesus does not meet his expectations. In this sense, those who have already decided to trust Jesus are “greater” than John in his confusion.
• Matthew 11:12 is difficult to translate. Compare with Luke 16:14-17.
• The ESV translates “force” (Strong’s G971) in Matthew 11:12 as the passive voice (‘the kingdom of heaven suffers violence’) and translates it in Luke 16:16 as the middle voice (‘everyone forces his way in’). The middle and passive have the same grammatical form.
• As best I understand it at this point, when this word (G971) is in the middle voice it leans toward meaning: to overpower or apply force. When this word is used in the passive voice, it leans toward meaning: to  strongly urge or compel. 
• IF Matthew 11 & Luke 16 are parallel, IF they speak to the same issue in different contexts, and IF this word is passive in both, then Matthew becomes something like this:  “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven is strongly compelling (making its case) and those who respond grab hold of it for themselves.”

Does Jesus believe that both Malachi 3:1 and Malachi 4:5-6 are predictions of John the Baptist?  Or is Malachi 4:5 predicting something in our future and an Elijah coming at the end of the age? 

Evidence

• Isaiah 40:3-5 clearly applies to John the Baptist. John himself says he is the voice of Isaiah 40 but he is not the Elijah of Malachi 4 (John 1:19-23).
• Mark 1:1-4 applies both Isaiah 40 and Malachi 3:1 to John the Baptist.
• An angel tells the father of John the Baptist that John will have “the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:16-17). Malachi 4:5-6 is either: 1) a prediction of John the Baptist; or 2) Malachi is predicting another “Elijah” who will come at the end of the age, and John the Baptist is acting in the spirit and power of that “Elijah” who is to come.
• In Matthew 17:9-11, Jesus could be saying: 1) the “Elijah” Malachi predicted is John the Baptist; or 2) an “Elijah” is coming at the end of the age and John the Baptist is a kind of forerunner or foreshadow of the Elijah to come.
• How you choose between these options often depends on your prior view of eschatology.

Summary

Jesus wants the crowd to understand the sense in which John really gets it and the sense in which he does not get it.  On the one hand, they should listen to John the Baptist and heed his call to repent. On the other hand, Jesus is somewhat unexpected.  Personally, each person is must come to terms with Jesus’ message. John is the important prophet we think he is, and like everyone else ,he needs to make the choice to follow Jesus.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 61 Matthew 11:16-24 Woe to unrepentant cities

Previous: 59 Matthew 11:1-6 Are you the one?

Series: Gospel of Matthew 8-13 Behold the King, Part 2

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Podcast season 20, episode 19

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Matthew shifts his focus to the how people respond to Jesus. Most reject him.  Even John the Baptist becomes confused, because Jesus is not acting like the Messiah he expected.

Review

After warning his disciples, that people will reject them because they reject Jesus. Matthew gives us several stories which highlight the growing opposition to Jesus.

Passage

¹When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.  ²Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples  ³and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  ⁴And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:  ⁵the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  ⁶And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”  – Matthew 11:1-6

• John was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah (e.g. John 1:29-34).
• John is in prison for criticizing Herod (Mark 6:17-29).
• Matthew has told us that John is the herald of Isaiah 40:3 (Matthew 3:1-3).
• John understands himself to be that herald (John 1:19-23).
• John expects the Messiah to come in judgment (Matthew 3:7-12).
• As he sits in prison wondering if every day will be his last, John compares his expectations of the Messiah to what Jesus is doing and saying. Jesus is different than John’s expectations, so John becomes confused, and sends his disciples to ask if Jesus is truly the Messiah.
• Jesus responds that the miracles testify to the fact that God sent him, and they are the kind of miracles you’d expect the Messiah to do (e.g. Isaiah 35:3-6; Isaiah 61:1-3).
• Jesus will return and fulfill everything that was expected of the Messiah.  But his life and ministry the first time was surprising and confusing to people.  Up until he died and was resurrected, his people did not understand that he would come twice. 

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 60 Matthew 11:7-15 John the Baptist’s role

Previous: 58 Matthew 10:40-42 Receiving a prophet

Series: Gospel of Matthew 8-13 Behold the King, Part 2

Photo by Nighthawk Shoots on Unsplash

Podcast season 20, episode 18

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John the Baptist was the herald who announced the coming of the King. His message had two parts: repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. The king is coming. It is time to turn back to God and follow His Messiah.

Review

Matthew 1-2 covered the early life of Jesus, explaining how Jesus was born in Bethlehem but raised in Nazareth in Galilee. In chapter 3, Matthew skips ahead many years.  Jesus is an adult and about to begin his public ministry.

Passage

¹In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,  ²“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  ³For 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.’”  – Matthew 3:1-3

• Matthew quotes Isaiah 40:3.
• Isaiah says someone will come proclaiming a message that people should prepare for the coming of the Lord.
• Isaiah was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah during the time of the divided kingdom. 
• He dates his ministry to 4 kings who reigned from about 740 – 680 BC.
• In Isaiah 40-66, Isaiah prophesies to the captives in Babylon, but they are not captives yet as he is writing.   

³A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. ⁴Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; ⁵Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” – Isaiah 40:3-5

• The interpretative question is: What does the phrase ‘in the wilderness’ modify? Is a voice crying in the wilderness, saying “prepare the way of the Lord”?  Or is the voice saying, “prepare the way of the lord in the wilderness”?
• Parallelism suggests the wilderness is part of the message:

in the wilderness	prepare	the way	of the Lord
in the desert	make smooth	a highway	for our God

• When a king wanted to travel, the king’s people would go before him to clear obstacles, so that the king could travel easily and quickly. 
• Isaiah is presenting a metaphorical picture, calling for a path to be made in the wilderness, because the king is coming. Make the road straight, easy and level so that God can come to His people.
• Matthew quotes the Septuagint (Greek version of the Old Testament) which reads: In the wilderness a voice cries: “prepare the way of the LORD;” The Septuagint omits that second phrase in the desert and locates the voice in the wilderness.
• When all four gospel writers quote this passage, they quote the Septuagint, which was the version their audience was familiar with.
• Both Matthew and Isaiah make the point: Before the Messiah comes, someone calls out: prepare the way for the coming king. Matthew tells us that voice is John the Baptist.
• Isaiah’s immediate prediction concerns the end of the exile.  But John the Baptist is a fulfillment in the fullest sense of the word.  He is the herald who announces the ultimate king is coming, and it is time to prepare to meet him.

⁴Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.  ⁵Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,  ⁶and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  – Matthew 3:4-6

• John the Baptist was very popular, even after his death (Matthew 21:23-27).
• He preached primarily in the wilderness of Judea and he baptized in the Jordan river. 
• Many scholars argue that his clothes indicate his prophetic role (Zec 13:4; 2Ki 1:7-8; 1Ki 19:19).
• It’s possible that Matthew described John the Baptist’s appearance to highlight that fact that he looked like the prophet Elijah. 
• It’s also possible that many of the prophets traditionally wore a hairy cloak, and John the Baptist followed that tradition.

⁵Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,  ⁶and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  ⁷But 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?  ⁸Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.  ⁹And 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.  ¹⁰Even 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.  ¹¹“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  ¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”  – Matthew 3:5-12

• When the master of the house returned, his servant would remove his sandals and wash his feet.  John says, the Messiah is so much greater than he is, that he is not even worthy to be the Messiah’s lowest, most menial servant.
• This idea that Jesus Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire while John baptized with water is found in all four gospels (Matthew 3:11-12; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:26-27).
• Both Testaments use water as a symbol of cleansing. Washing with water symbolizes washing away of the guilt of sins and accepting a new way of living.
• Unlike ritual washing, baptism happens only once.
• Until John the Baptist, baptism was a self-administered rite done only by proselytes (those converting to Judaism). John starts something new.
• Baptism is a ritual that symbolizes your commitment to follow the teaching of the one in who’s name you are baptized. 
• John the Baptist’s message is summarized as: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Kingdom of Heaven

• The “kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God” refers to the rule of God over all the earth.
• In one sense, God is ruling over all the earth in that it all exists at His pleasure.  We have rain because He blesses us with rain.  We have peace and prosperity because He blesses us with it.  He is the king of glory and He reigns now. 
• In another sense, because the world does not recognize God’s reign, we are still waiting for the day when every knee bows before Him and recognizes Him as Lord. 
• The kingdom of heaven is the time when all sin and rebellion are gone and all God’s people are blessed living under His righteous rule (Zec 14:9; Isaiah 53:7-10).
• The Messiah is the anointed king of Israel, a son of David and a son of Abraham, who will establish the kingdom of God (Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Daniel 7:13).
• Like a tree cut off at the base, the throne of David has been toppled, but from that stump, a branch will emerge, a new king who will reign wisely and establish peace and righteousness in the land.
• God will establish His rule through a man, the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed son of David.
• John the Baptist’s message is “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,”  because the king himself, the Messiah has come.

Water and Fire

¹¹“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” – Matthew 3:11-12

• 3:12 explains the fire metaphor: the fire is the fire of judgment and destruction.
• Winnowing is this process of separating the wheat (the part you want to eat) from the chaff (the part you don’t).
• John pictures mankind as divided into 2 parts:  those who accept the Messiah (the wheat) and those who reject the Messiah (the chaff).  The Messiah will separate those two groups like wheat and chaff. 
• Jesus baptizes those who accept him with the holy spirit.  Jesus “baptizes” those who reject him with fire of judgment, like the fire that burns the chaff. 

Repent

• If you want to avoid the fire of judgment and find a place in the kingdom of heaven, what must you do?  Repent. 
• Repent means more than to be sorry or to change your mind.  Repent means to turn around and return to God.
• The arrival of the king forces the choice.  The time to decide is now.
• John emphasizes this point with his words to the Pharisees and Sadducees (3:8-9): Don’t think that being a physical descendant of Abraham is enough to save you. 
• If you are in fact repentant, your lives will show evidence of that repentance.  But their lives show that they are complacent and confident in the fact that they were born Jewish.  

Summary

• John the Baptist was an important and popular figure.  He was widely accepted as a prophet. 
• His message had 2 parts, Repent (turn back to God), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  The King has arrived. Now is the time to make your choice. 
• The day of judgment is coming when the king will separate his people from those who are not his people. 
• The way to be among his people is to repent.  Being Jewish is not enough. The king is coming and it is time to turn back to God and follow his Messiah.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 09 Matthew 3:13-17 The baptism of Jesus

Previous: 07 Matthew 2:19-23 A Nazarene

Series: Gospel of Matthew: Behold, the King!

Resources: Matthew Resources

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