Matthew 3:1-12
This text is used for the Lectionary Year A on December 8, 2013.
All four gospels open with the figure of John the Baptist and connect his ministry and message to Jesus. Each draws attention to John’s role as a fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3. In the Fourth Gospel John the Baptist has the exclusive role of introducing Jesus as the Lamb of God and pointing his own disciples toward him. However, in the Synoptic Gospels John is primarily a prophet of repentance anticipating the appearance of the Messiah and the advent of the Kingdom of God.
Matthew summarizes John’s message simply: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come” (3:2). He identifies John as the one prophesied by Isaiah who would prepare the path of the Lord in the wilderness, making smooth the way of his coming to his people.
The reader is almost certainly meant to see a parallel between John and the Old Testament prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:8). Elijah became a figure in Jewish messianic lore. He was expected to make an appearance before the Messiah arrived (Malachi 4:5; Matthew 17:1-8). Jesus later makes that connection explicit for his disciples (Matthew 17:1-13).
John is described as a man who lived simply in the wilderness, clothed with rough garments and surviving on what was at hand. Although most Old Testament prophets went to the people to proclaim the Word of the Lord, the people of Jerusalem and the region along the Jordan were going out to the wilderness of Judea to meet John on his own turf. Along the banks of the Jordan they listened to his call to repent in preparation for the imminent appearance of God’s kingdom, to confess their sins, and to be immersed in the river.
John’s ministry is set, significantly, “in the wilderness of Judea” (Matthew 3:1). The wilderness is often the place of spiritual renewal in biblical narratives. Moses, the people of Israel, David, Elijah, and others spend time with God in the wilderness. Ezekiel (20:33-38) and Hosea (2:14-23) point to the wilderness as a place where God renews his people. Jesus himself will retreat to the wilderness at the outset of his ministry (Matthew 4:1-11). So the people of Judea retreat to the wilderness to prepare for the Messiah’s appearance.
Many Pharisees and Sadducees also sought John’s ministry. John did not take their approach at face value, but challenged them. He compared them to a bunch of snakes, crawling out of their holes and fleeing before a desert fire. He tells them that they must “bring forth fruit worthy of repentance,” that is, that they must demonstrate with their lives that they have changed.
“Repentance” is a powerful word about the way people must approach God. The Hebrew word simply means, “to turn,” as if one were walking in one direction, away from God, and then did an about face. The Greek word used in Matthew’s text (metanoia) means to “think again,” or to “transform one’s thinking.” In light of the reality of the dawning of God’s kingdom, John called people to rethink their lives, to see themselves and their world in a new way, resulting in new behaviors – fruit worthy of repentance. Although this may sound like working one’s way back to God, that is not at all the idea. Repentance is not earning our way back to God with good works, it is simply the unavoidable way back to God. The message of John in Matthew 3:2 is proclaimed by Jesus himself as he begins his public ministry (Matthew 4:17).
John warns that a failure to repent would result in judgment. It would be useless to protest one’s spiritual or physical ancestry. Abraham may have been the rock from which the people of Israel had been hewn (Isaiah 51:1-2), but God was capable of raising up children of Abraham from the rocks in the wilderness. Unfruitful trees would be cut down and consumed by fire.
The second portion of John’s message is the reason behind the first. Repentance is necessary because the kingdom of heaven was dawning. Another figure, the Messiah, would come after John. John was unworthy of carrying his sandals. The Messiah would execute ultimate judgment, immersing the repentant in the Holy Spirit and the unrepentant in fire.
John may have considered himself unworthy of being compared to his successor, but Matthew calls attention to their many similarities. They preach the same message (3:2, 4:17). Matthew introduces them in similar ways (3:1, 13). The Pharisees and Sadducees oppose them both (3:7-10; 12:34; 23:3). They call on the same nation to repent (11:16-19). They both act out of God’s authority (21:23-23) and are understood by the people to be prophets (11:9; 14:5; 21:11, 26). Both Jesus and John are regarded and criminals, put to death (14:1-12; 26-27), and buried by their disciples (14:12; 27:57-61). Clearly Matthew makes it clear that John’s ministry is prelude to Jesus’ and that Jesus’ flows out of John’s.
What doors open into this text about this unusual and significant biblical figure? One might engage the text from the perspective of the history of salvation. Reminding a congregation of God’s story with which their own story intersects can be a powerful reminder of the significance of their own ministry. The text might also be approached from the perspective of evangelism. John makes clear to the Jewish leaders that their spiritual ancestry and religion would not guarantee their participation in God’s kingdom. They must personally repent and submit to his reign. A third approach might take up John’s message of repentance as a vital aspect of spiritual life. What does it mean to constantly “rethink” our lives in light of the kingdom of God? Finally, one might well ask, “Where is the Good News in this passage?” Perhaps it is found in the promise that God’s kingdom has dawned, forgiveness is available, and new life in relationship with God is a possibility.
R. Robert Creech
Hubert H. & Gladys S. Raborn Professor of Pastoral Leadership
George W. Truett Theological Seminary,
Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Robert_Creech@baylor.edu