Matthew · chapter 3 of 28
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Matthew 3 introduces John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and calling people to repent. When Jesus comes from Galilee to be baptized, John resists, but Jesus insists on fulfilling all righteousness. As he comes up out of the water, heaven opens, the Spirit descends like a dove and the Father's voice declares that Jesus is his beloved Son.
After the birth and childhood of Jesus in chapters 1 and 2, Matthew moves to his public ministry. Before Jesus speaks, John the Baptist appears, the messenger Isaiah had announced. The baptism of Jesus is the moment when the Father, the Son and the Spirit are revealed together and Jesus is presented to Israel.
In those days John the Baptist appears in the wilderness of Judea, preaching that people should repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew sees in him the one Isaiah described as a voice crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord. John wore camel's hair with a leather belt and ate locusts and wild honey. People from Jerusalem, all Judea and the region around the Jordan went out to him, confessed their sins and were baptized by him in the river.
When John sees many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he calls them a brood of vipers and demands fruit in keeping with repentance. He warns them that being descendants of Abraham is not enough, since God can raise up children for Abraham from stones, and that the ax is already laid at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. John baptizes with water for repentance, but he announces that one more powerful is coming, whose sandals he is not worthy to carry, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire and will clear his threshing floor.
Then Jesus comes from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. John tries to stop him, saying that he is the one who needs to be baptized by Jesus. Jesus answers that it is fitting to do so to fulfill all righteousness, and John consents. As Jesus comes up out of the water, the heavens open, he sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him, and a voice from heaven says this is his beloved Son, with whom he is well pleased.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
John calls people to repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand. To repent means to change direction and turn to God, and the reason is good news: God's reign is arriving.
John demands fruit that matches repentance. True faith shows in a changed life, and religious privilege or family heritage cannot replace it.
Jesus says it is fitting for him to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Although he has no sin to confess, he identifies with his people and begins his mission by obeying the Father from the start.
As Jesus comes out of the water, the Spirit descends on him like a dove and the Father declares that he is his beloved Son, with whom he is well pleased. All three persons of the Trinity appear in one scene, and the public ministry of Jesus begins with the Father's approval.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That people should repent, because the kingdom of heaven was at hand. — Matthew 3:1-2
Answer: He wore camel's hair with a leather belt and ate locusts and wild honey. — Matthew 3:4
Answer: That they bear fruit in keeping with repentance and not rely only on being descendants of Abraham. — Matthew 3:7-9
Answer: With the Holy Spirit and fire. — Matthew 3:11
Answer: John said he needed to be baptized by Jesus; Jesus replied that it was fitting to do this to fulfill all righteousness. — Matthew 3:14-15
Answer: The heavens opened, the Spirit of God descended like a dove on him, and a voice from heaven said he was the beloved Son. — Matthew 3:16-17
John reminds us that repentance is not only a feeling but a visible change. In a small group it can help to ask what concrete fruit shows our faith: the way we speak, spend and treat others. Growing up in a church or having a believing family does not replace a personal decision to turn to God.
The baptism of Jesus is also a comfort. The Father declares his love for the Son before he performs any miracle, and believers, united to Christ, receive that same assurance of being loved. That certainty is the starting point for obedience, not the prize for obeying.
Matthew 3 closes with the Father proclaiming Jesus his beloved Son while the Spirit descends on him. In chapter 4 that same Spirit will lead him into the wilderness, where Jesus is tempted before he begins calling his disciples.
Matthew explains it with Jesus' own words: to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus identifies with his people and with the sinners who needed salvation, and submits to the Father's will as he begins his mission. For him it was not a baptism of repentance but an act of obedience and solidarity.
Interpreters understand it in several ways: fire as purification and the Spirit as renewal for those who believe, or fire as judgment on those who reject the Messiah, as the next verse about burning chaff suggests. Many see both senses present in one announcement.
They were two influential groups in first-century Judaism. The Pharisees were known for strict observance of the law and its traditions, and the Sadducees came largely from priestly and aristocratic families and did not accept the resurrection. John warns that neither group is saved by religious standing.