THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO
ST MATTHEW
CHAPTER 3
John the Baptist preaches in Judaea—Jesus is baptized and the Father acclaims him as his Beloved son.
1 IN those days came aJohn the Baptist,[How was John prepared? He was baptised as a child, ordained by an Angel D&C 84:27-28] preaching in the wilderness [ Following his Nazarite lifestyle he avoids the towns and villages; thus fufiling the prophecy by Esaias of one crying or preaching in the wilderness v3. the wilderness spoken of here is the desert area west of the dead sea. ] of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye:[ Metanoeite. This was the matter of the preaching. The verb metanoew is either compounded of meta meaning "after", and noein meaning "to understand", which signifies that, after hearing such preaching, the sinner is led to understand, that the way he has walked in was the way of misery. ] for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.[ Referring to the prophecy of Daniel, Dan. vii. 13,14. why is this called a kingdom? Because it has its laws, all the moral precepts of the Gospel: its subjects, all who believe in Christ Jesus: and its king, the sovereign of heaven and earth. N. B. Jesus Christ never saved a soul which he did not govern; nor is this Christ precious or estimable to any man who does not feel a spirit of subjection to the Divine will. ]
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, [ Isaiah ] saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, [ Or, A voice of a crier in the wilderness. This is quoted from Isa. xl. 3, which clearly proves that John the Baptist was the person of whom the prophet spoke. ] Prepare ye the way [The idea is taken from the practice of eastern monarchs, who, whenever they entered upon an expedition, or took a journey through a desert country, sent harbingers before them, to prepare all things for their passage; and pioneers to open the passes, to level the ways, and to remove all impediments. The officers appointed to superintend such preparations were called by the Latins, stratores. ] of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 And the same John had his raiment [ Clothing. ] of camel’s hair, [ A very coarse cloth woven from camel hair. ] and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat [from the Greek term "trophe" which means nourishment ] was locusts and wild honey. [ He ate those things provided by Providence. ]
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, [ Many of the people started to seek him out, he had become popular because he was teaching truth and riping on the corrupt system which had been instituted by Herod. Herod had executede the Sanhedrin and desposed the local Rabbi's after he took over. He wanted to make sure there were not any fractions that could rise against him. Herod imported Rabbis from Persia, ones that he new would be servile to Herod because he had placed them in their positions, hence the people had no respect for these rabbis. So when someone came along to challenge these leaders the people were excited. ] and all the region round about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of [ By. ] him in Jordan , [ Jordan River. In John 3:23 we learn that John was baptising in a place were there was "much water" this was important because he was baptising by immersion - this is the reason why people were traveling from Jerusalem to the place where John was. Baptism comes from the Greek word which means "to dip or immerse" BD Notice that there was no injecture here as to why he was baptising because it was a practise that was familiar and was practiced from ancient time forward see Moses 6: 64-66. ] confessing their sins.
7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees [ Pharisees: A very numerous sect among the Jews, who, in their origin, were, very probably, a pure and holy people. It is likely that they got the name of Pharisees, i.e. Separatists, (from rp pharash, to separate,) from their separating themselves from the pollution of the Jewish national worship . Sadducees:A sect who denied the existence of angels and spirits, consequently all Divine influence and inspiration, and also the resurrection of the dead - "they were sad you see". These were not necessarily the religious leaders, the priests and scribes, but were those who belonged to these 2 sects but either way they appear to be worshiping as hypocrites. The IV explains why - they are not accepting his testimoney concerning the Messiah, hence they are not really accepting him and his message. ] come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, [ From a serpentine stock. As their fathers were, so were they, children of the wicked one. The Jews were the seed of the serpent, who should bruise the heel of the woman's seed, and whose head should be bruised by him.] who hath warned you [ Or, privately shown you. ] to flee from the wrath to come? [ IV adds a statement "for your sins have no cloak" or there is no false pretense or front from which to hide their sins - they are plain in ignoring him and his message. ]
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet [ Necessary. ] for repentance: [ So we have one group those found in verse 6 who are honestly coming to John and confessing their sins, but this group they are hypocritical in their repentance - or in other words just saying that you repent is not enough they need to bring forth real change.]
9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: [ A similar phrase today might be "we have been saved", they were saying that since Abraham was their father that was all they needed to be entitled to the fullness of the blessings. ] for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. [ Pretty good symbolic message here. IV version reads:"And think not to say within yourselves, We are the children of Abraham, and we only have powere to bring seed unto our father Abraham; for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children into Abraham." The people are claiming special privileges by
birthright and saying they do not have the power to save anyone
but themselves, which they are doing because they are keeping the
commandments.
John retorts that if all God wanted was children for Abraham
He could make them from scratch as he did Adam and Eve. This de-
emphasizes their privilege via birthright claims, says that their
claim to not be able to save anyone else besides the lineage of
Abraham are nonsense, and accuses them of self-righteousness.
"We have Abraham to our father", the underlying subject is
the claim associated with being children of the Promise. This
idea has its source in the numerous OT Prophet statements that
Israel will be redeemed and is the Lord's favored people.
Especially see Isa. 51:1-3 where this connection is explicitly
made with respect to the redemption of Zion.
However, the Lord is perfectly willing to destroy the wicked
from among Israel and reconstitute it as He deems necessary,
based upon the various covenant curses, cf. Lev. 26. For
example, the entire Golden Calf episode where the Lord wants to destroy almost all of Israel, but Moses intercedes and only the
most wicked are destroyed, cf. Exod. 32.
Thus, the people are myopically focusing on the doctrines
that suit themselves.
Such appeals to Abrahamic lineage are used both correctly
and incorrectly throughout the NT, cf. Luke 16:24, John 8:33-39,
Acts 7:2, Romans 4, Gal. 3:29.
"stones...children", the Aramaic which would have been used
here contains a probable word play of "benayya", children, and
"abnayya", stones. Which would explain why John chose to put
children in an obscure parallel to stones. ]
10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: [ Symbolic of people. ] therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit [ Those who do not live righteously. ] is hewn [ Cut or chopped ] down, and cast into the fire. [ Punished according to the laws of justice if they do not repent. Now if all one ever read was the traditional canon, carefully crafted by the scribes, then one might think John was making up the tree metaphor on his own. But he wasn't. John was paraphrasing Zenos and Enoch and the Patriarchs. The scribes had convinced the Jews that their covenant was based on genealogy; ie., their roots. The tree allegory and the truth about the Gentiles was too unbearable to hear. Quoting Zenos cost John his head. ]
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he [ Jesus Christ ] that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: [ IV: I am not worthy to fill his place. This saying is expressive of the most profound humility and reverence. To put on, take off, and carry the shoes of their masters, was, not only among the Jews, but also among the Greeks and Romans, the work of the vilest slaves. ] he [ Jesus Christ. ] shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: [ The fire that is needed in order to change us. Symbolically fire is used to purify gold, the process requires the gold ore to be heated to it's melting point. at this point the impurities float to the top and the pure gold sinks to the bottom. Example" when we commit sin the Holy Ghost points it out to us which in turn causes out conscience to burn. When we respond by repenting the Atonement of Christ cleanses us this we are purified bit by bit. ]
12 Whose fan [ The fan is used to blow the chaff away from the kernels of wheat during the threshing process. ] is in his hand, and he will throughly purge [ Cleanse. ] his floor, [ the earth ] and gather his wheat [ The righteous. ] into the garner; [ The barn - his home .] but he will burn up the chaff [ those who have become worthless - those who are not living up to their mission - the unrighteous. ] with unquenchable fire.
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, [ See 2Ne. 31:4-7. ] Suffer [ Allow. ] it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. [ That is, Every righteous ordinance. Baptism is an ordinance and a covenant of obedience. Jesus was to be the high priest over the house of God - as such he must submit to all the ordinances required by the law to become a high priest in good standing. The ordinances included circumcision, which was the initiatory ordinance of the Mosaic dispensation, baptism, washing and anointing all required to become a High Priest. Thus he fulfilled the righteous ordinance of his initiation into the office of high priest, and thus was prepared to make an atonement for the sins of mankind.] Then he suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: [ Further evidence that he was baptised by immersion. The River Jordan is significant that this sacred ordinance was performed in virtually the lowest body of fresh water on the planet? Elevation -1,365ft Could He have selected a lower place to symbolize the humble depths to which He went and from which He rose? By example, He wanted to teach us that He literally descended beneath all things to rise above all things. Surely this would signify that through our obedience and effort we, too, can come from our deepest depths to ascend to lofty heights of our own destiny." (“Why Palestine?” Missionary Training Center, October 11, 1994) "'Jordan' is a Hebrew word that means 'to go down.' ] and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he [ John The Baptist. ] saw the Spirit of God [ The Holy Ghost ] descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: [ the Savior see JST Matt 3:45-46 "Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Jesus" ]