The Grace Commentary – Award-winning Bible commentary Matthew 3

Matthew 3:1

Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,

(a) John the Baptist. The original word for baptist is a verb (baptizō), so a more accurate translation would be John the Baptizer. Although Matthew and Luke referred to John as John the Baptist (e.g., Matt. 3:1, 11:11, 14:2, 8, 16:14, 17:13, Luke 7:20, 33, 9:19), Mark consistently called him John the Baptizer (e.g., Mark 1:4, 6:14, 24-25, 8:28).

(b) Preaching. The original word (kerusso) means to herald as a public crier. This is one of three words that are commonly translated as “preaching” in the New Testament. See entry for Acts 5:42.

Matthew 3:2

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

(a) Repent. To repent literally means to change your mind. In a biblical sense, repentance is not an isolated intellectual act but a response to spiritual revelation that leads to transformation. In context, Jesus is inviting us to change our unbelieving minds and receive the glad tidings of God’s grace and forgiveness.

Note that there is no suggestion of sin or penance in this context. In the new covenant, repentance does not mean “reform your sinning ways.” In the old covenant, repentance implied a turning from sin (see for example; 1 Kings 8:35, 47-48, 2 Chr. 7:14, Eze. 14:6, 18:30, Jer. 36.3). But in the new covenant, repentance involves a turning to God (Acts 20:21). Paul preached that we should “repent and turn to God” (Act 26:20). Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin and both are a response to God’s love and grace. Repentance is the ability to receive the truth that sets us free. It’s a change of mind that causes us to see as God sees and think as God thinks. To repent and believe is the same as “hear and believe” (Acts 15:7).

See entry for Repentance.

(b) The kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God refers to the reign of God (Matt. 6:10). (Kingdom means king’s domain.) It is the superior reality of heaven in contrast with the fallen realms of this world (John 18:36). The kingdom of heaven is the grace-filled rule of the Lord that releases righteousness, peace and joy (Rom. 14:17). In contrast with earthly kingdoms which wax and wane, the kingdom of the Son starts small, grows and endures forever (Ps. 145:13, Matt. 13:32, Rev. 11:15). We enter the kingdom by repenting (turning to God) and putting our faith in King Jesus.

Since God the Father and the Son are one (John 10:30), the kingdom of God is the kingdom of Christ (Eph. 5:5). In the present age, the kingdom of heaven on earth is synonymous with the Body of Christ or the church.

(c) At hand. The Old Testament prophets spoke of a coming king or kingdom from heaven (Is. 9:6–7, Dan. 2:44, Zech. 9:9). The last of these prophets, John the Baptist, said the kingdom had arrived or was at hand. He was speaking of the imminent arrival of Jesus Christ, the promised King (Dan. 7:13–14). Jesus began his ministry with the same words (Matt. 4:17) and so did the disciples (Matt. 10:7).

Matthew 3:4

Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Locusts or locust beans, meaning the carob pods also eaten by the prodigal (Luke 15:16).

Matthew 3:6

and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

Baptized. The original word implies total immersion. See entry for Baptism.

Matthew 3:7

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

(a) The Pharisees and Sadducees were two rival Jewish sects that controlled the ruling council or Sanhedrin. The Pharisees were more devout, while the corrupt Sadducees had the wealth and power. Although the two groups differed in their theology (the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection; Acts 23:6–9), they were united in their opposition to Jesus (Matt. 16:1, 6).

Because of Jesus’ rebukes, we tend to view the Pharisees as hypocrites and rogues (Matt. 23:13). But not all of them were hostile to the Lord. Some invited him to dinner (Luke 7:36, 11:37), while others warned him of danger (Luke 13:31).

(b) Baptism. See entry for Baptism.

(c) You brood of vipers. Like snakes escaping the fire, the religious leaders were coming out of the doomed city of Jerusalem.

(d) Vipers. John considered the Sanhedrin to be a nest of snakes. The religious leaders spouted the serpent’s lies.

(e) The wrath to come. Within a generation Jerusalem would be torched by the Romans.

Although the Bible speaks of Judgment Day and the wrath to come (1 Th. 1:10), it also describes the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in terms of wrath (1 Th. 2:16). John is talking about the second kind of wrath here. The prophet John saw a bunch of grubby politicians coming out of the doomed city and made a joke. “Who warned you crooks to flee?” However, John’s message was less about escaping the Romans and more about Judgment Day (Matt. 3:10).

Matthew 3:8

“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;

Fruit. The fruit of repentance is faith. Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin. Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Jesus is not looking for moral people or philanthropists; he’s looking for those who will put their trust in him. Jesus spent three years in Israel looking for the fruits of repentance – faith in him – and when he found little he cursed a fruitless fig tree (see entry for Mark 11:13).

Matthew 3:9

and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

Some of the Jews boasted about their pedigree, but Jesus was not impressed. “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did” (John 8:39). John was similarly unimpressed with this sort of talk. You may have a blessed heritage, but your pedigree counts for nothing if you do not repent and believe in the Son of God.

Matthew 3:10

“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

(a) The axe is already laid at the root. The end is near.

Like John, Jesus compared the law-keeping nation of Israel to a fruitless fig tree that was destined to be cut down (Luke 13:6–7).

(b) The root. The self-righteous root of unbelief cannot sustain you. We are meant to be rooted in Christ (Rom. 11:18).

The believer need not fear the axe at the root because Jesus is our Root and the root sustains us (Rev. 22:16). The believer feels no pressure to produce fruit because Jesus is the Vine and it is his fruit we bear. The believer does not strive to become holy, because “as the root is holy, so are the branches” (Rom. 11:16).

(c) Every tree that does not bear good fruit. Fruit are the proof of a tree. “Every good tree bears good fruit” (Matt. 7:17). A tree that does not bear fruit, is not a good tree and is liable to be cut down. The religious leaders considered themselves godly, but their lack of fruit revealed a different story.

(d) Good fruit. Repentance and faith (see Matt. 3:8). Jesus said the men of Nineveh would condemn the current generation because unlike the religious leaders they repented (Matt. 12:41).

(e) Cut down. John is prophesying what will happen to the unbelieving nation. They will be cut down on account of their unbelief. Writing some twenty years later, Paul said “They were broken off because of unbelief” (Rom. 11:20).

Those who trust in themselves are barren and cursed, but those who put their faith in God will never perish. They will be like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither (Ps. 1:3).

(f) Fire. All those things that are opposed to God’s reign will be destroyed by fire (Matt. 13:41, 2 Pet. 2:6, 3:7). Both John the Baptist and Jesus spoke of the fire of divine judgment; see entry for Luke 12:49.

Matthew 3:11

“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.

(a) Baptize… baptize. The original word implies total immersion. See entry for Baptism.

(b) With the Holy Spirit; see entry for Mark 1:8.

(c) Fire. The new covenant age began with the baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It will conclude the Lord’s return and the destructive and cleansing fire of God’s judgment (see entry for Luke 12:49).

Matthew 3:12

“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.”

(a) Winnowing fork. A winnowing fork was used to separate the chaff from the grain after threshing. Like many other Jews, John the Baptist expected the Messiah to purge Israel of Gentiles (e.g., Romans) and sinners. When that didn’t happen, John the Baptist began to wonder “Are you the Messiah?” (Matt. 11:2–3)?

Jesus said the kingdom had come, but how could that be so if evil was still present? “The wheat and tares are growing side by side,” said Jesus. The new has come, but the old remains. But one day Jesus will come with a winnowing fork and then the tares will be removed forever (see Matt. 13:40–41).

(b) Unquenchable fire is one of the many phrases and images Jesus uses to describe the ultimate destruction of those things which are opposed to God. See entry for Matt. 5:22.

Matthew 3:13

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.

Baptized. The original word implies total immersion. See entry for Baptism.

Matthew 3:17

and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

Beloved. The original word (agapetos) means dearly loved, esteemed, favorite and worthy of love. It is closely related to a verb (agapao) that means to be well pleased or fond of or contented. God the Father not only loves God the Son, but he is deeply fond of him and well-pleased with him (Matt. 12:18, 17:5, Mark 1:11, 9:7, 12:6, Luke 3:22, 9:35, 20:13, 2 Pet. 1:17).

This word also describes the believer who is in Christ. You are God’s beloved child. Your heavenly Father is fond of you. You are his esteemed favorite and he is well pleased with you.

All the epistle writers referred to believers as the beloved or dearly-loved children of God (see entry for Rom. 1:7).

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Matthew 3