Matthew 3:1-12 - Big Picture

There are a couple of things I want cover in this post. First, let's talk about how this passage is functioning in Matthew's theme of the New People of God. Second, I'd like to touch on some present day implications for the Church.

As we've talked about before, Matthew will over the course of the book show the Jews separating from Jesus and Jesus building a New People of God out of believing Gentiles and Jews. This chapter is very in-your-face, in that we see that the first time that the Kingdom is preached in this gospel it results in a confrontation between the truth and the Jewish leaders. The huge verse behind this idea is verse 9. Right after telling the Pharisees and Sadducees to bear fruit in keeping with repentance, John says, "Do not presume to say among yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."

I can almost hear the collective gasp that must have resounded in the crowd as John dared to say such things to the religious elite. These were the leaders of God's chosen people, defined by their posterity, their circumcision, and their law. To be a son of Abraham was to be among the people of God. This was an exclusive party. If you were a Jew you were in. If not, you were out.

And here, John the Baptist says, "That is all but meaningless. You must bear fruit that is the evidence of repentance." This is the beginning of the tension between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Jewish leaders. A totally mind-blowing new paradigm is arriving in this Kingdom and the Jews simply will not be able to handle it.

John continues with more tough words. He returns to the fruit theme, "Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into fire." The ax is here. The time has come. Fruit will determine which tree lives and which one is removed.

In verse 11, John gets very specific. Up until this point, the chapter was focused on John. Now John shifts the focus to Jesus, on whom it will stay until the end of the Gospel. He tells of One who is coming who is qualitatively different from John. John baptizes in water. This One will baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire.

Let me stop and say that there is so much here, we could spend weeks looking just at this. The issue of the connection between baptism and repentance could be a whole series in itself and would require going all over the Bible. For the sake of time, I'll give you my two cents and encourage you to investigate it for yourself. There are three ways this could be taken: 1) baptism effects repentance, 2) baptism demands or summons repentance, or 3) baptism presupposes and expresses repentance. I think these are the only ways the grammar of the Greek here could be read. However, in the context of the whole of Scripture, #3 is the only plausible option. If you want to talk more about it let me know.

Then what about baptism by the Spirit and fire? This is an extremely difficult phrase to interpret. Again, I don't want to write a book. Some think that both things are referring to salvation. Some think that both are referring to judgment. Some think that the Spirit refers to salvation and the fire refers to judgment. Personally, just looking at the flow of the passage, I lean towards judgment. Matthew uses the word 'fire' three times, one right after another in verses 10-12. The first and third times it is clearly referring to judgment. Given Matthew's affinity for triads (which we will see all through the book, including the next chapter) I think he is giving a triple warning of judgment. The Spirit? Well, both the Greek and Hebrew words for spirit also mean wind or breath. There are numerous places in the OT where wind and fire are part of a picture of judgment.

I'm not certain and I would never argue with anyone about it. But I didn't want to ignore it. So there you go.

But what is the predominant picture painted here of the Coming One? This man will be a Judge like no other. He is no passive, sissy hippy. He means business and He will separate the wheat from the chaff.

And the chaff are doomed.

Who are the chaff? The several references to repentance and fruit in the preceding verses tell us that the wheat are the people who bear fruit. The chaff are the people who don't bear fruit. This kind of stark separation will be seen later on using the imagery of sheep and goats. There is no ambiguity. There are no borderline cases, no reviews, no appeals - you either bear fruit or you don't. And woe to all those who don't.

Alright, how about present day implications. Think for a second about the fact that the first preaching about the Kingdom was a sermon about judgment. Consider also that Jesus in His preaching had far more to say about hell than heaven.

But it has become quite uncommon to hear this kind of preaching today. The prevailing idea is that it is unloving to preach about hell and judgment - we should love people to repentance. How strange to think that the preaching of Jesus and John the Baptist would be considered harsh and pessimistic today.

If you only hear one line in this whole post, hear this one: it is the most loving thing you can possibly do to tell someone that if they do not repent and give themselves without qualification to Christ, a terrible expectation of judgment awaits them. Literal hell. Literal fire. I think most people are afraid of being rejected for speaking this truth. Don't worry - you will be rejected. (Just wait for chapter 10.) Jesus and John were both killed for speaking the truth. The wheat will hear and heed, and the chaff will hear and reject - you can bank on it. But at the end of the day this does not excuse us from delivering the truth in love. I believe that judgment is an indispensable part of the gospel. Grace is not grace outside the context of God's wrath over man's sin. People must know what they are being saved from.

Repent. Bear fruit. Or face judgment. That is the message of this passage.

Take a look at the end of chapter 3 on your own. There is an important key there that we'll need before we look at our next passage. John objects to baptizing Jesus. Jesus gives him a reason why it is necessary. Find it and chew on it. Our next passage is Matthew 4:1-11. Wonderful things await us. Spend some time in it before the next post. Drink deep.