TRANSITION FROM JOHN THE BAPTIST TO JESUS – MATHEW 3

TODAY’S BIBLE CHAPTER – MATHEW 3

OUTLINE OF THE BIBLE CHAPTER

This chapter gives a record of; the ministry of John the baptist and the Baptism of Jesus Christ.

LESSON FROM THIS CHAPTER

Repentance means an acceptance of this truth: we have gone off course with our lives and need to come back. Repentance desires to confess our sins, not proclaim excuses or why others made us do what we did. Repentance says that I need to get my life right and my paths straight for the arrival of the king. Repentance is a declaration of a radical life change, not mere grief or sorrow. We are not doing a person any favors if we lower the bar of repentance to just feeling bad or being sorrow. This is not what God is looking for. We are a brood of vipers if we pretend with our repentance.

Now do you think when people came to John, confessing their sins and admitting that they needed to make straight paths in their lives that John shamed them for their sins? Do you think he was repulsed by sinners coming for repentance? Friends, God wants repentance and proclaimed the necessity of repentance to belong to his kingdom. Therefore, we encourage and rally around repentance. We do not shame it. We are not repulsed by repentance. We are not shocked by the sinfulness of people. In a culture and world where saying something wrong and doing something wrong means you are forever marked, we must be a place of help and hope for people who admit they are sinners and desire to turn their lives around. If we are not welcoming the repentant, then we have dark hearts and we are a brood a vipers because we are deceiving ourselves, as if we are not sinners who need just as much of the grace of God anyone else. Can you imagine a doctor not wanting to see sick patients? Can you imagine a church not wanting to see sick patients? We are here to call people to repentance.

But let your repentance be real. How do I know if I have real repentance? John tells us that real repentance bears fruit. Real repentance is willing to change your life when confronted by sin. Do not just say words. Change your life. Live different. Repentance does not continuing living how we want to live. Repentance changes life to live how God wants us to live. Repentance says I am going to change and you will see it in my life today. True repentance is the preparation needed for Jesus’ arrival. The call of the kingdom and of the king is repentance. To be in the kingdom of God means you are ready to have a new life. This means you have to confess that your ways are not working and you are ready for God’s ways. Only now can you receive the blessings of God and forgiveness and healing you need.

But I want us to look at what the baptism of Jesus and the words of the Father mean to us. We noted that this Spirit hovering over Jesus was a picture that new life, new hope, and a new creation had come. Light has now come into the dark world. Isaiah 42:1-4 tells us what this event means. Jesus is going to bring justice. It is repeated a number of times in those four verses. He will not be discouraged or stop until he has established justice and brings his law to the world. But notice what is said about his work in the midst of this. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench.” One of the reasons that the world over time has rejected royalty and kingship is because the kings are a drain on the people. They do not act in justice and righteousness. They act in their own self interests. They are ruthless to the people rather than serving the people. But listen to the character of King Jesus. He did not come to break you. He did not come to snuff you out. His purpose is not to take broken people and finish them off. His purpose is to give new hope to the bruised reed. His purpose is to fan the flame of the faintly burning wick. He came to make your life better, not worse. He came to give you the life you need. People are coming to John proclaiming their sins because they know that they need that new life.

Now look at Psalm 2:1-9 and notice what else the Father’s words regarding the anointing of his Son means. Those who rise up against the Lord and his anointed will experience the wrath and fury of the Lord. The baptism of Jesus is the declaration of his kingship. There are two options to his kingship. Serve the king who has come to serve you and give you the light and life you need for now and for eternity. Or resist the king and experience wrath. To use the words of John, you will either be baptized with the Holy Spirit or you will be baptized with fire. You can be gathered into his barn and receive blessings. Or you can be gathered into unquenchable fire and receive judgment. The arrival of the kingdom is the final opportunity for repentance before judgment. The arrival of the king means if you are bruised, he has come to heal your life. If you are faintly burning, he has come to restore your life. Jesus putting things to right and wants to begin by putting your life right today.

Thank you for Reading!