Matthew 3 - January 12^th

As stated in the shepherding notes for Matthew 1, the book of Matthew focuses on the reality that Christ is King; He is the rightful heir to the throne of David. Kings often had heralds; these were people who would go before the king and announce his arrival. Heralds were harbingers that would signal the coming of a king by going ahead of the king and ensuring that the people were prepared for his coming. Similar to other kings, Christ, too, had a herald. King Jesus also had someone who went before him to “prepare the way of the Lord.” We are introduced to him in this chapter, and his name is John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was the last prophet to come before the arrival of the Messiah, and he was tasked with preparing the way of the Lord. It is important to understand that this needed to take place; in fact, John’s birth and ministry fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah as we find quoted in verse 3. Now, there is so much to talk about in this chapter and many questions I am sure we all have when we read this chapter; questions like, was the baptism that John was baptizing others in the same or different to the baptism of Christians we find later in the Bible? Why was Jesus baptized? What were the Pharisees doing there? And why on earth was John wearing camel hair and eating honey and bugs? While I would love to examine those questions more, they simply cannot be covered in these short notes. Instead, I want to get a birds-eye view of not only this chapter but of the purpose of John the Baptist’s life. (Although I certainly encourage you to dive into further study of the former questions)

John the Baptist existed for one sole purpose, to point others to Christ! John the Baptist was a man who was born to be overshadowed, a man born to be forgotten, a man born to be surpassed. This may sound harsh or even sad, and you may even want to feel pity for him because of such a statement. Do not; he certainly felt no such pity for himself; the reason being that the one who was to come after him was greater than him, and that is Christ. Consider John’s life for a moment; think about it; look to the book of Luke; from the time John is born, his father, Zechariah, is more excited about the soon-to-be-born Jesus than his own newborn son (Luke 1:68-79). In John 1:35-37, John’s disciples leave him in favor of following Jesus. In this third chapter of Matthew, John baptizes with water, but he cannot baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire; only Christ can do that.

John the Baptist knew his inadequacy and inferiority to Jesus. This is why he says, “but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry”. He knew Christ was greater than him, and so he says to Jesus in verse 14, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” John was a herald, a servant of the king. He came to make way; he came to step aside.

Brothers and sisters, this man was made to exalt and kneel before Christ. He did not come to make a name for himself but instead to glorify the name of his God. Do we do the same? So often, we can live for ourselves, but what sets a Christian apart from the rest of the world is this…while others seek glory for themselves, Christians seek glory for another. While the people of the world seek to ensure that their names are never forgotten, Christians are content to be forgotten. Let us follow the example of John the Baptist. He understood his place. He understood that Jesus is the master and he was the slave. Modern-day men often think the opposite. And so, John the Baptist’s purpose in life could be summed up by what he says in John 3:30 when speaking about Christ, “He must increase, but I must decrease”.

Can you say that your purpose is the same?