Matthew 3:7 ¶ But when he
saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them,
O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for
repentance: 9 And think not to say
within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you,
that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of
the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn
down, and cast into the fire. 11 I
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with
the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor,
and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire.
John the Baptist condemns the religious elite. The wrath to come
is referred to in several places and it is assumed that the Jews already know
that this is expected.
1Thessalonians 1:10 And to
wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which
delivered us from the wrath to come.
Revelation 11:18 And the
nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they
should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and
shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
God’s judgment will be poured out at the end on wicked mankind and
John here is suggesting that the religious elite of Israel are among the wicked
to be judged.
Verse 8 shows us an important facet of the King James Bible in its
self-defining qualities. What does the word meet mean here? We
cross-reference the verse to Luke 3:8.
Luke 3:8 Bring forth
therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves,
We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Here we see that meet means worthy. This makes these
statements in Genesis make more sense to us.
Genesis 2:18 And the LORD
God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help
meet for him…:20 And Adam gave names to
all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but
for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
There is no such thing as a helpmeet, Christian. God created a
helper that was up to the task, a woman made from man. He created a helper
worthy for Adam in Eve.
What are fruits worthy of the mind of repentance from sin? For
these Jews obedience to the Law and turning from their sins against the Law was
fundamental.
Deuteronomy 6:24 And the
LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our
good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. 25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we
observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath
commanded us.
Faith in Christ is our righteousness.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
And our works are centered around that faith and belief unlike the
Jews who had not seen the Messiah yet.
John 6:28 ¶ Then said they
unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is
the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
With regard to repentance, to repent is to turn from something,
changing your mind about it and rejecting it.
Exodus
32:12 Wherefore should the Egyptians
speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the
mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce
wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
Ezekiel
18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O
house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent,
and turn yourselves from all
your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
The self-righteousness of the religious elite could not accomplish
this. Only humility before God could accomplish this.
Verse 9 is one of those things Jesus says that underscores the
ability of God to do what our reality tells us is impossible. This type of
hyperbole is used elsewhere.
Luke 19:40 And he answered
and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the
stones would immediately cry out.
One commentator, Peter Ruckman, suggested that stones may record
sound and be a record of what is said in their vicinity. What do you think? God
could take inanimate objects, lifeless things, and make living human beings out
of them if He desired as He controls all reality and every function of every
cell.
Verses 10-12 state very clearly that the Messiah to come will
separate those who will obey and follow God and those who will not. This is a
theme of Matthew. There are several passages that underscore the dividing that
Christ does. The ministry of reconciling mankind to God’s self and the judgment
to come for those who will reject His free offer of salvation are both referred
to here in the early part of Matthew. Let’s look at some other passages as two
examples of this thought, a gathering and a judgment.
Matthew 13:24 ¶ Another
parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a
man which sowed good seed in his field: 25
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and
went his way. 26 But when the blade was
sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and
said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then
hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An
enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and
gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay;
lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up
also the wheat with them. 30
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I
will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Matthew 25:31 ¶ When the
Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand,
but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall
the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I
was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye
visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee
drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and
came unto thee? 40 And the King shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left
hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred,
and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in:
naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick,
or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least
of these, ye did it not to me. 46
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous
into life eternal.
Matthew 3:13 ¶ Then cometh
Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to
be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for
thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up
straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Suffer, meaning to allow or permit as in the phrase I suffer fools
gladly when you are amazed at someone’s willful ignorance.
As Jesus, who is God in the flesh, requires of Himself that He
submit to the baptism of John an interesting figure of speech takes place. The
Spirit, capital S, of God, the very mind of God, descends on Jesus like a dove.
That is a simile connecting two unlike things with as or like. A
dove did not descend on Christ literally but only in type. Using a dove as a
symbol we can look back at Noah’s days as the Ark came to rest of dry land. The
dove signifies the Holy Spirit in Genesis 8 with Noah’s name related to the
Comforter when one compares Genesis 5:29 to John 14, 15, and 16’s reference to
the Holy Ghost as the Comforter.
John reported that Jesus didn’t do any baptizing Himself but that
His disciples baptized people.
John 4:1 When therefore the
Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more
disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus
himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
Verses 16 and 17 have their parallels in Mark 1:10-11; Luke 3:22, and John 1:32-33.
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