February 2 2014 Steve Rahter Matthew 3 audio.mp3

Sunday February 2ndMatthew 3 (Baptism)We actually don’t know very much about Jesus’ childhood years. Luke chapter 2 tells us about Jesus being dedicated, and then says in verse 40 “ The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”Luke also includes the story of Jesus in the temple at 12 years old, teaching the elders of Israel. He ends that story by saying in verse 52 “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”That’s about all we have, and Matthew certainly doesn’t add anything – he jumps directly from Jesus as an infant to Jesus as a 30 year old man, about to be baptized by His second-cousin John the Baptist.Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”The call to repentance would be issued by both John the Baptist and Jesus. In Matthew 4:17 we will see this:From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”So what exactly is repentance? It’s not just sorrow for our sins but a definite decision to change, to turn away from our sins and turn toward a life of obedience. The call to “Repent” was similar the Old Testament call to the Nation of Israel to “return” to faithfulness to their covenant with God. Repenting doesn’t mean punishing yourself, being depressed, or feeling remorse. As we will see in chapter 27 verse 3, even Judas was sorrowful and distressed about what he had done – “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders” - but he didn’t repent.Besides calling the people to repent, John the Baptist also introduces the concept of kingdom of heaven, which will be the central theme of Jesus’ teaching. The kingdom of heaven, or the reign of God, is what the Old Testament prophets had anticipated. John the Baptist and Jesus were proclaiming that the time of waiting was over and the King had come.From the very beginning, God had wanted the people of Israel to seek HIM as their king, but in 1st Samuel 8:4-7 the people of Israel reject God as their king by asking for an earthly king instead.Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; 5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing was   displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.”In some ways the call to repentance is simply a call to allow God to return to His rightful place in our lives. That’s why we not only call Jesus our savior, we call him our LORD!Then Matthew ties the appearance of John the Baptist into a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy: 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,‘Make ready the way of the Lord,Make His paths straight!’”This is a quotation of Isaiah 40:3A voice is calling,“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.So let’s look at this interesting character, John the Baptist.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. Sounds a bit eccentric, doesn’t he?5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; 6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.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?I love John’s lack of political correctness! He sees snakes and he CALLS them snakes!The term “the wrath to come” refers to the Old Testament promise of the coming of the Lord in judgment.Psalm 96:13 says “the Lord…He is coming,For He is coming to judge the earth.He will judge the world in righteousnessAnd the peoples in His faithfulness.Malachi 3:2 says “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.So what’s John’s warning for those who want to escape judgment? He goes right back to repentance.8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 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. 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.John says that not only is the kingdom of God at hand, so is His judgment. In that sense, John was correct, but what he didn’t know was that Jesus’ wasn’t there tobring judgment, He was there to TAKE the judgment for sins upon Himself!John then reminds the people that He’s only a warm-up act for the Messiah: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. 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.”John points out that water baptism serves a purpose. That’s why we continue to baptize people today. But there is also a Holy Spirit baptism that releases God’s power and His fire in our lives!13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” 15 But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”John didn’t feel right to baptizing Jesus because he recognized that Jesus had no sins to repent for. But Jesus says that, in order for “all righteousness” to be fulfilled, He had to be identified with the people as the bearer of their sins.2 Corinthians 5:21 says that “(God) made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus’ death on the cross would be His true “baptism”! In Luke 12:50 Jesus says “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”Then he permitted Him. 16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”The appearance of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of the Father from heaven confirm Jesus’ identity in fulfillment of these two scriptures:Isaiah 42:1“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;My chosen one in whom My soul delights.I have put My Spirit upon Him;He will bring forth justice to the nations.Psalm 2:7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,Today I have begotten You.The Holy Spirit’s appearance in the form of a dove reminds us the original creation in Genesis 1:2 “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” That original creation was ruined by sin, but this reappearance of the Spirit hovering over Jesus points to the beginning of the new creation.That’s why 2 Corinthians 5:17 says“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”And that’s what we’re proclaiming as we celebrate these baptisms this morning