Smoodock's Blog

Next, Matthew fast-forwards about 26 years to the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1), which was the year the ministry of John the Baptist began.[1] John, remember, was only about six months older than Jesus (Luke 1:26, 56). He was to be a “prophet of the Most High God (Luke 1:76), who would prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. It was prophesied that John would come to Israel, after she hadn’t had a prophet for over four centuries. John was a messenger of God, who was sent to prepare the way of the Messiah (Malachi 3:1). He was a voice crying in a wilderness (Isaiah 40:3), calling out to a people who had lost their way.

The ears of the people had grown dull of understanding truth, because they had closed their eyes/hearts. Therefore, they couldn’t see spiritual truth, meaning they couldn’t understand spiritual truth (cp. Matthew 13:15), because they preferred darkness to light, vis-à-vis they simply didn’t want to be corrected, because they enjoyed the sins they were committing (John 3:19-20).[2] Therefore, John came preaching knowledge of salvation or how folks could be saved from the very sins that kept them in exile and out of God’s presence (Luke 1:77; Genesis 3:22-23; 4:16; 11:7-8; 2Kings 25:8-11; cp Matthew 1:11).

Matthew begins chapter three in his Gospel with, “In those days…” What days are these? The phrase refers us back to the last things said in chapter two that could define the phrase, namely “those days” refer to the days that Jesus lived in Nazareth, and before he began his ministry throughout the regions of Galilee.

John baptized in the wilderness of Judea, near the Jordan River, telling all those who came to him that they needed to repent, because the Kingdom of Heaven was near, meaning the days of the Jews’ exile were coming to an end. The purpose of God was, and always had been, to bring man back into his presence, symbolized by the Garden in Genesis 2 &3 and the Most Holy Place in the Temple at Jerusalem. John’s message included the words of Isaiah, the prophet,

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she has received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins…” (Isaiah 40:1-2).

Matthew described John’s ministry by pointing to the prophet Isaiah, saying, the days of the Jews’ formal service to God had come to an end, and now they were required to repent (Isaiah 40:2-3; cp. Matthew 13:15; John 3:19-20). They were forgiven, but they had failed. Their punishment was at an end and their exile was over. All that was necessary was for them to cease their rebellion and meet or come into the Presence of their God, who was about to appear to them (Isaiah 40:3, 5), or be seen by them (cp. John 1:14). In other words, the play was over, and they had acted out all they could to make things work. Now, the author of it all was about to come on stage.

Moses had spoken of these very days, referring to them as the latter days (Deuteronomy 31:29 KJV), and Jacob referred to them as the last days (Genesis 49:1 KJV). The Hebrew is the same in both citations: achariyth (H319). Both Moses and Jacob referred to these days as the last days. Isaiah referred to them as the days when the Jews’ “warfare” (KJV) or “service” (ERV) was fulfilled or had come to an end (H4390; male), and now they needed to prepare to meet their God (Isaiah 40:3, 5; cp. Malachi 3:1-2), vis-à-vis return to his Presence (cp. Genesis 3:22-24).

Matthew described John’s appearance as a man wearing camel’s hair, not the fine elegant cloth, but the rough cloths of a prophet (cp. Zechariah 13:4), similar to Elijah’s apparel (2Kings 1:8; cp. Malachi 4:5). His diet was locusts and wild honey. The honey, I believe, represents sweetness or satisfaction from the Lord (Psalm 81:15-16). However, the locusts seem to represent the approach of fear and judgment.[3] John was offering forgiveness and judgment from the Lord, and the people had to choose which they would take and eat from the Lord’s table.

John’s message was powerful, and many came to him out of Judea and Jerusalem and all the regions about the Jordan and were baptized, as they repented of their sins (Matthew 3:5-6).

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[1] See my earlier study in the Gospel of Luke, Dating the Ministry of John the Baptist.

[2] In other words, the spiritual leaders enjoyed the authority they had over the people and didn’t want that to change. On the other hand, the people enjoyed their ignorance and wanted to be told what to believe. Hypocrisy is usually understood, but nearly always ignored, because folks want to believe man over God, the flesh over the spirit, what feels good over what is good.

[3] See an earlier study of mine in the Apocalypse: Locusts Who Hurt Men for Five Months.