Imagine if you were a faithful Jew living in the first century and you heard about John the baptizer…
THE ENTRANCE OF JOHN THE BAPTIZER – 3:1-4:
His dad, Zechariah, was from the family of Abijah and his mom, Elizabeth, was from the family of the great high-priest himself, Aaron, brother of the famous Moses. That would put John in the line of priests. But John did not choose to be a priest. John chose to be a preacher.
A big part of John’s popularity may have been the simplicity of his message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” As a faithful Jew, you knew what the word “repent” meant. It was used over a dozen times in the Old Testament. You also knew the Greek word for “repent” could have a broad meaning and a narrow meaning.
In it’s narrow meaning, the word “repent” meant to “change your mind.” The Jews used it this way to say that if you wanted to be right with God, you had to “change your mind” about living your life your way and had to live life the way God wanted you to live. But “repent” could also be used in the broad, general way to refer to the sadness and regret that you felt in your heart when you learned what sin was and that you, personally, had sinned. And the “change of mind” that resulted from that sadness and regret and the change of behavior that would result from that change of mind.
RESULTS OF THE PREACHING – 3:5-6:
John’s preaching was simple. John’s preaching was drawing a crowd. People from villages all around the Jordan River were going out to hear him. They knew they were in sin. They knew that they needed to change their minds about how they were living and then change their behavior. They confessed those sins and, based on John’s preaching, they were being immersed in the Jordan River for the forgiveness of sin (Mark 1:4).
PHYSICAL RELATIONSHIPS DO NOT APPLY – 3:7-10:
John warns the Pharisees and Sadducees – the religious leaders – about God’s coming wrath. Could that mean that God’s wrath was coming against the nation of Israel? That happened several times in the Old Testament. In fact, the prophets said that both the Assyrian exile and the Babylonian exile had been the result of God’s wrath against His people, your people, the nation of Israel. Now is John warning of another exhibition of God’s wrath on His people?
But your nation is the nation of Israel. Jacob was your father. Abraham was your father. Your people were promised by God to be a blessing to the world. That was the promise God had made to Abraham, your illustrious ancestor. What about this coming wrath?
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John tells his audience to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Again, you knew what that meant: Feel sorry for your sins; change your mind about how you are living; then change your behavior. That is “fruit” that is “in keeping” with that changed mentality.
JOHN’S PROPHECY OF THE MESSIAH – 3:11-12:
The Messiah again. Oh how excited you are that you might very well get to meet the Messiah! How wonderful He will be; how wonderful He is! If John was having such an impact on peoples’ lives by preaching as He is doing and the Messiah is even greater than John… wow!
John says he was baptizing with water for the purpose of repentance – here’s the fifth time you’ve heard John mention repentance – but the Messiah would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (cf. Isaiah 32:15; 44:3; Ezekiel 36:26-27; 39:29; Joel 2:28-32). When the Holy Spirit comes, people would be able to prophesy again! Just like in the Old Testament – sharing the message of God with the people around them! When the Holy Spirit comes, people would have a new motivation, a renewed motivation to serve God – they would have new hearts and new spirits.
More reason for excitement! The Messiah was almost here. The Kingdom was almost here. The Holy Spirit with all of His blessings was almost here! All they had to do was repent of their sins and be patient for God to reveal the Messiah!
That kingdom now exists on earth as the church of Christ, but it is going to be completed in heaven where it will include those faithful Jews in the Old Testament and it will become the “eternal kingdom” mentioned by Peter in 2 Peter 1:11.
Just as it was necessary for the Jews to repent of their sins in order to be prepared for the coming of the kingdom, we, too, must repent of our sins in order to be prepared for the eternal kingdom. In fact, since we sin on a frequent basis, it is better to say that we always need to have a repentant heart so that as soon as we do sin, we’ll make it right.
Regret your sin. Reform your heart. Refocus your life. Be prepared for the eternal kingdom.
–Paul Holland
