The Herald of the Christ
1 In those days John the Baptist came, m preaching in the wilderness of Judea n 2 and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near! ” o 3 For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said:
A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight! ,p
4 Now John had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. q
7 When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees r coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? s 8 Therefore produce fruit t consistent with repentance. 9 And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ u For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. v
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, w but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. x 12 His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.” y
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. z 14 But John tried to stop him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me? ”
15 Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John allowed him to be baptized.
16 When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens a suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. b 17 And a voice from heaven said: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” c
3:1–2. Matthew 3 introduces John the Baptist, forerunner of Jesus the Messiah. In his preparatory role, John is baptizing Jews in the wilderness near the Jordan River (3:1) and calling God’s people to “repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” (3:2). This message is identical to the message typifying Jesus’s ministry to Israel soon to begin (4:17), thus emphasizing John’s alignment with Jesus’s message of the kingdom.
3:3–6. Matthew highlights John’s continuity with the OT story of God’s covenant with Israel by means of an OT fulfillment quotation (3:3) and by demonstrating John’s connection to the OT prophet Elijah (3:4).
3:7–10. Matthew focuses on John’s warnings particularly to the Jerusalem leaders, Pharisees and Sadducees, who come to the Jordan River either to observe John’s baptism or to be baptized themselves (3:7). John has strong words for these leaders who should be producing fruit in keeping with repentance—that is, in keeping with a return to covenant loyalty (3:8). Thus John warns Israel, especially its leaders, to live up to God’s covenantal expectations for them.
3:11–12. The theme of judgment is prominent in Matthew (e.g., 12:33–37; 13:37–43, 47–50) and indicates both the punishment of the unfaithful and the vindication of the faithful righteous at the final judgment. Even though the former is emphasized here (3:7–12), Matthew’s implication is that those who embrace repentance and produce fruit will be prepared for the kingdom and will receive the promised Holy Spirit (3:11), a signal of God’s eschatological restoration (cf. Jl 2:28–29). John’s warnings carry over into Jesus’s role, as one who will baptize with fire—that is, purification or judgment—as well as with the Holy Spirit. John’s subordinate role to Jesus’s mission is emphasized in 3:11–12. John’s baptism of repentance, though the first eschatological signal, is penultimate to and prepares for Jesus’s baptism with fire and the Spirit
3:13–17. When Jesus comes to be baptized by John, John demurs, indicating that Jesus should baptize him. Jesus’s reply is intriguing (3:15). Of all the Gospel writers, Matthew uses the noun “righteousness” (Gk dikaiosynē) most frequently. The use of “righteousness” here likely evokes covenant faithfulness more broadly, not simply torah obedience. In addition, in some instances Matthew uses dikaiosynē to refer to God’s eschatological act of righting all things (e.g., the pairing of God’s “kingdom of God and his righteousness” at 6:33; see also 21:32). This understanding seems to fit best here: Jesus pursues John’s eschatological baptism as a way of signaling the fulfillment of God’s restoration in Jesus himself.