1 In those days aJohn the Baptist came preaching bin the wilderness of Judea,
2 and saying, “Repent, for athe kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: a“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: b‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ”
4 Now aJohn himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was blocusts and cwild honey.
5aThen Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him
6aand were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, a“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from bthe wrath to come?
9 and do not think to say to yourselves, a‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. aTherefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11aI indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. bHe will baptize you with the Holy Spirit1 and fire.
12aHis winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will bburn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
John Baptizes Jesus
13aThen Jesus came bfrom Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
14 And John triedto prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.
16aWhen He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and1 He saw bthe Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17aAnd suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, b“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Before Christ's ministry began, the prophet John prepared the way for Jesus' central message: the kingdom of God is at hand. This idea was not new, for Israel was God's Kingdom on earth, the nation He ruled directly. John's cry in the wilderness signified a change in understanding that Jesus would later explain. The Greek word basileia means a kingdom or realm, but also royal power, authority, dominion, and sovereignty—the reign of God wherever and whenever in effect. John was the first of God's messengers to address repentance in the New Testament, preaching so that people could develop righteousness. Before accepting Jesus' teachings, they had to be convicted of their sins and turn from them, showing right living as the fruit of repentance.
Matthew 3:1-2
John the Baptist is the first of God's messengers to address repentance in the New Testament. John prepared the way for Christ's coming by preaching a message of repentance because, for people to develop righteousness, they must first repent. They could not accept Jesus' teachings until they had been convicted of their sins and turned from them. The proof, John says, that a person has truly made a change of heart and lifestyle appears when his life begins to show him doing what is right. Right living is the fruit of repentance.
If we think we have repented but are still walking the old road leading to death, then we probably have not fully repented. If that is the case, we need to do so right away! As Peter writes in I Peter 4:17, judgment is on us now, and whoever fails to live righteously—fails to show godly fruit—will be, in John the Baptist's words, "cut down and thrown into the fire." Stiff words, indeed, but necessary to motivate us toward the goal.
Even before Christ's ministry began, the prophet John prepared the way for Jesus' central message: “The kingdom of God is at hand!” Ironically, the idea of a “Kingdom of God” was not new. It is the Old Testament's core idea, for Israel was God's Kingdom on earth, the nation over which God ruled directly. John the Baptist's cry in the wilderness signified a change in understanding that Jesus would explain throughout His ministry and inaugurate through His church.
The Greek word underlying “kingdom” is basileia (Strong's #932), which means “a kingdom” or “a realm,” that is, the area or country that a king governs. However, it can also denote “royal or kingly power, authority, dominion,” a king's reign or rule, or even his royal dignity. So, it not only speaks of a king's geographical domain, but it also refers to his authority and right to govern—in other words, his sovereignty.
The idea of the Kingdom of God, then, is not limited to a specific place or even a particular time. It is the reign or rule of God wherever and whenever it is in effect. Thus, the apostle Paul can write in Colossians 1:13 that God's converted people have already been “conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” Jesus' ministry proclaimed the good news of the coming of that Kingdom, but not just its culmination in the dim mists of the future. He announced that the Father was opening an entrance into that Kingdom immediately for a chosen few (John 1:12-13; 6:35-40; see Matthew 22:1-14). Those who responded positively to His call would come under Christ's rule in this life (Luke 12:32; John 4:23-24; Acts 2:39; I Thessalonians 2:12; Hebrews 12:28).
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Before Christ's ministry began, the prophet John prepared the way for Jesus' central message: the kingdom of God is at hand. This idea was not new, for Israel was God's Kingdom on earth, the nation He ruled directly. John's cry in the wilderness signified a change in understanding that Jesus would later explain. The Greek word basileia means a kingdom or realm, but also royal power, authority, dominion, and sovereignty—the reign of God wherever and whenever in effect. John was the first of God's messengers to address repentance in the New Testament, preaching so that people could develop righteousness. Before accepting Jesus' teachings, they had to be convicted of their sins and turn from them, showing right living as the fruit of repentance.