Matthew 3 - Homiletics

So, enter John the Baptist.  Camel hair and leather belt wearing, locust and wild honey eating cousin of Jesus, preaching in the power and spirit of Elijah: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”  Matthew identifies that John is the one referred to by Isaiah as “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’”  I found it fascinating that, when you look up Isaiah 40:3, the punctuation is different: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  So, yes John is the voice of one calling in the wilderness, a physical desert.  But Isaiah said John was a voice calling out to make a way for the Lord in the wilderness.  Still, a physical desert.  Perhaps alluding to the wilderness of our hearts, waiting so long for Messiah as to be on the brink of giving up hope that He would ever come.  Where is your heart right now?  Are you on the brink of giving up that Jesus will ever return for His people?

I LOVE the second part of the Isaiah verse: “…make a straight highway for our God.”  Israel hated Rome!  Rome was oppressive.  Rome occupied their land.  But Rome also brought a great blessing that, I believe, was orchestrated by God to break 400 years of silence and usher in the timing for the birth of the long-awaited Messiah!  As Romans conquered lands, they built roads.  The roads were used to bring siegeworks and supplies to the areas being conquered.  These same roads allowed the gospel to be spread “to the ends of the earth.”  Are you having trouble seeing the blessing in your trials?  Ask God to give you glimpses into the blessings.  Ask Him to change your heart and mind and turn your complaining to thankfulness, your doubt to faith, your covetousness to contentment, your rebellion to submission.

We are told that John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt.  He ate locusts and wild honey.  Huh, wild honey…  I suppose that means he collected it himself and probably received some bee stings for his efforts.  People came from everywhere to confess their sins and be baptized in the Jordan!  You know, people still travel to the Jordan to be baptized!  They come from all over the world!  It’s a popular stop on tours to the holy land.  But where do we stand on confessing our sins?  When was the last time you confessed your sins?  Is something coming to mind that you need to discuss with God?  Don’t delay.  Stop and do it right now.  I’ll wait…

Welcome back.  J  So, now the Pharisees and Sadducees stop by, not to repent, but to see what John is doing.  People are coming from all over.  Maybe John’s crowds are bigger than those gathering to hear the teaching of the Pharisees.  These groups were looking to find fault.  And John wasn’t fooled.  He called them out right there!  “You brood of vipers!”  Not a warm welcome, but tough love: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”  Power certainly corrupted the members of the Pharisees and Sadducees!  They should’ve known the truth!  They should’ve been calling people to repent as John was doing.  So John warned them that the ax was ready to fall and those who weren’t fruitful would be thrown into the fire!  He told them that One was coming Who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire!  Should these religious leaders have recognized the forerunner to the Messiah?  Definitely.  Their hearts were hardened by the world and by the power they had.  John said the One who was coming was ready to separate the wheat from the chaff and that the chaff would be destroyed.  Which are you?

Now Jesus enters the picture.  Grown up Jesus coming to be baptized by cousin John.  John recognized that he was the one who should be baptized by Jesus!  But Jesus said it is proper for Him to be baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness and John consented.  When he lifted Jesus out of the water, heaven opened and John saw the Holy Spirit descend like a dove on Jesus.  And a voice came from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased.”  Can God say the same of you?  How are you pleasing Him?  Where does your thinking or activity need to change so you are more obedient or submissive to God?

 

(the homiletics below led to the thoughts above)

 

Content (not sentence, direct verbiage from Scripture, fit on one line):

1.John Baptist preaching wilderness Judea:Repent, koh near(3:1-2)

2.Isaiah:voice calling:prepare way L(3:3)

3.clothes camel’s hair,leather belt,food locusts, wild honey(3:4)

4.people went from Jerus/Judea/Jordan;confessing sins, baptized Jordan River(3:5-6)

 

5.when he saw Phar/Sadd:brood vipers!  Produce fruit repentance(3:7-8)

6.think can say yourselves: Abraham our father. Out of stones G raise children Abraham(3:9)

7.ax at root trees, produce good fruit cut down thrown fire(3:10)

8.I baptize water repentance, after me comes one more powerful, baptize Holy Spirit, fire(3:11)

9.winnowing fork in hand, clear threshing floor, gathering wheat, burning chaff(3:12)

 

10.J came Jordan baptized by John;John tried deter:I need baptized by you(3:13-14)

11.J:proper do this fulfill righteousness. John consented(3:15)

12.J baptized, heaven opened, he saw Spirit descending like dove(3:16)

13.voice heaven: my Son, I love, I well pleased(3:17)

 

Divisions (run-on sentence OK, direct verbiage from Scripture/Principles are Aims for each Division – a truth about God, a truth about man, a truth about God’s relationship to man; a sin to avoid, promise to trust, example to follow, command to obey, truth to believe):

1.John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the Lord (Matthew 3:1-6)

Principle:  God sends His people to prepare the way for Jesus.

2.John the Baptist spoke to Pharisees and Sadducees about repentance (Matthew 3:7-12)

Principle:  God sends His people to encourage repentance.

3.John the Baptist baptized Jesus (Matthew 3:12-17)

Principle:  God sends His people to fulfill all righteousness.

 

Subject Sentence (10-word sentence with proper structure showing exactly where you are in Scripture):

John the Baptist preached repentance and baptized Jesus.

 

Aim (“To Cause My Audience To…” Know, See, Learn, Understand, etc.):

TCMATK God calls people to make Jesus and His righteousness known.

 

Application (not yes or no question.  Meant to bring about heart change):

1.How are you investing in people in your circle of influence in preparation for sharing the gospel with them?

2.What areas of your thinking could use some fresh repentance?

3.Where are you cooperating with the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s righteousness as reflected in Jesus?

 

The Big Idea (author’s main purpose in writing; the one thing all the other things in the passage is about; if you couldn’t talk about it, you would still understand the passage is trying to convey this):

God’s people point to Jesus.