John The Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus

Bible Study Lessons from Matthew 3:1-12

These passages in the Gospel of Matthew teach us how John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ.

Matthew 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea

2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

"A voice of one calling in the desert,

'Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.' "

4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.

6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

John The Baptist Predicts the Coming of Christ

A footnote here is that you can read the profile of John the Baptist in John 1 The sixth through eighth verses state:

 

"There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light."

 

Purpose of John the Baptist

In these passages, John is clearly not the "Light" - the person he is speaking of is Jesus Christ who will come after. In our study today, John is calling for repentance of the people in preparation. His message is simple but powerful. The rewards come to those who will believe and repent but there will be a terrible time for those who choose not to listen.

"From the cradle to the cross, from the cross to the sky .."

Christ came first as a servant to be sacrificed on the cross, die, and rise again for our sins but will come again as our King and Lord. John the Baptist knew this and was desperate to prepare for the coming of Jesus to start a ministry which would live to this day and all the days to come.

John Recognizes the Heart of the Religious Leaders

It's ironic that John called the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers in that these are some of the very people who would later call for the crucifixion of Christ. Both John the Baptist and Christ were a threat to the religious leaders of the day because they were pulling people away and causing them to lose some of their power.

With that said it makes perfect sense that the Pharisees and Sadduces tried to quiet John the Baptist and later found a way to silence Jesus (so they thought) to retain their control over the people, not to mention protecting their financial status.

Preparation for Jesus

John the Baptist had a calling to prepare the people to meet Christ. In the same way we need to be prepared to meet him and help others to see how Jesus can bring meaning to their lives by following the example Christ left for us.

This does not mean that we become like a monk and wear a long robe but it does mean that we should strive to follow the two commandments Jesus deemed as most important: To love God and to love each other.

Can we at least make an effort?

Love in Christ

- Bob

The Line of Jesus