Matthew 3:1-3

Matthew 3:1-3

And in those days, John – the one who baptizes – came while preaching in the wilderness of Judea and while saying, “Repent!  For the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”  For this is the word that was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “A voice – while calling out in the wilderness!  Prepare the way of the Lord!  Make His paths straight!”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Take a look at where John, the one who baptizes, is preaching.  He is preaching in the wilderness.  This is both a literal and a figurative message to us from Matthew.  John is literally preaching in the wilderness.  He is not living in a city.  The crowds have to come out to him.  He is baptizing people in the Jordan River.  You don’t get much more wilderness than that.  But Matthew is also speaking in a metaphorical sense.  There is a reason John is speaking in the physical wilderness: he wouldn’t have been welcome in the cities!  The nation of Israel was spiritually bankrupt.  It wouldn’t have mattered where John taught, he would have been in the midst of a spiritual wilderness.

Have you ever felt like you were in a spiritual wilderness?  What does that feel like?  How do you think John felt knowing that he was preaching in and against a spiritual wilderness?

Second Thought:

I marvel at the fact that God chose this time for Jesus to come into the world.  Jerusalem and the surrounding areas were a spiritual wasteland.  It couldn’t have been easy.  He certainly wasn’t welcomed in any place for all that long.  People came to hear Jesus preach and marvel at His miracles but as soon as the excitement left many of them went along their way.  It was into this spiritual wilderness that God sent His Son.

If God sends His own Son into a spiritual wilderness, what does that say about us and our condition?  Will God send you into a spiritual wilderness, too?  Where is a spiritual wilderness into which you can work?

Third Thought:

I love saving this point last.  Note the verb tense when John says, “The kingdom of heaven has drawn near.”  This is a perfect verb.  What this means is that the action of the kingdom of God drawing near has been completed in the past.  However, the effects of the coming of the kingdom of God remain with us.  Quite literally, John is encapsulating several millennia of human history for us in a single word.  From the fall of Adam, God planned the kingdom of heaven to come on earth.  Beginning with Abraham, God’s kingdom started to come.  Through Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Samuel, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and many more faithful people the kingdom of heaven was still being unfolded by God.  Then Jesus was born.  Then we not only heard about the kingdom of heaven but saw it in the flesh.  That was when the kingdom of heaven truly came.  But the effects of that act were still present in John’s day and are still present in our day.  Jesus came.  Jesus taught.  Jesus lived a godly life among sinful beings.  He brought righteousness.  We have tasted of God’s goodness.  We have the promise of eternal life.  God’s kingdom finally came in the person of Christ.  But the effects of His coming continue to linger with us even to this day!

What is the kingdom of heaven to you?  What are the effects of the coming of the kingdom of God that can be seen in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 3:4-6