Matthew doesn't linger in Jesus's childhood but rather takes a time jump in his narrative. The next event he focuses on is the ministry of John the Baptist. John the Baptist is a figure that repeatedly crops up in all four gospels. He is the first prophet that Israel has seen in four hundred years. His appearance with a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt was quite contrary to the woven linen adorned by the Israelites during the time. He was a phenomenon Israel was not used to and so gathered a large crowd. To add to the shock value he had an eccentric diet and an eccentric message. In fact this is the same message that Jesus will later take up in the beginning of His ministry-"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matt 3:2)."
The Preparation and Baptism (Matt 3: 1-12)
Luke introduces us the parents of John, Zechariah the priest and his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth was an old and barren woman who had received a child as a miracle from God. That story we find in the Gospel according to Luke (Luk 1:5-25, 57-80). Matthew doesn't focus so much on the birth of John the Baptist but much more so on his appearance, message and ministry.
For his appearance, John dresses like Elijah (2 Ki 1:8). It is an accepted dress of the prophet according to scripture. But people had not seen a prophet for generations. Zechariah had prophesied the absence of prophets on the day of the Lord's salvation and here was a prophet who was not ashamed of his hairy cloak.
"On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, (Zec 13:4)
His message is not of piousness and condemnation but rather of repentance. The Greek word used here is μετανοέω which means a change of heart and mind. This is a deviation from the law. John the Baptist does not call for sacrifices but rather a change of heart to qualify oneself, to prepare oneself for the Kingdom of heaven. This is a direct threat to the Chief Priests and the Jerusalem temple. However even though John does rouse the curiosity of the Pharisees and Sadducees he does not invite their wrath mostly because he sticks to the wilderness of Judea. These regions are only sparsely populated and do not pose a challenge to the Jerusalem temple. The novelty of a prophet was so great however people flocked to him from different parts of the Jordan to be baptized. We will be talking about the baptism in details a bit later.
The ministry of John the Baptism was preparatory for the coming Ministry of Jesus. According to the prophecy of prophet Isaiah in Isa 40:3 there shall be a voice crying out in the wilderness, a voice speaking of comfort and pardon in preparation of the way of the Lord. However the message is not just of comfort but also of judgement and that is what John is talking about. Either you repent, change your heart and follow the path of the light. Otherwise judgement is coming upon you. Repeatedly in his ministry John speaks of the coming Messiah and the fact that he is nothing compared to him. In this process John carries on baptizing the people in the Jordan. This is a ceremonial washing that Jews are quite familiar with. However they are not familiar with the concept of judgement. John the Baptist emphasizes on doing work for the Kingdom of Heaven, in other word bearing fruit. Later on in Matt 13:23 we will find this concept being repeated by Jesus. One who does not bear fruit will be cut off from the Kingdom.
In other words, we can say that John's ministry was a ministry of two-fold preparation. On one hand he is preparing the Jews for the coming of the messiah by forcing them to face the bitter truth that judgement is coming. On the other hand, he prepares the way for the ministry of Jesus who for the first year of his ministry continued to preach the message of repentance and forgiveness.
Baptism by water, Holy Spirit, and Fire (Matt 3:11)
This one verse carries a lot of significance. In John 3: 5 Jesus talks about being born again by water and Spirit. John doesn't talk about being born again but he speaks about baptism in water (which he is offering), in Spirit (which the Messiah would provide) and fire (judgement/persecution). The baptism of water is for repentance, not for redemption. The baptism of the Spirit as offered by Jesus is the one which provides the pardon as promised by the prophets. Before we talk of the Spirit let's discuss about the word baptism itself. In the Old Testament, even though we find the mention of ceremonial washing the expression of baptism has no specific usage. In Greek the word stands for 'making completely wet'. The Old Testament Hebrew equivalent is 'to dip'. Old Testament dipping (טָבַל) and it is not confined to dipping in water but could equally refer to the dipping of fingers in blood for the purpose of consecration. The baptism of the Spirit is not just a ceremonial washing. It is an indwelling of God amongst us. That is accomplished only through the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. The baptism of fire is a concept on which we have a varied opinion among scholars. In my study I came across three theories which separately make sense. The first talks about the persecution faced by anyone who has been baptised in the water and Spirit. The second hypothesis says that the population is likely to be divided among those who receive baptism of the Spirit and those who receive the baptism of fire. In the literal sense since baptism refers to being fully immersed into something, those who are saved are immersed in the Holy Spirit and obtain a new life in Jesus and those who are persecuted are immersed in the fiery depth of hell, of Judgement. The third hypothesis speaks of the flaming sword placed at the entrance of the garden of Eden which shall be baptising us on the End day. Among these three I strongly lean upon the second hypothesis as it also goes very well with verse 12 where John continues to talk about the judgement of the Lord.
The Baptism of Jesus (Matt 3:13- 17)
If Jesus is the Messiah, then why does he have to be baptized? If Jesus had to be baptized, did John also get baptized? If so, then who baptized John the Baptist? Well, we do not find out who started this chain of baptism, but it was true that John was reluctant to baptize Jesus. However, Jesus wanted to follow the predetermined path. You see, Jesus is not just the Lamb of God but also the second Adam. His life is supposed to be a role model for us to follow. In order to be that role model he has to go through everything that we face in our lives. The life of Jesus is the greatest act of compassion conceivable for the God of the Universe. So 'all righteousness' is fulfilled through Jesus's baptism.
Why now? Jesus did nothing for the major portion of his life. Then suddenly as a full-grown man he comes and gets baptized. This is because Jesus is thirty years old and that is when you report to duty according to the law. from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. (Num 4:3)
What happened during the baptism? Well, as the name suggests, Jesus was dipped in the Jordan and he rose from the water. According to John that is the first part of the baptism- the baptism of the water of repentance. We know that Jesus was the spotless lamb of God. The fact that He is sinless means that Jesus does not have anything to repent. Nonetheless he goes through the process. This is something that we later learn about from Him when He urges us not to give offence to anyone. It is perhaps this example that prompts Paul to circumcise Timothy even though he himself fought to establish that the New Covenant of the cross has rendered the covenant of circumcision as pointless. All righteousness may also refer to discipleship. Jesus is associating himself with John's ministry and vice versa while at the same time revealing Himself to John the Baptist.
The second part of the baptism is that of the Holy Spirit and we learn from the narrative that the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. There is a lot of imagery going on here. Then we go on to find the declaration of God the father which is in accordance to Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1.
I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you.(Psa 2:7)
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. (Isa 42:1)
Holy Spirit and the Dove (Matt 3:16)
The word used for dove in Greek is περιστερά which may mean pigeon or dove. The pigeon is a reference to the sin offering as noted in Leviticus 12:6. The first mention of a dove is however found in Genesis 8:7-9 where after the flood, Noah sent a dove to check the earth and it came back with an olive branch (Gen 8:11). The association of the dove and the olive branch may be a reference to anointing. The anointing oil poured on the heads of Kings and Priests in Israel take place in a distinct pattern, taking from one ear, across the front of the head to the other ear in the form of the Hebrew letter kuf, whose shape ק is similar to the dove's wings when open. Unlike any other birds the wings of the dove open pointing towards the front. Jesus serves three distinct offices- Priest, Prophet and King, all of which, according to Jewish tradition calls for an anointing. Thus the function of the Holy Spirit being poured down at the time of baptism could be a form of divine anointing.
Now the characteristics of the dove is similar to the Holy Spirit in a number of ways, some of which are noted as follows:
The white colour of dove represents purity and righteousness (Rev 19:8)
Caring and affectionate. Gentle, who never retaliate (Matt 5: 39-44)
Cries out in distress (Rom 8:26-28)
Can be sent away on hearing strange noise persistently as the Spirit can be offended and made to depart (Gen 6:3, Eph 4:30, Mark 3 :29, 1 Sam 16:14)
** Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill noted that there are nine main feathers on the left and right wing of a dove corresponding to the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12: 7-10) and nine fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5: 22-23). There are five main tail feathers on a dove representing the five-fold ministry gifts of the apostles, the prophets, the pastors, the evangelists and the teachers. (Eph 4:11) Though this explanation seems an unlikely reason for the Holy Spirit taking the shape of the bird I myself find it quite an interesting concept.
Now if we think that the baptism of Jesus is the start of Jesus's ministry, we are wrong. Jesus will be spending forty days in the wilderness, fighting his greatest foe, the one who he is destined to defeat-temptation and sin.
