Motley Crew
August 5, 2009
Matthew 3
The Questions
Read
Matthew 3:1-17
1.
Why do you think Matthew would jump from a baby Jesus to John the
Baptist and a baptized Jesus?
2.
What kind of repentance is John preaching?
3.
Why was John sent to preach in the desert?
(By
the way – I wonder where John would be sent if he were sent to
our nation today?)
4.
What are some possible messages in regards to John’s dress and
diet?
5.
What do you think about locusts on the menu of your favorite
restaurant?
6.
According to what we have read so far did John dip them or dunk them
or sprinkle them in the Jordan River?
7.
Why would Matthew throw in “unquenchable fire?”
8.
Why do you think the Pharisees and Sadducees would make an
appearance?
9.
Is there any record of Jesus and John meeting before this?
10.
Why was Jesus baptized?
11.
Can you find the Trinity in these verses?
12.
Did John see all of this or was it just for Jesus’ eye?
13.
According to what we have read did Jesus go up from “out”
of the water or from “under” the water?
Motley Crew
August 5, 2009
Matthew 3
Some Answers
Read
verses 1-17
1.
Why do you think Matthew would jump from a baby Jesus to John the
Baptist and a baptized Jesus?
Nothing
of interest that fulfill Matthew's mission of showing the Jews that
Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. What little we know from from Luke
2 (after the birth and presentation at the temple):
41 Every year his parents
went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. 42 When he was
twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.
43 After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home,
the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of
it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day.
Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45
When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for
him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting
among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47
Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his
answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His
mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this?
Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
49 "Why were you searching for me?" he
asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"
50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was
obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her
heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God
and men.
2.
What kind of repentance is John preaching?
Of
the heart. A radical change in one's life as a whole. It is spiritual
repentance in the present … the constant present. It is
living life now.
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.' [Isaiah 40:3]
Mark
1:4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and
preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
3.
Why was John sent to preach in the desert?
(By
the way – I wonder where John would be sent if he were sent to
our nation today?)
John's
presence showed that the Jews were living in a spiritual desert, and
that they were a nation being called to repentance. It also called to
mind the desert wandering for 40 years of the Israelites. Also, it
was to
show the stark contrast between John’s lifestyle and the
Pharisees’ lifestyle.
Today?
Washington, D.C.? Las Vegas?
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.”
4.
What are some possible messages in regards to John’s dress and
diet?
He
was a living illustration of how little we actually need, and by
making people come out to him, they were forced to be a part of it.
He
was likened to Elijah. His stark dress would be a statement about
excessive consumption. As it relates to the Pharisees: don't judge by
appearances. In Verse 4 we find that 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.
R.C.
H. Lenski, The Interpretation of Matthew,
p. 99:
From
Zech. 13:4 we see that “a rough garment” or “a
garment of hair” was the customary dress of a prophet and was
used even by false prophets in order to deceive. In II Kings 1:8 King
Ahaziah recognizes Elijah when this prophet is described to him as
“an hairy man and girt with a girdle of leather about his
loins.” Since Elijah prefigured the Baptist in his stern
preaching of repentance (Mal. 4:5, Matt. 11:4; Mark 9:11, 12; Luke
1:17), this similarity of dress cannot be accidental. In this very
wilderness Elijah made his last appearance.
Note
that John's Gospel has the Baptist at “Bethany on the
other side of the Jordan”.
(John 1:28) Bethany was a village on the SE slopes of the Mount of
Olives, about 2 miles east of Jerusalem, near the road to Jericho. To
the east of Bethany was Mt. Nebo, the traditional burial place of
Moses. Bethany was the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus (the basis
for it's modern Arabic name is 'el-'Azariyeh
or Eizariya),
and is said to be the location of the Last Supper. From a site near
Bethany, Jesus ascended into Heaven. Halley's
Bible Handbook, p.
388; Nelson's Compact
Bible Dictionary, p.
98; New Bible
Dictionary, p. 132.
5.
What do you think about locusts on the menu of your favorite
restaurant?
R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of Matthew, p. 99:
Four varieties of locusts were allowed as food, Lev. 11:22. They are still eaten by the poor and in times of famine, being abundant in the spring and often coming in great swarms. The wings and the legs were torn off, the bodies were dried, or roasted, or ground up and baked, seasoned with salt, and could be kept for some time. Palestine was famed for its wild bees and honey, which are found especially in the wilder regions. The adjective αγριοπ with μελι prevents us from thinking of some sweet substance prepared by men, or of sweet exudations from leaves. The abundant natural wild honey is referred to.
Probably not a first choice unless starvation is imminent.
Four types of
hopping insects are approved for consumption in Lev. 11:
20 " 'All flying insects
that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. 21 There are,
however, some winged creatures that walk on all fours that you may
eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. 22 Of
these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or
grasshopper. 23 But all other winged creatures that have four legs
you are to detest.
6.
According to what we have read so far did John dip them or dunk them
or sprinkle them in the Jordan River?
Unknown.
The Greek word “Baptismo” is used for many things –
to wash dishes, clothes, sins, etc. We should not be concerned with
the manner. Just the content!
“Baptismo”
did not require full-body immersion. It was one of several meanings
for this word, including the sprinkling or pouring of water. R.C.H.
Lenski in The Interpretation of Matthew
writes that “Matthew's έβαπτιζοντο
says absolutely nothing regarding the mode of baptism which the
Baptist employed. ... the Christian practice must be explained by the
purificatory rites used by the Jews since the days of Moses. Since
none of these were immersions, immersion was not the mode of either
the Baptist's or Jesus' baptism.” (p. 100)
Jewish
purification rites with water included a number of types of actions,
including washing the fingertips, the hands, or full-body washing.
Several chapter of Leviticus discuss ritual impurity.
7.
Why would Matthew throw in “unquenchable fire?”
Hell
is real.
8.
Why do you think the Pharisees and Sadducees would make an
appearance?
They
were trying not to lose prominence. There were massive numbers of
people coming to the Jordan River, and they wanted to lead it (the
movement), even if it meant deception.
Also,
to fulfill their curiosity. Besides, John was cutting in on their
action.
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.
9.
Is there any record of Jesus and John meeting before this?
Once
… in the womb, which makes it all the more remarkable. Luke 1
recounting the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth, her cousin (Luke
1:36, KJV; other translations say her “relative” or
“kinswoman”).
39 At that time Mary got ready
and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she
entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth
heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth
was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed:
"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will
bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should
come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my
ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who
has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be
accomplished!" [Emphasis added.]
Since
these two were related, and close enough that Mary was able to visit
with Elizabeth, it is possible that John and Jesus would have seen
each other as boys.
10.
Why was Jesus baptized?
Fulfillment
of “all righteousness.” He is now ready to take on His
mission of salvation; He is taking on all sin and sinners!
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee
to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him,
saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do
this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.
11.
Can you find the Trinity in these verses?
In
the descent of the Spirit like a dove.
16 As soon as
Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment
heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a
dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
12.
Did John see all of this or was it just for Jesus’ eye?
John
saw all of this … so that we could see it too.
John 1: 29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look,
the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30
This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has
surpassed me because he was before me.' 31
I myself did not know him, but the reason
I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."
32 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw
the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33
I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to
baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come
down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34 I
have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God." [Emphasis
added.]
13.
According to what we have read did Jesus go up from “out”
of the water or from “under” the water?
Matt. 3:16. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.
The Geek words (άρό τοΰ υδατις) are translated “from the water.” There is no problem with immersion, but the Bible does not command or even suggest it.