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Matthew Chapter
Three
I.
Content of the Chapter
I. The preachment of
John the Baptist
A. The ministry of John (1-3)
B. The
life of John (4)
C. The
acceptance of men (5-6)
E. The
talk about the true repentance (7-10)
F. The
guidance to Christ (11-12)
II. The Baptism of the king
A. The
humility of the Lord (13)
B. The
testimony of John (14-15)
C. The
testimony of God the Father (16-17)
II.
Verse by Verse commentary
Matt. 3:1 “In those days John the
Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of
YLT: “And in those days cometh
John the Baptist, proclaiming in the wilderness of
Meaning of Words: “Baptist”: to plunge
…entirely into the water; “preach”: to proclaim, to inform publicly.
The
Background: after the ancestors
of the Jews had left
Literal
Meaning: “in those days” is
the time that Jesus Himself, when began to preach, was about thirty years old
(Luke. 3:23). It implies this was a key time.
In “John the Baptist”, the post
title------“the Baptist” added after John is to make a distinction from John
the Apostle.
“The wilderness of Judea” lies in the North
and West of the Dead Sea, including the vast land of the
John, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus (see
v.2-12), “preached” the information about the kingdom of heaven.
Spiritual Meaning: “baptism” is to
plunge those who repent entirely into the water. By this way it declares the
one who was baptized had changed his view towards himself: he was only fitted
to die and he was buried.
“The wilderness” symbolizes the
distinction from the world. John the Baptist was the one who made others repent
and prepared the way of the Lord (v.2-3). Therefore he stood in his place
opposite to the world and made his dwelling “in the wilderness”.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) We should be separated from the world so
that we may testify Christ (preach).
2) If any one love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him (1John. 2:15). Anyone who is willing to serve the Lord has
to come out of the world at first and then live a life looking upon God by
faith.
3) John grew up in the
wilderness (Luke. 1:80) and also preached in the wilderness. It shows that what
he preaches accord with his life.
Matt. 3:2 “and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’”
YLT: “and saying, `Reform, for
come nigh hath the reign of the heavens,'”
Meaning of Words: “the kingdom of
heaven”: the kingdom of the heavens; “at hand”: easy to reach (concerning the
place), coming soon (concerning the time); “repent”: to think differently.
Literal Meaning: “the kingdom of
heaven” is the area where God reigns over.
“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” God
was “the possessor of heavens and the earth” (Gen. 14:22). But after men on
earth had betrayed God, God’s will could be done only in heavens but not upon
the earth (Matt. 6:10). As a result of that, God was called the “the God of
heaven” (Ezra. 1:2, Neh. 2:4). Now, God will show His authorities of heavens on
earth through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
“Repent” shows men’s thoughts were
originally against God and far away from God. Today, in order to enter into the
kingdom, men have to turn to God in their hearts. “Repent” in original means
the change of views and thoughts instead of the change of behaviors.
Men should “repent” because of the fact
that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. It is not true that only if men
repent, the kingdom of heaven will be at hand.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The place where men do not obey the
authority of heaven is not the kingdom of heaven.
2) Repentance does not mean the change of behavior.
Therefore it is not to forsake evil to do goodness. Repentance, the change of
thoughts, is to turn one’s thoughts to God from all the others besides God.
3) Men’s greatest sin before God is the
disobedience to Him. That’s the “sin” we have to confess when we repent. All
sins of men start from the disobedience to God.
4) The moment we turn to God in our heats, the
kingdom of heaven will be brought down.
5) We should repent when we only pay attention to
the religion, doctrines, letters and services and neglect the Lord Himself.
6) We should be ruled by God and then may make
others be under the reign of God.
Matt. 3:3 “For this is he who was
spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the
wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight."'
YLT: “for this is he who was spoken of by
Isaiah the prophet, saying, `A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye His paths.'”
The
Background: when the king was on
a tour of inspection in ancient times, there were a group of people being sent
forward to prepare the way by crying. If the road was rugged or crooked, they
would make the road straight before the king came.
Meaning of
Words: “this” was John the Baptist;
“He who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah.” The
saying below was quoted from Is. 40:3.
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make His
paths straight.” shows that the mission of John the Baptist is to prepare the
way of the Lord ------ to prepare men to turn to God and let the Lord enter
into men’s heart and reign over men through straight paths. Note that the “way
of the Lord” and “His paths” do not mean “paths of righteousness” (Ps. 23:3)
which we should walk in after we believe in Him.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Voice fleets and vanishes without a trace.
John, the messenger of the Lord, kept nothing for himself. We should bear
witness of the Lord instead of ourselves.
2) Anyone who serves the Lord should do his
utmost to bring others to the Lord regardless of his own gain, lose, status,
and fame. He should not intend to bring others to follow himself.
3) “Crying” shows that John was full of burden in
his heart so that he couldn’t help crying. It is the burden that makes us serve
the Lord. We should endeavor to pour out the burden inside.
4) Our hearts was originally rugged and crooked.
The true “repentance” is to bring it low and make it straight i.e. “to prepare
the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight.”
5) Not only we should turn to the Lord, but also we
should prepare our hearts as straight paths for the Lord to enter in and reign
over our hearts.
6) The primary mission of the servants of the Lord
is to prepare the way of the Lord. Anything that does not prepare the Lord’s
way in men’s hearts could not be regarded as the work for the Lord.
7) The way of the Lord is “men” instead of the
teachings, speculations, methods or systems. Only when men are well-prepared,
the Lord will have a way to enter into men’s hearts.
Matt. 3:4 “Now John himself was
clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was
locusts and wild honey.”
YLT: “And this John had his clothing of
camel's hair, and a girdle of skin round his loins, and his nourishment was
locusts and honey of the field.”
The Background:
the father of John the Baptist was a priest
(Luke. 1:8-13). Priests should serve in the
Spiritual Meaning: “clothes” symbolizes
righteousness of men (Rev. 19:8); “food” symbolizes source of power of life and
provision of life.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The core of the information from John the
Baptist is to make men repent. Therefore, he stood in a position opposite to
the world and his food and clothing were different from the world. Today we, as
Christians, should not literally learn from John the Baptist about his food and
clothing, lest we may be misunderstood as strange ones. What we should do is to
learn from him spiritually.
2) A camel features in kneeling down before
the master to carry on and take away heavy burdens and making long journeys in
the wilderness with heavy burdens. We should kneel down before the Lord to
receive burdens from the Lord and serve Him diligently.
3) The servants of God should not only endure
humiliation in order to carry out the important task but also kneel down before
God to have intimate fellowship with God. The servants of God should give
themselves up to prayer (Acts. 6:4). Nothing should be done before prayer.
4) The bondsmen of the Lord should constrain their
own behaviors (gird their loins) in order to serve the Lord acceptably (Luke.
12:35, 17:8). They should especially bind on humility before men (1Pet. 5:5).
5) “With a leather belt around his waist”
symbolizes that the cross has put our natural life to death and becomes our
constraint.
6) “Locusts and wild honey” are natural products. We should live a life only
trusting in God instead of men (1Tim. 6:17).
7) The servants of the Lord should live a simple
life instead of a luxury one. The simpler one’s food and clothing is, the more
powerful one’s servant to the Lord is. Today, some of the ministers lead a
luxury life but offer unacceptable service to the Lord.
8) It is the witness bore by the forerunner: he
stood in an unconventional position (in “the wilderness” instead of the city),
did not wear sumptuous clothes (“in camel’s hair”), constrained his behavior
(“with a leather belt around his waist”) and did not rely on the provision of
men (“his food
was locusts and wild honey”).
Matt. 3:5 “Then
YLT: “Then were going forth unto him
Literal Meaning: this verse describes
the general situation. “All” means many people instead of all the people. But
what we could make sure is that the preaching of John the Baptist had drew the
attention of the masses. The reasons may be as below:
1) He had the word of God (Luke. 3:2).
2) He preached the epochal information (v.2).
3) He had distinct feature and witness of life
(v.4).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) John preached in the uninhabited wilderness
and he had attracted the attention of the masses. The place where one works for
the Lord does not matter. What matters is that whether the work comes from the
Lord. The work coming from the Lord will attract people’s attention.
2) John preached simple information and lived
a simple life. But he had affected all
Matt. 3:6 “and were baptized by him
in the
YLT: “and they were baptized in the
Literal Meaning: “confessing their
sins” is to confess the sin that their hearts departed from God. All the sins
of men originate from their departing from God.
“And were baptized by him in the
Jordan.” The baptism of John was different from the baptism by the name of the
Lord Jesus to the Christians. The baptism to Christians emphasized on the union
with the Lord including the negative aspect------burial which means that we are
dead with Christ and the positive aspect------resurrection which means that we
shall also live with Him (Rom. 6:3-5). The baptism of John is to bring others
to believe into the one who is coming after him (see v.11). It merely
emphasized on the negative aspect------they ended their past sins that they
departed from God through the baptism with water. So it is also called “the
baptism of repentance” (Acts. 19:3-4). “The baptism of repentance” does not
mean the one who was baptized was united into Christ, but he had changed his
view towards himself. Men come to be baptized by John confessing their sins.
The wage of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Therefore they declared through the
baptism that they were only worthy of death.
Some ministers advised men to confess
their sins publicly according to this verse. However, the baptism of that time
was personal behavior showing that the confessing was also personal. As a
result of that, we should not agree the advice of confessing sins publicly.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Those who repented came to John: firstly
they “confessed their sins” and secondly “they were baptized by him”. Everyone
who truly repents should know that he is a sinner and he should be put to
death.
2) Confession should be done before baptism.
If a man does not confess his sins or its fact that he should die, he has never
changed his view towards himself i.e. he has never repented. A baptism without
repentance is only a ceremony of no effect.
3) We should hate ourselves
and find no place to hid e ourselves for shame before God. Therefore we come to
the baptism to be buried with water.
Matt. 3:7 “But when he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood
of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
YLT: “And having seen many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees coming about his baptism, he said to them, `Brood of vipers! who
did shew you to flee from the coming wrath?”
Meaning of Words: “Pharisees”:
separate; “Sadducees”: just, right.
The
Background: “Pharisees”
originally were those who kept the letter of the law and were separate from the
world. But later they turned to stick to the conventions and traditions (Matt.
15:1-9). They only paid attention to the outer forms and ignore the inner
reality (Matt. 23). Most of the scribes at that time were Pharisees.
“Sadducees” were the Jewish hereditary
nobles and most of them were priests. They were open only admitting the Law of
Moses and opposing the oral regulations kept by Pharisees. They did not believe
in souls, angels, resurrection and so on (Matt. 22:23-32).
Literal
Meaning: “Pharisees and
Sadducees” were leaders at that time in religious world. It shows that the
information preached by John has greatly shocked the Judaism.
“Coming to his baptism.” Many of them pretended to
repent because they thought that as long as they come to John’s baptism, they
would flee from the judge from God.
“Brood of vipers” were sinners with evil hearts
(Matt. 12:34).
“The wrath to come.” Sinners treasured up to
themselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment
of God (
The words used by John to blame the Pharisees and
Sadducees may be quoted from the warm of Jeremiah the prophet. They were
described as snakes stayed in the forests, fled away when men come to hew and
burn the trees (Jer. 46:22). When the judgment of Jehovah was to come, they
intended to come to John’s baptism to flee from the wrath of God.
Spiritual Meaning: “Pharisees”
represents orthodox Christians who lay stress on letters, commandments and
words. “Sadducees” represents liberal Christians who lay stress on minds,
intellects and reasons.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The liberalists believe in nothing and the
orthodox Christians only believe in creeds and know nothing about the mighty
power of God. As a result of that both of them were “brood of vipers”.
2) We are “brood of vipers” according to our
nature. If we have not seen this, we may not behave like Christians and may
fail in the end.
3) Today in the world of Christianity, many
so-called ministers are “brood of vipers”. They have committed sins and they
even preach evil teachings which could poison and affect others.
4) After we have seen that we are not better than
others under the great light of God, we would fall down to look upon God’s
grace. A cup has to be put under the kettle if being poured with water. The one
who receives the grace should fall down into dust to receive God’s grace.
5) To hypocritical ones, John the Baptist resisted
them openly and convicted their sins bluntly. This is the attitude a servant of
the Lord should have.
6) John, with the spiritual sight of a prophet,
could see the intentions of men. Today those who serve the Lord lack spiritual
discernment and it is no wonder there are mixed multitude in the assembly.
7) Today, if a man wants to be baptized, he will be
accepted regardless of whether he does it sincerely or not. Consequently, the
quantity of people increases and the spiritual quality decreases in the
assembly.
Matt. 3:8 “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,”
YLT: “bear, therefore, fruits worthy of the
reformation,”
Literal Meaning: what John meant is
that if a man wants to flee from the wrath of God, he should not only be
outwardly baptized but also prove his inner repentance by the change of life
and behavior.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Jehovah regards spiritual reality as
important instead of outward forms.
2) The true Christian should prove his inner
repentance by real life and behavior. Therefore, a man after he was saved
should conduct himself worthily of the glad tidings of Christ (Pill. 1:27), and
be different from the nations (Eph. 4:17-22).
Matt. 3:9 “and do not think to say
to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God
is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”
YLT: “and do not think to say in yourselves,
A father we have -- Abraham, for I say to you, that God is able out of these
stones to raise children to Abraham,”
Meaning of Words: “Abraham”: father;
“arise”: rouse from death, rise up, and rouse from nonexistence.
The
Background: the Jews highly
esteem Abraham their ancestor and hold that they are the only legal inheritors
of blessings which God had promised to Abraham and the other races (including
the descendants of Ishmael, Esau and so on.) have nothing with God’s blessing.
“And
do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.'”
“Abraham our ancestor sat on the gate of the hell and did not allow
anyone of his descendants to go to hell”, as the old Jewish saying goes. They
hold that God will treat the Jews kindly because of Abraham.
Literal Meaning: “for I say to you.”
This tone is expressed with authority by the working of the Holy Spirit.
“Stones” are lifeless things. Though
Abraham’s body already became dead, he received God’s blessing by faith and
many descendants were raised up (Rom. 4:17-20).
The word of John the Baptist in this
verse indicates that: the fleshly offspring have nothing with Abraham. Those
who were fleshly descendants of Abraham may not be children of Abraham. Those
who were not fleshly descendants of Abraham may be children of Abraham. Here it
implies the effect of faith. Only through faith men can be acceptable by God.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) What God values is our inner reality
instead of our status. What God values is present spiritual state instead of
our spiritual genealogy.
2) Repentance and turning to the Lord are
quite personal and have nothing with tradition. All spiritual things should be
counted until we have personal experience and the experience of others could
never be counted as ours.
3) Christians should never live an aimless and
self-indulgent life, holding that we have been saved and will never perish.
What we have to know is that the situation after one was saved will also be
judged by God.
4) The Jews boast that they are descendants of
Abraham so that they have nothing to worry about. In the same way, many
Christians boast that they belong to some groups or they are the students of
some Godly servants so that they are all overcomers.
Matt. 3:10 “And even now the ax is
laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
YLT: “and now also, the axe unto the root of
the trees is laid, every tree therefore not bearing good fruit is hewn down,
and to fire is cast.”
Literal Meaning: “And now the ax is laid
to the root of the trees.” It is a metaphor indicating that the tree may be cut
down at any time, warning that one should seize chance to repent for there is a
little time.
“Every tree which does not bear good
fruit” was the one who repent insincerely. They have not manifested the life of
God because they have not been born from above.
“Is cut down and thrown into the fire”
indicates that they will be judged in future and abandoned by God.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) What kind of tree (life) would bear what
kind of fruits (behavior). A good tree cannot produce bad fruits, nor a
worthless tree produce good fruits. (Matt. 7:18)
2) Any fruit borne from the tree of natural
life would never be acceptable to God and the tree will be cut down. The nations
are “estranged from the life of God”, so that they “work all uncleanness with
greedy unsatisfied lust” (Eph. 4: 17-19).
3) Any one who could not manifest Christ (“good
fruits”) will lose value in the eternity.
Matt. 3:11 “I indeed baptize you with
water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose
sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
fire.”
YLT: “‘I
indeed do baptize you with water to reformation, but he who after me is coming is
mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to bear the sandals, he shall baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,”
The
Background: the Jews put on
sandals without uppers when they go out, and take off the sandals when they
enter into their houses. One of the works of the lowest bondmen was to loose
the sandal straps, take off and carry the sandals for their hosts and guests,
and then pour
water into a basin to wash their feet.
Literal
Meaning: “He who is coming
after me” is Jesus Christ.
“Whose sandals I am not worthy to carry” shows that John considered
himself not worthy to be His servant.
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and fire.” We should not explain “fire” spiritually according to “parted
tongues, as of fire” (Acts. 2:3) and “fervent in spirit” (Rom. 12:11).
According to “and”------the conjunction in original, it shows that the words
before and after the conjunction should be of the same class. Therefore, if
“the Holy Spirit” was explained literally, “fire” would be explained literally.
Here it declares the two sides of the work of the Lord Jesus:
1) To those who repent sincerely and believe in Him, He will baptize
them into the Holy Spirit to make them have the life of God and become the body
of Christ------the assembly (1Cor. 12:13, Acts. 2:2-4)
2) To those who do not repent and believe in Him and the nominal
Christians, He will baptize them with fire which is the fire of judgment (Rev.
20:15).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) John the Baptism, the forerunner of the
Lord, was to bring others to repent and direct others to Christ. We should also
bring others to the Lord.
2) The repentance is only a way, instead of an
end, to bring men to Christ (“He
who is coming after me”). Repentance
enables men to lose themselves and faith enables men to obtain Christ. The
former is negative and the latter positive. Repentance should be with faith.
Repentance alone is of no effect because repentance only makes men pay
attention to their failures. It is just like what they do before repentance to
pay attention to their goodness.
3) Christ, the king of the kingdom of heaven, owns
heavenly and exceeding might (“He is mightier than I”).
4) Those who serve the Lord should have the same
humble and gentle attitude with John the Baptist (“whose sandals I am not worthy to carry”).
5) If men do not repent and receive the baptism of
water, they will be baptized with fire in future. Today anyone who repents and
receives the baptism of water will be baptized in the Holy Spirit at the same
time (1Cor. 12:13).
6) If someone does not live in the spirit today,
his work will be burned by fire (1Cor. 3:13).
Matt. 3:12 “His winnowing fan is in
His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His
wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
YLT: “whose fan in his hand, and he will
thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather his wheat to the storehouse, but
the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.'”
The
Background: in ancient times,
after the Jews had reaped wheat, they dried wheat in the sun and grinded wheat
to make grain separate from chaff. Then they threw the wheat mixed with chaff
into the air with dustpan and the heavier wheat would fall down around and the
lighter chaff would be blown away by the wind. By this way the wheat and chaff
were separated. They gathered the clean wheat into the barn and burned the
chaff as burning materials.
Literal
Meaning: When the Lord Jesus
comes back, He will do the work of separation and judgment. He will judge who
is the wheat with God’s life and who is the chaff with vain appearance. The
former will be gathered into the barn in the heaven (i.e. into the eternity)
and the latter will be thrown into the lake of fire (i.e. the eternal
perdition).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Satan wants to sift men as wheat (Luke.
22:31). But our Lord will “thoroughly clean out” His threshing floor. If we
were the heavier “wheat”, we would only suffer at this time. If we were the
lighter “chaff”, we would suffer forever.
2) The aim of the judgment of the Lord is to
“clean out”, to pure and to separate. Anyone who is willing to receive the
judgment of the Lord today will stand before the judgment in future.
3) The nominal Christians are “chaff”. They have
the similar appearance with “wheat” but not the life in them.
4) The Lord does not want His believers to stay in
the original world for a lifetime. One day, the believers and unbelievers will
be separated forever.
5) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The cross will do the work of
separating in us all the time.
6) The cross would root out the life of old
creation. Anything that is of nature will perish.
Matt. 3:13 “Then Jesus came from
Galilee to John at the
YLT: “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee upon
the
Literal Meaning: “then” means the
time when John the Baptist baptized others at the
“To be baptized by him” It does not mean
that He confesses the sins and should receive the baptism of repentance. But it
means that he stands in the position of men to fulfill the commandments from
God.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) In the Gospel of John, the baptism of the
Lord was not recorded because John declared that He is God. The other three
Gospels all recorded the baptism of the Lord, showing that He is man. Everyman
should be put to death.
2) The Lord was baptized at the
3) The Lord came from the
Gentile place Galilee instead of the Jewish place
Matt. 3:14 “And John tried to prevent
Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by
You, and are You coming to me?’”
YLT: “but John was forbidding him, saying,
`I have need by thee to be baptized -- and thou dost come unto me!'”
Literal Meaning: “And John tried to
prevent Him.” John did not refuse Him. He felt that he is not worth baptizing
Him. Only the Book of Matthew in four Gospels recorded this, showing that He is
the king.
“I need to be baptized by You.” It shows
that John turned to the Lord, admitting that Jesus is the one who is mightier
than him.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The disciple is not above his teacher,
nor the bondman above his lord (Matt. 10:24). We, as bondmen of the Lord,
should be humble forever.
Matt. 3:15 “But Jesus answered and
said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for
thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then
he allowed Him.”
YLT: “But Jesus answering said to him,
`Suffer now, for thus it is becoming to us to fulfill all righteousness,' then
he doth suffer him.”
Meaning of Words: “now”: present;
“fulfill”: achieve, complete and carry out; “righteousness”: justification,
reasonableness.
Literal Meaning: “Permit it to be so
now.” Jesus did not hold that the attitude of John was wrong. But for the
expedience of procedure, He still asked to be baptized by John.
“For thus it is fitting for us to
fulfill all righteousness.” “Righteousness” was the justification manifested by
obeying the commandments of God. The Lord, standing in the position of men, had
obeyed the commandments of God and fulfilled the duty of men. It was righteous
both to God and to men.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The Lord is sinless and He did not need to
repent and be baptized. However, He stood in the position of men to turn to God
and admitted that men are worthy of death. Do not we need to repent and turn to
God?
2) The Lord started His work on earth from the
baptism. It shows that the principle of service is to provide life through
death.
3) The Lord put Himself to death through the
baptism to fulfill all righteousness. It shows that the Lord fulfill the
commandments of the law through His death on the cross.
4) We, the believers, should put ourselves to
death------do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit. Thus, the
righteousness of the law shall be fulfilled in us (
Matt. 3:16 “When He had been
baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens
were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and
alighting upon Him.”
YLT: “And having been baptized, Jesus went
up immediately from the water, and lo, opened to him were the heavens, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him,”
Literal Meaning: “came up immediately
from the water.” It shows that when He was baptized, His whole body was
immersed into water.
“The heavens were opened to Him.” “The
heavens were opened” shows that men are able to see the scenes in the heavens
with their eyes (Acts. 7:56). “To Him.” It does not show that only He could see
the heavens open. It also shows that because of Him the heavens were opened and
through Him men are able to know the heavenly mysteries (John. 1:51).
Spiritual Meaning: “dove”, sign of the
Holy Spirit, symbolizes the gentleness, meekness and simplicity of the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit of God descended upon Him, showing that He is Christ (the
anointed one) anointed by God with the Holy Spirit.
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) The Lord had been baptized with water and
the Holy Spirit before the assembly received the baptism of water and the
Spirit. It shows that all spiritual reality and principles are firstly in the
head. The full Christ is the fountain of all spiritual abundance.
2) The heavens are only opened for those who
were dead and have come to life again. If we the believers stand in the
position that we were dead and rose up with the Lord, the heavens will be
opened to us.
3) The heavens, used to be shut up because of men’s
betrayal, were opened to Him for His obedience to the authority of the heavens.
Then all the heavenly abundance was brought down-------the Spirit of God, the
words of God and the delight of God.
4) He has inherited every spiritual blessing. We
could become partakers of the heavens and all that of the heavens only through
the union with Him.
5) We should ask the Lord to pour the Holy Spirit
out on us richly (Tit. 3:6) to receive power and bear good witness of the Lord
(Acts. 1:8, 2:18-21).
6) The one who is full of the Holy Spirit will be,
like a dove, gentle towards men and sincere and full towards God.
7) The anointing oil declares the ownership of God
(Lev. 8:12, 30). If we want to be possessed by God, we must go through the
procedure of rising up from the dead.
Matt. 3:17 “And suddenly a voice came
from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.’”
YLT: “and lo, a voice out of the heavens,
saying, `This is My Son -- the Beloved, in whom I did delight.'”
Literal Meaning: “a voice came from
heaven” is the voice of God our Father (2Pet. 1:17).
“This is My beloved Son.” It is God’s
proclamation and introduction to Jesus, showing the divinity of Jesus who came
to the world to declare God the Father (John. 1:18).
“In whom I am well pleased.” God
admitted what He is and what He has done all well pleased God the Father. It
implies that we should hear Him (Matt. 17:5).
Enlightenment in the Word:
1) Jesus is God’s Beloved Son------son is the
manifestation and declaration of father------only through the Lord Jesus could
we see and know God.
2) In Christ God is well pleased------if we
want to please God, we should listen to the Lord only and abide in the Lord.
3) The praise from God the Father to the Lord shows
that:
a) The
thirty years of the life of the Lord Jesus before the baptism well pleased God.
b) The
obedience of the Lord Jesus shown by the baptism was well acceptable to God.
III.
Outlines of the Spiritual Lessons
The Ministry of the
Forerunner
II. “He who is coming after me.” (v.11)
------He directed men to Christ;
III. “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His
paths straight.” (v.3) ------He prepared men’s hearts for the Lord.
The Repentance
I. The reason of repentance------for “the
kingdom is at hand” (v.2);
II. The behavior of repentance------to
confess one’s sins and be baptized (v.6);
III. The benefit of repentance------to “flee
from the wrath to come” (v.7);
IV. The effect of repentance------to bear
fruits worthy of repentance (v.8);
V. The aim of repentance------to believe in
Jesus Christ who is coming after (v.11).
The Life of the
Forerunner as a Testimony
II. “John was clothed in camel’s hair” (v.4)
------he did not have sumptuous appearance;
III. “With a leather belt around his waist”
(v.4) ------he constrained his behavior;
IV. “His food was locusts and wild honey”
(v.4) ------he did not receive men’s provision.
The Spirit of the
Forerunner
I. He was a “voice”, not seeking for glory
for himself (v.3);
II. “Crying” (v.3) ------he was full of
burdens in his heart;
III. He convicted others’ sins bluntly
without hesitation (v.7);
IV. He directed others the right way (v.8);
V. He bore witness of the Lord (v.11-12);
VI. He was humble and kept his own position
(v.11, 14).
How to Become
Partakers of the
I. One should repent (v.2);
II. One should prepare the way of the Lord
and make His paths straight (v.3);
III. One should confess his sins and be
baptized (v.6);
IV. One should bear fruits worthy of
repentance (v.8).
The Nature of the
I. It is a situation which enables men to
flee from the wrath to come (v.7);
II. It is a life which enables men to bear
holy and righteous fruits (v.8);
III. It is a heavenly connection which has
nothing with fleshly parentage (v.9);
IV. It is a separation. Anyone who has no
connection with the kingdom of heaven will be thrown into the fire (v.10);
V. It is a guidance which leads men to know
Christ (v.11);
VI. It is a destination. Anyone of Him will
be with Him forever (v.12);
VII. It is a state in which the heavenly
blessings were brought down (v.16-17).
Three Kinds of
Baptisms (v.11)
I. The baptism of John with
water------enables men to repent and confess their sins;
II. The baptism of the Lord with the Holy
Spirit ------enables men to obtain the life of Spirit;
III. The baptism of the Lord with fire
------is the judgment to burn everything that is not of God.
Two Kinds of People
(v.12)
II. “Chaff” ------with vain
appearance------will be “burned up with unquenchable fire”.
Teachings about the
Baptism of the Lord Jesus (v.15)
I. The natural life of men (the old men)
must be ended and buried;
II. Everyman has his own righteousness to
fulfill and nobody could ignore his duty as a man.
The Result of the
Baptism of the Lord Jesus (v.16-17)
I. The heavens were opened to Him;
II. The Spirit of God descended like a dove
and alighted upon Him;
III. The heavenly voice of praise from God
the Father bore witness of Him.
──
Caleb Huang《Christian Digest Bible
Commentary Series》
Translated by Sharon Ren