The Gospel of the Kingdom - Matthew - For Whom Did John Preach?

 

Text: Matthew 3:11-12 – “ 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. 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.”

We have looked at who John was and to whom he preached. Today, let us consider for whom he preached.

His ministry was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. In this process he baptizes with water. This was not a new procedure, for a long time,  proselytes into the Jewish religion were baptized – a sign of repentance from other beliefs. But here, John is baptizing Jews into the Kingdom of God. He did this “unto repentance” the Greek word used here can mean “for” in the sense of an action already that has taken place – an example might be “Jesse James wanted for robbery. 

When John speaks of One who will baptize the Holy Spirit and fire, he is speaking of the outpouring on the Day of Pentecost when the church was immersed in the power and authority to represent Christ to the world.

We need to understand that when a person accepts Christ as Savior, they are baptized (immersed) in the Holy Spirit. We get all of the Spirit we will ever get – the question is how much of us does the Spirit get? “Water baptism” (not a scriptural term) is where we outwardly show what has inwardly taken place.

He uses a picture from the harvesting of wheat. It pictures the separating of the good from the bad. They would burn the useless, bad wheat, the chaff. But, John makes it clear that this burning will be with unquenchable fire, one that will totally burn the evil but will last forever.

What a personage is this John the Baptizer. Jesus speaks highly of him, but says that we will be greater in the kingdom.

So, today, consider are we a Pharisee or Sadducee? Or, are we those who are pleasing to God?

Our next study will be on how John Ministers to the Messiah.