Matthew 2:19 - 3:17 Many Preachers Ignore Sin and Judgment, But The Bible Does Not.
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The trend in many churches today is to sugarcoat the Bible and only preach positive, uplifting messages. Many preachers refuse to talk about controversial or negative topics. They don’t tell people about repentance, confession, sin, eternal punishment, or the lake fire. They also present Christianity as something that is easy and pleasant.
However, the third chapter of Matthew shows us that, from the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus, the gospel message has included negative concepts. When John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord, he spoke clearly about the need for change and the reality of judgment by fire.
There are several geographical references in today’s passage. On the map the green colors are lower elevations while the brown colors are higher elevations.
Galilee was the region in the north of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee. Judea was the region in the south of Israel surrounding Jerusalem. Jerusalem sat on top of a ridge, high above the Jordan River which was down in the Jordan River Valley. It is 65 miles / 105 km from Nazareth to Jerusalem if you travel in a straight line. In Bible times it would have taken several days for people to travel from one to the other.
When Joseph brought his family up out of Egypt, he was afraid to go into Judea so he settled in Nazareth, in the region of Galilee.Today’s passage also tells us about John the Baptist. He did his baptizing in the Jordan River. People from Jerusalem came down to the river to be baptized. It is about 20 miles / 30 km from Jerusalem down to the Jordan River. It would have taken them most of a day to travel that distance. Jesus came from Nazareth to the Jordan River to be baptized.
The first chapter of Matthew tells us Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, who was married to Joseph. Joseph was a descendant of David. The second chapter tells us about magi who came to see the new king. When Herod heard about the birth of the king, he slew all the baby boys in Bethlehem, but Jesus survived because Joseph had already taken his family to Egypt.
Matt. 2:19 ¶ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
Matt. 2:20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”
Matt. 2:21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
Matt. 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he departed for the district of Galilee,
Matt. 2:23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Notice this verse uses the word spoken, not the word written. This reference to a Nazarene cannot be found in the Old Testament, but since it was something spoken, not written, it doesn’t necessarily refer to something in the Old Testament. There were many prophets in addition to the prophets who produced the Old Testament.
Matt. 3:1 ¶ Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
Matt. 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
John the Baptist told people to repent. Repent means to change. Repentance is hard. Repentance is a message many churches ignore today.
Matt. 3:3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
“THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD,
MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’”
This is a quotation of Isaiah 40:3. Isaiah wrote about a voice preparing the way of Yahweh. Matthew indicated John the Baptist was the voice referred to by Isaiah.
Matt. 3:4 Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Matt. 3:5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan;
Matt. 3:6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
Here we see people were confessing their sins. This is another concept many churches don’t want to deal with today.
Matt. 3:7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
John the Baptist talked about the wrath to come. This teaches us there is wrath in the future. This future wrath is ignored by many preachers in the 21st century.
Matt. 3:8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
It wasn’t enough to merely say they were repenting. There had to be proof that the repentance was real and not just words.
Modern society is overly focused on emotions, so many Christians think it is enough to simply say the right thing. If someone says something that feels good, then that is considered to be good enough. However, throughout the New Testament we see that saying the right words is not enough. There has to be action and truth behind the words.
Matt. 3:9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
Matt. 3:10 And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
John the Baptist used the illustration of an axe. An axe is used to cut things down. He also used the word fire. Anyone who does not bear good fruit will be thrown into the fire. This is more evidence that, from the very beginning, the gospel message has included components that are difficult and harsh.
Matt. 3:11 ¶ “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Once again John the Baptist used the word fire. A baptism which includes fire is not intended to be an easy baptism.
Matt. 3:12 His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Here, John the Baptist used the winnowing of wheat as an illustration. The wheat are righteous people. The chaff are unrighteous people. Jesus will separate the two. The unrighteous will be burned in an everlasting fire. Eternal punishment in a lake of fire is a key teaching in the Bible, but since it is a harsh and negative message, it is something rarely mentioned by many preachers in the 21st century.
Matt. 3:13 ¶ Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John to be baptized by him.
Matt. 3:14 But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
Matt. 3:15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.
Matt. 3:16 And after being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon Him,
Matt. 3:17 and behold, there was a voice out of the heavens saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
I have often pondered what this was like for John the Baptist and other bystanders. What did they think when they saw the dove and heard the voice? How did they react? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but this was something very unusual and out of the ordinary.
Many churches today do not want to preach negative or difficult messages. They try to make it easy to become and be a Christian.
However, John the Baptist clearly taught a message of confession, change, and punishment by fire. These are not pleasant messages. His words did not communicate something that was easy.
We see something similar in the teachings of Jesus and throughout the New Testament. Being a Christian is not easy nor pleasant. Sin and eternal punishment are real. Confession and repentance are integral components of being followers of Jesus.
If churches want to preach an accurate gospel, they must talk about sin, hell, repentance, and eternal judgment. Preachers and churches that do not preach these concepts are teaching a deficient and false message.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”