Matthew 3 - Introduction

EXPOSITORY SERMON CHAPTER THREE

THE MINISTRY OF A MAN

I.

THE MAN'S MISSION: The voice of one crying in the wilderness (Matthew 3:1-3)

A. The sudden appearance of John, who came thundering the message of God, broke the silence that Heaven had kept for over 400 years. John was the last of the greatest prophets (Matthew 11:11; Matthew 11:13). He was a likely candidate for the Messiahship (Luke 3:15), or at least most commoners were convinced he was a prophet (Luke 20:6). He performed no miracles (John 10:40-41) and claimed not to be the Christ (Acts 13:24-25), but expected that his message should be received as the very voice of God.

B.

John's responsibility is clearly that of preparing the hearts of an unprepared people, unprepared for their Messiah's soon arrival. This is the first clue to the true nature of Christ's kingdom: it must not be a matter of external, regal trappings, but of internal, real repenting.

C.

John was a voice crying in the wilderness, not an echo of the popular slogans of his times. He was not a product of his age, but brought a message from God to his age.

II. THE MAN'S MANNER (Matthew 3:4): Ascetic food and raiment akin to the austere life of Elijah, significant as they might have been, are nothing compared to the man himself:

A. His personal self-denial (Luke 7:33),

B. His refusal to be great in the eyes of the world, even in the sight of his own intimate disciples (John 3:25-30).

C. His fearlessness to denounce evil wherever he found it.

1.

Herod trembled before this courageous man who did not hesitate to point the finger of divine judgment at Herod's evil and unlawful marriage and say, It is not lawful for you to have her! (Matthew 14:4; Mark 6:18-20), even if this meant imprisonment and death (Matthew 4:12; Matthew 11:2-4; Matthew 14:2-10; Mark 6:14-25).

2.

The Sadducees and Pharisees, the leaders of orthodox religion, sunk in ritualistic formalism and infidelity, recoiled under the hammer-blows of this fearless, peerless preaching.

3.

The ordinary working people, whose lives were lived unaware of God's plainest commands, were brought to fruitful repentance! (Luke 3:10-15)

III. THE MAN'S MESSAGE OF MORALITY (Matthew 3:5-10)

A. His message and baptism possessed the full authority of God (Matthew 21:25-26; Matthew 21:32; Mark 11:30-32; Luke 3:2; Luke 7:29-30; John 1:6)

B.

His message concerned the most basic need of his hearers: repentance, not merely surface and immediate sorrow for sin, but a thorough-going and continuing repentance that changed the heart and all the life which flowed from the source,

C.

In an age of rottenly luxuriant self-indulgence, John challenged men to a rigorous self-denial and a real communion with God, whether this meant fasting (Matthew 9:14; Matthew 11:18; Mark 2:18; Luke 7:33), or learning how really to pray (Luke 11:1).

D. His preaching of repentance was intended to produce an open, immediate response:

1.

Faith in the Christ who would immediately follow John (John 1:7; Acts 19:4)

2.

But in preparation for His advent, the people must repent, confessing their sins, exhibiting a readiness to effect a radical change of life in conformity with the holiness of the coming Messiah Himself (Matthew 3:5-6; Luke 3:5-9)

3.

Baptism for the remission of sins (Mark 1:4: Luke 3:3)

E.

He aimed at the conscience.

IV. THE MAN'S MASTER, THE MESSIAH (Matthew 3:11-12). For all of John's personal greatness derived from immediate communion with God, for all of the nation-shaking results he was achieving through his preaching, for all of the personal popularity in the select company of his disciples, he never lost sight of the one purpose he came to accomplish: to bear witness to the Light. John could not but focus men's attention on the majestic Messiah whose way he had come to prepare. John never forgot his place as the servant, unworthy even to unloose the Master's shoes. John ever obliterated himself in his message, and, with the coming of the promised Messiah, he was content to decrease in popularity, influence and religious leadership in favor of his Lord whose way he had so effectively prepared. (John 3:30)

APPLICATION: Laboring within the terms of our commission (Matthew 28:19-20), dare we give as much to our service to Jesus as did John? Do we seek only the glory of Christ? Are we as unhesitating in our rebuke of the sin of our age?