Matthew 3 - This is My Son Whom I Love!

Matthew 3 - NIV

Enduring Word Commentary

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 alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

In chapter 3, we see the baptism of Jesus, he begins his public ministry around the age 30. Importantly we meet John the Baptism whose words are very important to our understanding of Jesus' ministry. He says, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

Curiously he doesn't say "Jesus is at hand" but the "the kingdom is at hand". It is right after this that Jesus is baptized, and we hear the words from God the Father, "This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased". So right away we see the identity of Jesus is as "God's Son". Our identity is also given to us at our baptism when we hear the words, 

"You are marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever."  We become part of God's family through faith in Jesus. This is not because we are a good person or particularly religious, but because God chose US as his sons and daughters. 

God the Father makes it clear right away that Jesus is not just a religious teacher, but the one and only Son of God. And for this designation, which he will affirm throughout His ministry, He will be killed. 

When John says, "the kingdom is at hand", he is indicating that God's rule and reign have come to earth through Jesus. Jesus will frequent teach in the parables, his favorite teaching method, the "kingdom of heaven is like." 

Everything Jesus will do or say will reveal to us what God's kingdom is like. Importantly when John says, "repent" he means to say "Turn around don't miss it! The kingdom is at hand!" Later John will say, "I am not worthy to untie the straps of his sandals." 

When the religious leaders (the Sadducees and Pharisees) come to see what John is doing he realized they were not sincerely interesting in what he said so he says, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath." I imagine this is the first time the religious leaders were called that. But John was a prophet and there hadn't been a prophet in Israel for a long time. Prophets were not called by God to make people feel comfortable. They were often messengers of God's indictment on the Jewish people, warning them to turn from their idolatry and turn back to God. When they didn't do this the consequences were severe. 

But the bottom line is that in and through Jesus, the kingdom of God was at hand. The Messiah, the King, had started his reign which would last forever. 

Do you see Jesus as your king? Of course, he is also Your Savior.  But he is also your lord if you repent and believe? Did you realize God wants you, as a child of God, to also bring in God's kingdom? 

We will learning what this looks like in the coming chapters! Stay tuned! 

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