Matthew 3.1-12

A figure arrives out of nowhere at the beginning of chapter 3. His name is John the Baptizer. He comes to fulfill what Isaiah had pointed towards in Isaiah 40.3, namely 'to prepare the way for the Lord', the one who was to come and sort out the mess Israel found itself in (messiah). He was to make Jesus' paths straight, which is to say that his job was to get the people to a place where they could recognise the messiah when he came. His method for doing this was calling people to repent and be baptised. That is to say he led people to begin afresh, to turn their lives around in readiness for the appearance of the Kingdom of God (3.2). This coming near of the Kingdom was the mission of the messiah.

What strikes me about John most of all is that he is so clear in his understanding of what he has come to do, so much so that he does not deviate from this path in any way. John is not a people pleaser - just look at what he is wearing! In fact he is so free of the need to please others that he is able to tell the religious leaders of the day to their face that their time has been and gone, their 'kingdom' has come to an end. In his own language 'the axe is lying at the root of the tree' (the tree is an OT metaphor for Israel here employed to refer to the current leadership of Israel). These guys had been instrumental in making the mess and they needed to know they could not be part of the solution in their current state.

But in John's criticism comes a challenge in verse 10; that those who want to carry on in the new Kingdom God is building must not only turn back from the ways of the old kingdom, the old power based structures and such, but must also example this by bearing good fruit. This is an instruction to prove it or lose it. All that do not will be thrown into the fire. Perhaps the fire is for purification as much as destruction, but certainly it will be a painful experience.

The fire metaphor is carried over to verse 11 to talk about Jesus where we discover that Jesus is the one who will be bringing the fire. Indeed, the fire is his Holy Spirit given to those who repent and bear good fruit. This is another type of baptism which only Jesus can bring. Those that do not choose to receive this will instead be choosing fire of a different kind, which seems to refer to judgment (3.12).

John makes me ask the questions; am I too comfortable to be of any use in announcing Jesus? do I care too much about what other people think of me to really be able to follow Him? how can I prepare the way for Jesus? what is standing in the way of me doing this?