January 23, 1949 JESUS AND THE WILDERNESS PROPHET Matt. 3:4-17
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listen to the message of John only, we shall be busy with water-baptism and washing. But if we listen to the mes sage of Jesus, the fire will burn, and burn to purity, and burn to realization, and burn to crowning” (Morgan). In Jesus’ own baptism we have a part of what Jesus came to do for sinful men. He thus identified Himself with sinners. As at Calvary so at the Jordan, what He submitted unto was not for Him self but for others.
Pointers on the Lesson John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus. As in olden days advance groups went ahead to build bridges, carve out paths, and seek the best way for the .army which would follow ,l so John was sent by the Lord to make ready the hearts of the people for the ministry of the Lord. He was the herald of One mightier than he. John the Baptist was a rugged man of the desert. Evidently God had been preparing him in the solitudes for his public ministry. How often it has been like this with God’s servants! Before God said to Elijah' “Go shew thyself,” He commanded, “Hide thyself” (1 Kings 17:3; 18:1). Here is a principle per taining to all Christian service. Before men are fit to serve God in public, they must have become acquainted with Him in private. John’s Appeal (vv. 5, 6) John’s message was revolutionary; it cut across the ways men were living in his day and ours; it called upon them to change their minds about God and sin and holiness. But it was a message all men heeded, in the city as well as in the country, in high positions as well as in low. The Spirit was working and John found coming out to hear him all classes of people. Men of God filled with the Spirit of God will still gain a hear ing when they present the truth of God. The baptism of John was the outward sign of the inward repentance experi enced by many individuals; the con fession of sin was the important thing. John’s Invective (vv. 7-19) The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to hear John. The Pharisees were ,the ritualists of the day. They believed in the supernatural but imagined that their faith could be expressed by forms and ceremonies. The Sadducees were the rationalists of the day. They denied the supernatural. As John saw them.coming he knew their hearts, that they were “vipers” spiritually and came only out of curiosity. He told them plainly that hereditary connection with Abraham was not enough. The root of the matter lay in their hearts; they needed to repent. John’s Prophecy and Its Fulfillment (vv. 11-17) John shows his greatness by his at titude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By comparison John’s work was exter nal, with water; Jesus’ work was in ternal, with fire. “That is the difference between Jesus and John today. If we John’s Appearance (v. 4)
Helps for the Children The Baptism of Jesus Matt. 3
Memory Verse: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). God had sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world for one reason: He came to die for sin. When Jesus grew to manhood, there were several things which He had to do in prepara tion for the work which He had come to do. The first of these was His baptism by John the Baptist. We are going to let Jesus’ disciple, Matthew, tell us about this experience. John was a messenger whom God had sent to prepare the people for Jesus’ coming. This messenger dressed in camel’s hair clothing and ate locusts and wild honey. Boldly he preached to the multitudes and baptized those who believed his message. One day the Lord Jesus came to John to be baptized in the river Jordan. John felt that Jesus should baptize him. God’s Son insisted upon John’s baptizing Him. As Jesus came'up out of the water, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove came upon Him. A voice from heaven, God, the Father’s voice, said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” , In many portions God’s Word com mands Christians to be baptized even as was their Lord. Various churches differ in their method of baptism. Speak with your pastor or your teacher about your obeying God’s command to follow your Lord in baptism as a testimony to others of your new life in Him.
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