John’s Warning

Matthew next introduces the Pharisees and the Sadducees, two groups of religious and political power that had appointed themselves as the moral watchdogs of the nation.

The Pharisees name means “to separate.” They began during the Maccabean Wars for freedom and stood against all types of idolatry. They called each other neighbor and though they came from the common people, they prided themselves on being separated from the common people by their strict adherence to God’s Law and also the thousands of additional laws they added to make God’s law better.

The Sadducees were not from the common people but were wealthy, elites drawn from the caste of the priests. They take their name from a high priest named Zadok, but the name Zadokees was too hard to pronounce, so they went with Sadducees. (Not really) According to the Gospels, the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the body, and did not believe in angels or spirits

Both groups were political and felt it was their duty as the moral overseers of the nation to check out any new political or religious movements and so they both show up at John’s sermons. After this message they probably wished they had not. These were the most respected, powerful groups during John and Jesus time and yet, listen to what John calls them.

A generation of vipers that are fleeing an approaching fire, like a bush that has been set ablaze and the snakes all come pouring out the bottom to escape the flames. Well, that’s not very respectful. Nor is he done. He tells them their ancestry to Abraham is worthless, no better than a rock. Again, not very respectful. Then John says the most offensive and derogatory thing he could say to these moralistic, legalistic, guardians of the people. He says they are like dead trees with no fruit and an axe has been laid to the base of the tree. Not hard to figure out the imagery here. John says you are dead trees and God is swinging the axe and once he cuts you down, you  will be thrown into the fires of judgment.

He tells these moralists, these law upholders, to repent and then to show that repentance. Not just a change of mind but a change of their life. Repentance means to turn your eyes, turn your heart and turn your feet.

Baptism of the Spirit and of Fire

And since he is the forerunner, John the Baptist, he uses baptism to tell of the coming Messiah. Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto (because of, showing) repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

John says that the Messiah is coming, and he, John, is not even good enough to carry his shoes. When Messiah comes, he will bring a baptism not in water like John’s but in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Now, there are two ways of seeing this prophecy.

One way sees Jesus who by His coming, death and resurrection would establish the New Covenant, and that covenant would be seen and sealed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit and by a baptism of judgment fire.

The other interpretation, sees Jesus instituting the New Covenant, showing its reality by the baptism of the Holy Spirit but baptize not sinners in the fire of judgment, but His church in the Shekinah Glory, divine fire of God.

The same fire of God seen by Abraham when God made His covenant, by Moses at the burning bush, by Solomon when the Temple was finished and on the day of Pentecost by the Lord’s new house of witness, the church. Sometimes I lean one way on these two options and some days on the other, but I think the best interpretation is that this is the baptism of fire seen on the day of Pentecost because the next phrase introduces the fire of judgment, in Matthew 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
This section of Matthew 3 shows John in his work as the Prophet of God. Warning against sin, preaching against self-righteousness, proclaim the justice  of God on the unjust and the wrath of God on the unrepentant.

The Warning Unchanged

I won’t spend much time interpreting and applying this point to us today because it doesn’t need any deep study or fancy words to make it hit home. The warning is the same, “Repent, turn your eyes, turn your heart and turn your feet.” Turn your eyes from desiring this world, turn your heart from loving this world and turn your feet away from following the paths of sin.
Nor is that enough, not in John’s day and not in ours, “Repent, turn your eyes, turn your heart and turn your feet.” Turn your eyes to the cross where the price was paid for our sin, turn your heart to Jesus who loved us and gave His life for us and turn your feet to the way of God’s Word.

True faith is always accompanied by true repentance. They are the two sides of the same coin called salvation. God’s word tells us we must believe and repent.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

You can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven, unless you are willing to bow in repentance before its King, Jesus Christ. That part of the message, that warning will never change. John preached it, Jesus preached it, I’m preaching it and if anyone who stands behind a pulpit doesn’t preach it then they better begin to pray and practice it, because God’s axe is still swinging.

Now in vss. 13-17 we come to John doing the very thing that gave him his name, he is baptizing. It is the same thing that gave us our name as Baptists. We don’t come from John, we come from Jesus but both we and John have the same commission from the same source, Go, make disciples and baptize.