John the Baptist Preaching to the CrowdBible World
3:1Matthew 3:1
In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
In those days marks the beginning of John's public preaching in the wilderness of Judea by the banks of the Jordan at the start of the events leading to his imprisonment. He arose as the messenger sent to announce Christ's coming and prepare the way for the Messiah, coming in the spirit and power of Elijah as the connecting link between the two dispensations. His proclamation was to repent because the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the Messiah, was near, in which none could have part without repentance and thorough conversion. His preaching in the wilderness is the striking, literal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. His work of preparing the way by a clear message of repentance is the model for God's last-day workers to prepare the way for a revival of God's work.
Time, Place, and Voice
In those days was a time when public affairs were unsettled, with prevailing discord and insurrection stirring the people. It was into that unrest that John began his preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, calling to repentance because the kingdom of heaven was near.
It was also a time when dispersed Jews in all civilized lands were expecting the speedy coming of the Messiah. Many of those Jews came to Jerusalem for the annual feasts, went out to the Jordan, heard from John the proclamation of Christ as the Promised One, and carried those tidings home to all parts of the world. This spreading of the message by Providence prepared the way for the labors of the apostles.
The verse marks the beginning of John's public preaching in the wilderness of Judea, by the banks of the Jordan. It stands at the start of the events leading from his public ministry to his imprisonment. It belongs to the longer account of the forerunner in Matthew 3:1-12, where his message calls people to repent because heaven's kingdom is near and his baptism is joined with confession of sins.
He preached with a loud, open voice, not a whisper. His voice was first lifted up from the wilderness like the sound of a trumpet, thrilling the hearts of all who heard with a new and strange power. His purpose was to startle and arouse the people and cause them to tremble because of their great wickedness. There was something in his message that brought the people out to hear him.
Forerunner Identity and Calling
In those days John the Baptist arose from faithful Israel as the messenger sent to announce Christ's coming and prepare the way for the Messiah, preaching in the wilderness of Judea. His message was a call to repent because heaven's kingdom is near, and he proclaimed the One coming after him as mightier than himself, who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire and separates the wheat from the chaff. He was the connecting link between the two dispensations, a lesser light who prepared the way for Christ the greater light. His inspired preaching challenged confidence in tradition, brought sins to mind, removed superstition and spiritual darkness built up by false teaching over generations, and led people to repentance so they could appreciate Christ's work.
He came in the spirit and with the power of Elijah, openly reproving the people's sins and denouncing corruptions with plain, pointed and convincing preaching that called them to repentance. Many showed that repentance by being baptized in the Jordan, and this was the preparatory work for the ministry of Christ. He was sent ahead of Christ to prepare the way for His mission by that call to repentance, so that Christ's words could find a place in hearts. In this he heralded the first advent of Jesus and prepared the way for His coming.
His special mission as a herald announcing a new era was paralleled later when Wycliffe was raised up in a similar way to announce a new era. That heralding of the first advent and preparing the way is the pattern for William Miller and those who joined him in proclaiming the second advent of the Son of God.
Wilderness Training and Lifestyle
The wilderness of Judea was the home where John lived, the place where he received from God the message he was to proclaim, and the ground where he prepared the way for the Coming One. He had chosen its solitude over the luxuries of city life, and there found simplicity and self-denial with a setting to study nature, Scripture, and providence apart from the clamor of the world. That separation was his preparation for the calling of Christ's forerunner, away from the nation's leading men and schools so that human customs and doctrines would not shape his mind and he could commune freely with God. No earthly school was fit to train him for that great work of preparing the way of the Lord.
His study books were the Old Testament Scriptures, God Himself, and the nature God had created, and his food of locusts and wild honey belonged to that wilderness fitting. Customs and practices of men were not to be his education, worldly engrossment was to have no part in forming his character, and God Himself fitted him for preaching. The wilderness of Judea was therefore where he learned the message he was to bear, proving that a worker must become thoroughly established through communion with God and close searching of the Scriptures before regularly teaching others. From childhood he knew and accepted his mission to prepare people for the Lord, having been taught it by his parents.
The greater part of his life spent in the wilderness kept him apart from corrupt religious influence and helped form habits of simplicity and self-denial. He withdrew in part to guard against temptation and preserve his sense of sin. Yet his life there was not idle nor cut off from people, for he observed events and human character so that he could bring heaven's message to hearts, studying nature, revelation, and providence and learning how to reach hearts. The wilderness also drew his hearers away from the distractions and confusion of city life, where they could attend to the things of God in nature. There God's Holy Spirit gave him a warning message to prepare people for the Messiah's coming and a message of mercy for the world.
He lived simply, wearing coarse camel's hair clothing like Elijah, with no outward display in dress to attract or awaken admiration. His diet was the locusts and wild honey afforded by the wilderness, with pure water flowing from the hills. His singular dress and appearance reminded people of the ancient seers, so that the opinion prevailed that he was one of the prophets risen from the dead.
Message and Manner of Preaching
His proclamation was to repent because the kingdom of heaven was near. That kingdom was the kingdom of the Messiah whose coming he announced, in which no one could enjoy God's favor and have part without repentance of sins and thorough conversion, however righteous they claimed to be. He directly announced the Messiah and proclaimed the One coming after him as mightier than himself, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire and separate the wheat from the chaff.
He gathered Jerusalem and Judea and the region round about Jordan to baptism in the Jordan with confession of sins, and his baptism symbolized cleansing from sin. That baptism showed that even those claiming to be God's chosen people were defiled by sin and needed purification of heart and life to have part in the Messiah's kingdom. Identifying with Jesus requires forsaking sin and being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
His preaching was plain, direct, earnest, and powerful, with appeals, warnings, exhortations, and reproofs that stirred consciences, spread his fame, and drew people from towns, cities, and villages. A power attended his words that none could resist, and he flattered none and received no flattery. He made no compromise with sin, but fearlessly denounced sins and pointed out errors and crimes in simplicity and plainness. He openly reproved the people's sins, rebuked the sins of priests and rulers and exposed their refusal to obey the Father's authority and do the appointed work of God's kingdom, urged Herod to reform his life, and warned that those not bearing good fruit would face judgment.
His inspired preaching challenged confidence in tradition, brought sins to mind, and removed the superstition and spiritual darkness that false teaching had built up among the Jews over generations, so people could appreciate Christ's work. His work was the preparatory work for Christ's ministry, calling people to repent, be converted, and be baptized so Christ's words could find place. His reformation called people to confess sins.
Prophecy Fulfilled in John
John's preaching in the wilderness of Judea is the striking, literal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight a highway for God. In those days he came as the forerunner of Christ, laboring as a Spirit-empowered preacher to prepare the way of the Lord, calling people to repent because the kingdom of heaven was near. Jerusalem and Judea and the region round Jordan gathered to him, and many turned from unrighteousness, while the Pharisees and rulers refused his testimony, though genuine repentance would have led them to recognize and accept Christ as the Messiah to whom the sacrificial offerings pointed.
He came in fulfillment of his mapped-out mission to turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. His coming shows the fulfillment of the Word of God, which all human efforts to prevent are unavailing to stop.
The prophecies of the second coming of Christ are being fulfilled just as surely as the prophecies fulfilled in John's coming.
Hearers Response and Influence
John's voice stirred the people, and multitudes answered it and flocked to the wilderness from towns, cities, and villages, including Jerusalem, Judea, and the region round about Jordan. His earnest appeals, warnings, exhortations, and reproofs drew them with a power none could resist, stirred their consciences, and spread his fame throughout the land. They saw in his singular dress and appearance a resemblance to the ancient seers, and the opinion prevailed that he was one of the prophets risen from the dead. Even kings and rulers came to the wilderness and were interested and deeply convicted as he fearlessly pointed out their particular sins and read their purposes and hearts.
Many turned from unrighteousness, repented, confessed their sins, and were baptized by him in the Jordan. They came with common consent repenting and confessing, and were willing to accept what he taught as necessary for an inheritance in that kingdom. Yet the Pharisees and rulers refused his testimony, though genuine repentance would have led them to recognize and accept Christ as the Messiah to whom the sacrificial offerings pointed. Those who rejected the truth he proclaimed were left enshrouded in deeper darkness and thus made fully ready to turn from the evidences that Jesus was the true Messiah.
His work came in an unexpected way that did not glorify the Jews as a nation as they expected, showing how the Holy Spirit works through a human agent God chooses to reprove sin without asking men how it shall operate. Many Jews who heard him at the Jordan learned that Christ was the Promised One, and the preaching stirred public excitement as the expected time of the Messiah's advent approached. Dispersed Jews in all civilized lands were expecting the speedy coming of the Messiah, and many who came to Jerusalem for the annual feasts went out to hear John and then carried those tidings home to all parts of the world. This spreading of the message was Providence preparing the way for the labors of the apostles and for Paul's work.
Pattern for Last Days
John's work of preparing the way of the Lord by a clear call to repentance is the pattern for God's workers in the last days, who are likewise to bear a plain message of repentance and prepare the way for a revival of God's work. He preached in the wilderness of Judea that people should repent because the kingdom of heaven was near, in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice preparing the Lord's way. That same message of repentance is the message for today, for the prophecies of the second coming of Christ are being fulfilled just as surely as those fulfilled in John's coming. Every person now faces a life-and-death decision to accept Christ's infinite sacrifice and believe in Him for everlasting life rather than reject Him and refuse to come for life.
Men moved by the Holy Spirit are now to meet crowds who have never heard the truth with the same straight message and call to repentance. This applies even to tourists visiting places like San Diego and Los Angeles, as the last message of mercy to a perishing world, in contrast to false prophets and false doctrines that lead men and women in forbidden paths. His preaching in the wilderness is the model for an urgent warning message in the present crisis, calling people to heed the truth and its urgent issues and prepare for what is coming rather than be diverted by human influence.
Like his plain, direct preaching that told the truth of the situation with a strong impression that cut to hearts, the message now is no smooth message but tells the truth. Truth is to be presented solemnly, without worldly display, to awaken people from self-indulgence and sin, distinct from fanciful preaching designed merely to attract a crowd. His plain message from the Word calls people to serve God with full purpose of a renewed heart, sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. It calls them to live in this world the life that prepares for the future life which measures with the life of God, rather than turning aside to side issues and questions brought in as all-important.
His message became more and more pointed even at the cost of life, as an example of pointed warning so people will not be deceived. His heralding of the first advent and preparing the way for Christ's coming is the pattern for William Miller and those who joined him in proclaiming the second advent of the Son of God. His ministry exemplifies the sacred ministry of preaching God's Word. His self-denial is a pattern for those preparing for the last days to control desires, reject baseness and worldly ambition, and live by a higher sense of mission from God, and his call summons those who have backslidden to turn from backslidings.
In those days marks the beginning of John's public preaching in the wilderness of Judea by the banks of the Jordan at the start of the events leading to his imprisonment. He arose as the messenger sent to announce Christ's coming and prepare the way for the Messiah, coming in the spirit and power of Elijah as the connecting link between the two dispensations. His proclamation was to repent because the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the Messiah, was near, in which none could have part without repentance and thorough conversion. His preaching in the wilderness is the striking, literal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. His work of preparing the way by a clear message of repentance is the model for God's last-day workers to prepare the way for a revival of God's work.
Time, Place, and Voice
In those days was a time when public affairs were unsettled, with prevailing discord and insurrection stirring the people. It was into that unrest that John began his preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, calling to repentance because the kingdom of heaven was near.
It was also a time when dispersed Jews in all civilized lands were expecting the speedy coming of the Messiah. Many of those Jews came to Jerusalem for the annual feasts, went out to the Jordan, heard from John the proclamation of Christ as the Promised One, and carried those tidings home to all parts of the world. This spreading of the message by Providence prepared the way for the labors of the apostles.
The verse marks the beginning of John's public preaching in the wilderness of Judea, by the banks of the Jordan. It stands at the start of the events leading from his public ministry to his imprisonment. It belongs to the longer account of the forerunner in Matthew 3:1-12, where his message calls people to repent because heaven's kingdom is near and his baptism is joined with confession of sins.
He preached with a loud, open voice, not a whisper. His voice was first lifted up from the wilderness like the sound of a trumpet, thrilling the hearts of all who heard with a new and strange power. His purpose was to startle and arouse the people and cause them to tremble because of their great wickedness. There was something in his message that brought the people out to hear him.
Forerunner Identity and Calling
In those days John the Baptist arose from faithful Israel as the messenger sent to announce Christ's coming and prepare the way for the Messiah, preaching in the wilderness of Judea. His message was a call to repent because heaven's kingdom is near, and he proclaimed the One coming after him as mightier than himself, who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire and separates the wheat from the chaff. He was the connecting link between the two dispensations, a lesser light who prepared the way for Christ the greater light. His inspired preaching challenged confidence in tradition, brought sins to mind, removed superstition and spiritual darkness built up by false teaching over generations, and led people to repentance so they could appreciate Christ's work.
He came in the spirit and with the power of Elijah, openly reproving the people's sins and denouncing corruptions with plain, pointed and convincing preaching that called them to repentance. Many showed that repentance by being baptized in the Jordan, and this was the preparatory work for the ministry of Christ. He was sent ahead of Christ to prepare the way for His mission by that call to repentance, so that Christ's words could find a place in hearts. In this he heralded the first advent of Jesus and prepared the way for His coming.
His special mission as a herald announcing a new era was paralleled later when Wycliffe was raised up in a similar way to announce a new era. That heralding of the first advent and preparing the way is the pattern for William Miller and those who joined him in proclaiming the second advent of the Son of God.
Wilderness Training and Lifestyle
The wilderness of Judea was the home where John lived, the place where he received from God the message he was to proclaim, and the ground where he prepared the way for the Coming One. He had chosen its solitude over the luxuries of city life, and there found simplicity and self-denial with a setting to study nature, Scripture, and providence apart from the clamor of the world. That separation was his preparation for the calling of Christ's forerunner, away from the nation's leading men and schools so that human customs and doctrines would not shape his mind and he could commune freely with God. No earthly school was fit to train him for that great work of preparing the way of the Lord.
His study books were the Old Testament Scriptures, God Himself, and the nature God had created, and his food of locusts and wild honey belonged to that wilderness fitting. Customs and practices of men were not to be his education, worldly engrossment was to have no part in forming his character, and God Himself fitted him for preaching. The wilderness of Judea was therefore where he learned the message he was to bear, proving that a worker must become thoroughly established through communion with God and close searching of the Scriptures before regularly teaching others. From childhood he knew and accepted his mission to prepare people for the Lord, having been taught it by his parents.
The greater part of his life spent in the wilderness kept him apart from corrupt religious influence and helped form habits of simplicity and self-denial. He withdrew in part to guard against temptation and preserve his sense of sin. Yet his life there was not idle nor cut off from people, for he observed events and human character so that he could bring heaven's message to hearts, studying nature, revelation, and providence and learning how to reach hearts. The wilderness also drew his hearers away from the distractions and confusion of city life, where they could attend to the things of God in nature. There God's Holy Spirit gave him a warning message to prepare people for the Messiah's coming and a message of mercy for the world.
He lived simply, wearing coarse camel's hair clothing like Elijah, with no outward display in dress to attract or awaken admiration. His diet was the locusts and wild honey afforded by the wilderness, with pure water flowing from the hills. His singular dress and appearance reminded people of the ancient seers, so that the opinion prevailed that he was one of the prophets risen from the dead.
Message and Manner of Preaching
His proclamation was to repent because the kingdom of heaven was near. That kingdom was the kingdom of the Messiah whose coming he announced, in which no one could enjoy God's favor and have part without repentance of sins and thorough conversion, however righteous they claimed to be. He directly announced the Messiah and proclaimed the One coming after him as mightier than himself, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire and separate the wheat from the chaff.
He gathered Jerusalem and Judea and the region round about Jordan to baptism in the Jordan with confession of sins, and his baptism symbolized cleansing from sin. That baptism showed that even those claiming to be God's chosen people were defiled by sin and needed purification of heart and life to have part in the Messiah's kingdom. Identifying with Jesus requires forsaking sin and being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
His preaching was plain, direct, earnest, and powerful, with appeals, warnings, exhortations, and reproofs that stirred consciences, spread his fame, and drew people from towns, cities, and villages. A power attended his words that none could resist, and he flattered none and received no flattery. He made no compromise with sin, but fearlessly denounced sins and pointed out errors and crimes in simplicity and plainness. He openly reproved the people's sins, rebuked the sins of priests and rulers and exposed their refusal to obey the Father's authority and do the appointed work of God's kingdom, urged Herod to reform his life, and warned that those not bearing good fruit would face judgment.
His inspired preaching challenged confidence in tradition, brought sins to mind, and removed the superstition and spiritual darkness that false teaching had built up among the Jews over generations, so people could appreciate Christ's work. His work was the preparatory work for Christ's ministry, calling people to repent, be converted, and be baptized so Christ's words could find place. His reformation called people to confess sins.
Prophecy Fulfilled in John
John's preaching in the wilderness of Judea is the striking, literal fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord and make straight a highway for God. In those days he came as the forerunner of Christ, laboring as a Spirit-empowered preacher to prepare the way of the Lord, calling people to repent because the kingdom of heaven was near. Jerusalem and Judea and the region round Jordan gathered to him, and many turned from unrighteousness, while the Pharisees and rulers refused his testimony, though genuine repentance would have led them to recognize and accept Christ as the Messiah to whom the sacrificial offerings pointed.
He came in fulfillment of his mapped-out mission to turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. His coming shows the fulfillment of the Word of God, which all human efforts to prevent are unavailing to stop.
The prophecies of the second coming of Christ are being fulfilled just as surely as the prophecies fulfilled in John's coming.
Hearers Response and Influence
John's voice stirred the people, and multitudes answered it and flocked to the wilderness from towns, cities, and villages, including Jerusalem, Judea, and the region round about Jordan. His earnest appeals, warnings, exhortations, and reproofs drew them with a power none could resist, stirred their consciences, and spread his fame throughout the land. They saw in his singular dress and appearance a resemblance to the ancient seers, and the opinion prevailed that he was one of the prophets risen from the dead. Even kings and rulers came to the wilderness and were interested and deeply convicted as he fearlessly pointed out their particular sins and read their purposes and hearts.
Many turned from unrighteousness, repented, confessed their sins, and were baptized by him in the Jordan. They came with common consent repenting and confessing, and were willing to accept what he taught as necessary for an inheritance in that kingdom. Yet the Pharisees and rulers refused his testimony, though genuine repentance would have led them to recognize and accept Christ as the Messiah to whom the sacrificial offerings pointed. Those who rejected the truth he proclaimed were left enshrouded in deeper darkness and thus made fully ready to turn from the evidences that Jesus was the true Messiah.
His work came in an unexpected way that did not glorify the Jews as a nation as they expected, showing how the Holy Spirit works through a human agent God chooses to reprove sin without asking men how it shall operate. Many Jews who heard him at the Jordan learned that Christ was the Promised One, and the preaching stirred public excitement as the expected time of the Messiah's advent approached. Dispersed Jews in all civilized lands were expecting the speedy coming of the Messiah, and many who came to Jerusalem for the annual feasts went out to hear John and then carried those tidings home to all parts of the world. This spreading of the message was Providence preparing the way for the labors of the apostles and for Paul's work.
Pattern for Last Days
John's work of preparing the way of the Lord by a clear call to repentance is the pattern for God's workers in the last days, who are likewise to bear a plain message of repentance and prepare the way for a revival of God's work. He preached in the wilderness of Judea that people should repent because the kingdom of heaven was near, in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice preparing the Lord's way. That same message of repentance is the message for today, for the prophecies of the second coming of Christ are being fulfilled just as surely as those fulfilled in John's coming. Every person now faces a life-and-death decision to accept Christ's infinite sacrifice and believe in Him for everlasting life rather than reject Him and refuse to come for life.
Men moved by the Holy Spirit are now to meet crowds who have never heard the truth with the same straight message and call to repentance. This applies even to tourists visiting places like San Diego and Los Angeles, as the last message of mercy to a perishing world, in contrast to false prophets and false doctrines that lead men and women in forbidden paths. His preaching in the wilderness is the model for an urgent warning message in the present crisis, calling people to heed the truth and its urgent issues and prepare for what is coming rather than be diverted by human influence.
Like his plain, direct preaching that told the truth of the situation with a strong impression that cut to hearts, the message now is no smooth message but tells the truth. Truth is to be presented solemnly, without worldly display, to awaken people from self-indulgence and sin, distinct from fanciful preaching designed merely to attract a crowd. His plain message from the Word calls people to serve God with full purpose of a renewed heart, sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. It calls them to live in this world the life that prepares for the future life which measures with the life of God, rather than turning aside to side issues and questions brought in as all-important.
His message became more and more pointed even at the cost of life, as an example of pointed warning so people will not be deceived. His heralding of the first advent and preparing the way for Christ's coming is the pattern for William Miller and those who joined him in proclaiming the second advent of the Son of God. His ministry exemplifies the sacred ministry of preaching God's Word. His self-denial is a pattern for those preparing for the last days to control desires, reject baseness and worldly ambition, and live by a higher sense of mission from God, and his call summons those who have backslidden to turn from backslidings.