Matthew 3:1-3 1Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3For this is the one spoken through Isaiah the prophet saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!’ ”
The story of Jesus moves forwards about 30 years to the ministry of John the Baptist. This is the first mention of John in Matthew’s Gospel. We have to turn to Luke’s Gospel to get any background on John. Matthew is more interested in the ministry and teaching of Jesus than particular biographical background of the key characters. The time indicator those days is vague and points back to the general time period of Jesus’ life in Nazareth. John was the son miraculously born to the elderly Zechariah and Elizabeth. Since they were old when he was born, they may not have lived to have seen John’s ministry. Since Jesus and John were about the same age, and Jesus was about 30 (Luke 3:23), John would have been about 30 or a bit younger if his ministry was over an extended period. John’s ministry was in the wilderness of Judea. This area was desolate, with little water, dried up wadis, caves, and few people. As the story unfolds, we find out that he spent a great deal of time near the Jordan river where he baptized people.
Matthew summarizes the main topic of John’s preaching. John called the people to repent (metanoiete). This word describes a change of mindset leading to a change of behavior. This change requires leaving a life of sin and following God’s way of righteousness. It is often accompanied by sorrow for sin. John called the people to prepare for the kingdom of heaven by repenting from their sins. The kingdom was the central topic of Jesus’ preaching. Matthew uses the circumlocution of heaven is most places whereas Mark and Luke use kingdom of God. One theory is that he did this as part of his reverence for God’s name as an orthodox Jew since Jews did not speak the name of God to avoid breaking the third commandment in Exodus 20:7. The verb tense has come near is perfect, adding emphasis to the beginning and ongoing nature of accessing this kingdom. Now was the time that the kingdom was breaking into the world.
Matthew follows his pattern in verse 3 of showing how the events surrounding the ministry of Jesus were a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy found in Isaiah 40:3. John’s voice echoed in the wilderness, calling people to prepare for the Lord. It is a mystery how much John and Jesus knew each other growing up or even when they were 30 years old. But John knew the day was near for the Lord to come. In Isaiah, the “Lord” would refer to the special name of Yahweh, the one and only Almighty God. In Matthew’s quote, the reference is to Jesus, the incarnate Immanuel. The people could prepare themselves for the coming king by making his paths straight. They had a part by preparing their hearts through repentance and righteousness.
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