New Testament 2
Lecture 10
Ministry of John the Baptist
Jesus Was Born In Judea
•	And forced to flee to _____________.  After Herod, His antagonist dies, He returns to His own land, but not to reign from a throne.  Yet, He must be presented to Israel to either accept or reject Him.  Matthew quickly and silently passes over His childhood to reveal His initial presentation to the nation.
John the Baptist is the Forerunner of the Christ (3:1-3:12)
•	Matthew is more interested in presenting a closely ______________argument that historical narrative. He introduces his work with the general phrase “in those days.”  With this phrase Matthew introduces John the Baptist the ____________of the King.  
John is the Forerunner of Jesus
•	He precedes His____________, His appearance, and in His_____________.
•	His Work (3:1-2)
John comes preaching in the _________________of Judea.  The word “preach” is not a precise English word for kerruso.   The basic meaning is “to act as a herald, to publish”.  
A more specific connotation is
given by A. M. Hunter, “In the NT the verb does not mean “to give an informative or hortatory or edifying discourse expressed in beautifully arranged words with melodius voice; it means to _____________an______________”.  John came heralding an event, and that event was drawing near of the Kingdom.  In this proclamation, John was acting as a forerunner of the King, preparing the way for Him
B. Fulfillment of Prophecy (3:3)
Matthew links John the Baptist’s ministry to the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3 with the conjunction “for”.  John preached repentance, __________that was necessary in one who was to fulfill the prophet’s words. Matthew’s use of the words “one referred to” is a direct reference to the pronoun “___________”.  So Matthew is able to clarify that John is the one spoken of by Isaiah.  
In Isaiah the voice cries
Out exhorting the people to prepare for the coming of God as He brings Israel back form their dispersion. The prophet then goes on to describe the _________________of the kingdom that follow their return.  SO, Matthew, by identifying John the Baptist with the voice of Isaiah 40, verifies the message of John. The Kingdom is indeed near at hand.
C. His Uniqueness (3:4-6)
His uniqueness is especially seen in his______________. Some attach it to ceremonial cleansings and washings of the OT such as prescribed in Exod 19, Levit 15, and Numbers 19.  Others see it as the washing that was required by proselytes to Judaism.  In both cases, ________________is signified. So, the meaning of John’s baptism is the same if derived from these two ideas. 
John’s Baptism Is Different
In ceremonial washings and proselyte baptism the individual washed or is baptized himself. John is the first to ___________________others, and this may account for his name, John the Baptizer.
John’s Baptism
Is also new in that it was marked by confession of the one who was baptized.  Both collective confession and individual confession were known in Israel, but a “…great, spontaneous, self-unburdening of penitent souls..” was before unknown.  This unique baptism marked out his singular _____________________message.
John’s Dress, Diet and Being Was Unique
All these things marked him in a special way as the forerunner of the_________________.  It is possible that his ascetic appearance and his preaching in the wilderness could illustrate Israel’s spiritual poverty and their future rejection of their Messiah. Yet it seems best to see the appearance, dress and preaching as lending support to the importance of his message.
Matthew’s Second Reason for John’s Being in the Wilderness 
It is simply to fulfill another of Isaiah’s________________, for the messenger was to cry in the wilderness.  Another reason for the location is that the people who were looking for the coming of the Messiah would be especially marked out. Finally, those who were baptized identified themselves in a very definite way with John’s peculiar message.
D. The Proclamation of the Forerunner 
•	Repentance –
John’s message was an imperative!  “_________________!” The Greek word, contrary to opinion, does not mean to “merely be sorry”.  It means more than that. IT means to turn toward God and to turn away from sin. See 1 Thess 1.  This turning from sin towards God may involve a sorrow, but it is a by product and not repentance itself.  
In this exhortation 
John has been likened to some of the OT______________.  The OT prophets used the Hebrew verb Shuv (Joel 2:12; Isa 55:7; Ezek 33:11, 15) to call Israel to turn back from their backslidden condition.  So, in a word, John’s command to the people of Israel was for them to turn from their sins to God in anticipation of their Messiah’s coming.
The Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew states that John’s message was “________________, for the kingdom of Heaven has drawn near.”  What does this mean? Several Answers have been offered and Alva McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom, pp 274-276 has succinctly summarized them.
•	The Liberal-Social View
Christ took over from the OT prophets their ____________and _____________ideals of the kingdom, excluding almost wholly the eschatological element, and made these ideals the program of a present kingdom which it is the responsibility of His followers to establish in human society on earth here and now…
2. Critical-Eschatological View:
That Jesus at first embraced fully the eschatological ideas of the OT prophets regarding the_______________, and to some extent the current Jewish ideas; but later in the face of opposition He changed His message; or, at least, there are conflicting elements in the gospel records. As to the precise nature and extent of this change, or the alleged conflicts, the critics are not agreed…
3. Spiritualizing-Anti-Millennial View:
That our Lord appropriated certain _______________elements from the OT prophetical picture, either omitted or spiritualized the physical elements (excepting the physical details involved in the Messiah’s first coming!) and then added some original ideas of his own.
4. The Dual-Kingdom View:
That Christ at His first coming offered to Israel and established on earth a purely spiritual_______________; and that at His second coming He will establish on earth a literal Millennial Kingdom…
5. One-Kingdom Millennial View:
That the Kingdom announced by our Lord and offered to the nation of ___________at His first coming was identical with the Mediatorial Kingdom of the OT prophets, and will be established on earth at the second coming of the_______________.
E. The Preaching of the Forerunner (3:7-3:12)
•	After Matthew presented the “proclamation” (kerusso) of John, his position, his appearance, and the response to his proclamation, he gives a sample of ______________preaching.
The Rebuke of the Pharisees and Sadducees (3:7-9)
•	MT 3:7 presents the first marked instance of animosity towards the Pharisees and Sadducees.  It is important that the first mention of them in the Gospels marks them out as being hypocritical.  They were coming (for; epi with the accusative) ______________without genuine_______________.  This hypocrisy will characterize them throughout the rest of the book.
John Points Out Their Hypocrisy
•	By calling them to bring forth _____________worthy of ________________and to stop giving merit to their Abrahamic lineage.  Most Jews of this day were taught that they would enter the Kingdom by virtue of their birth into the nation of covenant.  This faulty reliance upon lineage rather than new birth will be further developed in Matthew’s Gospel.
The Warning of Judgment (3:10-12)
•	The reason for Israel needing to repent is introduced in verse 2 with the (for-gar).  Since _______________was to procede the revealing of the kingdom according to the OT prophets (Isa 1:27; 4:4; 5:16; 13:6-19; 42:1; Jer 33:14-16; Dan 7:26-27), this call to repentance by John is completely in order.
Verses 10-12
•	Matthew shows that John recognized ________________as being immediately at hand.  The phrases “is cut down” and “is thrown” into the fire are futuristic presents and could be translated (will be).  The judgment is further emphasized by the mention of wrath (3:7), the fire (3:12), and the winnowing fork (3:12).
A Winnowing Fork 
The Effect of John’s Preaching
•	Is twofold.  It was to cause individual’s to ________________for personal salvation and to bring national salvation to Israel if repented.  John warned both individuals and the nation to repent because of the judgment which was at hand with the kingdom.
The Greatness of the Messiah
•	Since the primary purpose of the Baptist was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, John emphasized the greatness of the Coming One. In doing so he portrayed Christ both as __________and as a___________.  See 3:11.  
“With the Holy Spirit and Fire” in 3:11
•	Has caused some trouble for interpreters.  Does “fire” speak of purification or of judgment? Many believe it to mean a two fold baptism: one of the _______  __________and the other of___________________.  
Or A Second View
•	Sees “fire” to be one aspect of Spirit_______________, that of________________.  This is based on the grammatical point that the two nouns (baptism and fire) are joined by the conjunction (and) and only the first noun has the preposition. This implies that both are referred to as one act of baptism.
John’s Baptism
•	__________________the people and makes them ready to meet the coming King.  This cleansing comes through repentance. Baptism is the outward sign of the inward forgiveness of sin that brought cleansing.  
The Holy Spirit and the Messiah
•	The OT frequently united these two concepts.  The Holy Spirit is associated with the Messiah (Isa 32:15, Ezek 11:19; 36:26-27; 37:14; Joel 2:28-29).  Not only was the Messiah to bring ________________but also a _____________of the Holy Spirit.