THE GOSPELS – Matthew 3:1-2 The Ministry of John the Baptist

7 March 2025

We are studying Mathew 3:1-12 today about the MINISTRY of JOHN the BAPTIST.

We are mainly reading from the Complete Jewish Study Bible – insight for Jews and Christians with cross references to other Bible versions. As well as using the Nelson’s Foundational Bible Dictionary.

We are using the Hebrew names of God the Father, namely YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh) where the word LORD in English and ADONAI in Hebrew are indicated in capital letters in the Scriptures, and we will also use the description, Abba Father.  We also use the Hebrew Name Yeshua the Messiah instead of the English Name Jesus Christ translated from the Greek.

In Matthew 3:1-2 we read: “It was during those days that John the Immerser (also called John the Baptizer) arrived in the desert of Judea and began proclaiming the message, TURN FROM YOUR SINS TO GOD, for the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR!”

The Study Bible explains: To understand what “baptize” means, one must view it in its context. According to the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy), one had to be ritually pure before entering the TABERNACLE or TEMPLE (the MEETING PLACE OF YHVH). Ritual/ ceremonial purity could be lost in many ways, and the means of RESTORING it was through MIKVEH (baptism in a bath or pool with a flow of FRESH WATER), a WASHING called MIKVEH in Hebrew.

We read about this requirement in many parts of Scripture. The Study Bible explains God commanded the Hebrew people to WASH their CLOTHING BEFORE He gave them the LAW at Mount Sinai (read Exodus 19:10). And in Leviticus 8 and 16 Aaron and his sons, appointed as PRIESTS of YHVH were COMMANDED TO WASH BEFORE they MINISTERED in the TABERNACLE. We also read about ritual cleansings for various flows of body fluid in Leviticus 15. And perhaps the most instructional passage in the TORAH (Genesis to Deuteronomy) about the acts of TOTAL IMMERSION is the HEALING OF LEPROCY (a general term for skin diseases).

In the Bible there is a relationship between leprosy and SIN – we see for instance in the case of Miriam, Moses’ sister that she got leprosy AFTER gossiping about her brother Moses (read Numbers 12:1-10). The MEANING of BABTISM (called Mikveh in Hebrew) is important. The Word of God draws a distinction between the HOLY (consecrated, sanctified) and the PROFANE (wicked, irreverent, disrespectful). Baptism teaches us a great deal concerning this.

It is related to an EXPERIENCE of DEATH and RESURECTION, and also to the RE-ENTRY into the WOMB and REEMERGENCE. Immersed fully, one is like the fetus in the womb, and coming up out of the water, it is as if one is REBORN. The individual who has SINNED and became IMPURE is TRANSFORMED (healed from his or her leprosy). The person DIES and is RESURECTED and becomes a NEW CREAION, like a NEWBORN CHILD. Read Yeshua our Messiah’s explanation on it to Nicodemus in John chapter 3.

It is clear that the apostle PAUL understood BABTISM in this way. He explains it in Romans 6:1-5 saying: “So then, are we to say, ‘Let’s keep on sinning, so that there can be more grace?” Heaven forbids (the Hebrew word used here is Chalilah – meaning: “a curse be upon it!”). Don’t you know that those of us who have been IMMERSED (baptized) into the Messiah Yeshua have been IMMERSED INTO HIS DEATH? Through immersion into His death, WE WERE BURRIED WITH HIM; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might have a NEW LIFE. For if we have been united with Him in a DEATH like His, we will also be united with Him in a RESURETION like His.” This is also a depiction of FEAST SEASON ONE of YHVH the FATHER, depicting FEAST 1-3 namely PESACH/ PASSOVER (remembering the crucifixion of Yeshua the Messiah and dying WITH Him to sin), UNLEAVENED BREAD (being buried with Him), and FIRST FRUITS (being resurrected with Him to NEW LIFE).

And in Galatians 3:26-29 Paul explains:  “For in UNION with the Messiah, you are ALL CHILDREN of GOD (the Father) through His trusting faithfulness; because as many of you as were IMMERSED into Yeshua the Messiah, in whom there is NO JEW (people from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin) or Gentile (people form the ten lost tribes of ISRAEL under Ephraim including the nations grafted into Israel), neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in UNION with the Messiah Yeshua, you are ALL ONE. Also, if you belong to the Messiah, you are SEED of ABRAHAM and heirs according to the promise.”

And in Colossians 2:11-13 Paul explains: “Also it was in UNION with Him that you were circumcised with a circumcision not done with human hands but accomplished by stripping away the OLD NATUR’s CONTROL OVER THE BODY. In this circumcision done by the Messiah, you were BURRIED ALONG WITH HIM BY BEING IMMERSED (baptized); and in UNION with Him, you were also RAISED UP along with Him by God (the Father’s) FAITHFULNESS that worked when HE RAISED YEHSUA form the DEAD. You were DEAD because of your SINS, that is, because of your “foreskin,” your OLD NATURE.”

So here Paul clearly explained that the circumcision of the flesh foreshadowed the circumcision of the heart that God requires – a spiritual cutting away of the OLD SINFUL NATURE! This was not invented by Paul. The Old Testament already spoke of CURCUMSIZED HEARTS in many passages like Deuteronomy 10:16 & 30:6, Jeremiah 9:25 and Ezekiel 44:7-9

In Titus 3:3-7 Paul actually uses the word “MIKVEH” when he explains: “For at one time, we too were FOOLISH and DISOBDIENT, DECEIVED and ENSLAVED by a variety of PASSIONS and PLEASURES. We spent our lives in evil and envy; people hated us, and we hated each other. But when the KINDNESS and LOVE for mankind of God (the Father) our DELIVERER was REVEALED, He DELIVERED us. It was not on the ground of any righteous deeds we had done, but on the ground of HIS OWN MERCY. He did it by means of the MIKVEH (the WASHING) of REBIRTH and the RENEWAL brought about by the RUACH HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), whom He poured out on us generously through Yeshua our Messiah, our DELIVERER. He did it so that by His GRACE we might come to be considered RIGHTEOUS by God (the Father) and become heirs, with the CERTAIN HOPE of ETERNAL LIFE.”

Paul actually also explains that the Hebrews who left Egypt with Moses were baptized in the sea and the cloud on their way to a new life! Read 1 Corinthians 10:2. It means that the Israelites by passing through the Red Sea and experiencing the cloud of God’s presence, were symbolically “baptized” into the covenant with Moses, signifying their commitment to follow and obey God’s laws.

And Peter explains it in 1 Peter 3:20-21 in terms of Noah explaining: those who were DISOBEDIENT long ago, in the DAYS OF NOAH, when God waited patiently during the building of the ark, in which a few people – to be specific eight – were delivered by means of WATER. This also prefigures what delivers us now, THE WATER OF IMMERSION (BAPTISM), which is not the removal of dirt from the body, BUT one’s PLEDGE to KEEP A GOOD CONCIENCE toward God (the Father), through the RESURECTION OF YESHUA the MESSIAH.” Baptism therefore cannot wash away our sin but it is a public declaration of FAITH an COMMITMENT to live a life pleasing to GOD – therefore following in the footsteps of our Messiah Yeshua in His obedience to the Father.

We also read a lot about baptizing believers in the Gospels as instructed by Yeshua our Messiah and the Book of Acts.

And even in the LAST CHAPTER of the WORD of GOD – Revelation 22:14 we read: “How blessed are those WHO WASH THEIR ROBES (the KJV says: do HIS COMMANDMENTS) so that they have the right to eat from the TREE of LIFE and go through the gates into the city!”

The Study Bible further explains: The underlying concept in Hebrew for TURNING from your sins to God is seen in the word T’SHUVAH (meaning TURNING/ RETURNING) with the intent of TURNING from ONE’s SINS BACK TO GOD. Each individual must make T’SHUVAH (repentance), yet it REQUIRES GOD’s GRACE to be able to do it. It is illustrated in Lamentations 5:21 saying “YHVH, turn us back to You; and we will come back; renew our days as they were in the past…” This emphasizes Israel’s hope that God will bring RETORATION. Followers of Yeshua the Messiah look to the RETURN of the LIVING TORAH/ THE WORD of YHVH, YESHUA THE MESSIAH HIMSELF who will accomplish this.

Also note that the word HEAVEN is written with a capital letter H and according to the Jewish Study Bible it is a pious avoidance of the Divine Name YHVH whereas heaven with small letter refers to the sky or to paradise.

The Afrikaans Bible in Practice confirms this when explaining: “John the Baptist makes a sudden appearance in the GOSPEL of Matthew, but chronologically speaking it was about THIRTY YEARS after the birth of Yeshua we read about in chapter two. The theme of his ministry was: TO REPENT and TURN to GOD. With that he meant that people should completely turn away from their self-centeredness and self-obsession because it leads to SINS like LIES, FRAUD, THEFT, GOSSIP, REVENGE, SLANDER and IMMORALITY. This CALL to REPENTANCE is also meant for us: We have to live as God tells us to live in His WORD. And the FIRST STEP towards GOD the Father is ADMITTING and CONFESSING OUR SINS. God then REDEEMS us and help us to live according to His will. Remember that ONLY HE is able to FREE us from our sins. But we have to TAKE THE DECISION to ENTER through the GATE (Yeshua our Messiah) into the outer court of the TABERNACLE where we find the BRONZE ALTAR where sacrifices were made, representing the CROSS of Yeshua our Messiah, who died once and for all for all mankind’s sin and we willingly lay down our flesh (the old sinful nature) to die with Him, we are buried with Him in the water of BAPTISM and we are raised into a NEW LIFE following after Him and studying the Word to get to know the WAYS of ABBA FATHER and practice obedience in our walk with Him.