1; In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2; And saying "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!
3; For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.
The wilderness of Judea is a barren region descending from Jerusalem to the Dead sea. The preparation for the Saviors ministry begins with John the Baptists call to repentance.
Repentance, which accompanies faith, is a total about--face. The word in Greek literally means to change one's mind, or more generally to turn around. Repentance is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart. A complete reorientation of the whole of one's life, it is accompanied by the confession of our sins, and the act of baptism, and is followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change.
Matthew 3:5-12;
5; Then all Jerusalem, all Judea and all the region around the Jordan went out to him.
6; And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
7; But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of Vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8; Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.
9; And do not think to say to yourselves; we have Abraham as our father: for I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones,
10; And even now the ax is laid to the root of trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11; I indeed baptizewith water unto repentance, but He who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry, He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12; His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; But He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Repentance, Confession, and Baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance, a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God. If a fruitful life does not follow, sacramental acts, and spiritual discipline are useless. Thus in many icons of the baptism of Christ, an ax is pictured chopping down a fruitless tree, unquenchable fire refers to divine judgement.
Christ's Baptism in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power and Grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at Baptism.
In John's culture a slave would carry the kings sandals; thus John declares himself to be lower than a slave compared to Jesus. John's inability to carry Christ's sandals has a second meaning also, for carrying another's sandals once meant taking on someone else's responsibility, here it shows that John could not have carried the responsibility that Christ would have to carry, and that the Law could not have redeemed the world as Christ has come to do.
"THE BAPTISM OF JESUS"
Matthew 3:13-17; is the baptism of Jesus and leads to the beginning of His ministry.
13; Then Jesus come from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
14; And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and you are coming to me?
15; But Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so now, for this is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness, then John allowed Him.
16; when He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; And behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him.
17; And suddenly a voice came from heaven which said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased".
After this Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After 40 days in the wilderness Jesus come from Galilee to begin His ministry. From that time He began to preach and say, "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."
The first major teaching of Jesus that we have recorded is called The Sermon on the Mount, and starts with the Beatitudes, and is written in Matthew chapters 5---7, and this is where we begin our teachings of Discipleship.
The first step to becoming a Disciple of Christ is of course, belief in the only begotten Son of God, followed by Repentance, Confession,and Baptism, once this has been fulfilled, one can start learning and following the ways of Christ, and began to live in the manner in which God intend
