Baptism in The Bible - Putting Baptism into Context through Matthew Chapter 3

This current scripture is the first direct mention of baptism in the entire Word of God. By using the expression “In those days”, the writer Matthew is placing his account into it’s historical context. He is furthermore telling his contemporaries about time that had since gone bye, and was most likely giving his account to his audience a prolonged spell following the actions that he reports. To learn about those days Matthew is telling his audience about, we should study the earlier chapters.

In the beginning of his gospel, the author Matthew brands it “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1v1). At this point Matthew tells us his ambition - to prove The Lord Jesus Christ as a real human being that lived at a given time, was born to specific mother and father, and had the office and position of “Christ”, the anointed Messiah or Saviour. The rest of chapter one tells us about the forebears of Jesus, and also a brief description of how Mary got pregnant: “she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 1v18)

It is within chapter 2 that we commence to witness the exact events that Matthew makes use of in order to locate his gospel into a chronological period. The historical events here include:
· Jesus was born in Bethlehem (King David’s historical home) “in the days of Herod the king” (Matthew 2v1)
· Wise men came out of the east toward Jerusalem, wanting to know “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2v1-2)
· The wise men journeyed because, in their words, “we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (Matthew 2v2)
· King Herod asked the wise men at what instance the heavenly body did appear (Matthew 2v7) and discovered that it had been nearly 2 years previously (Matthew 2v16). It is probable nonetheless that he overestimated in an effort to make sure that the baby Jesus was killed, thinking that the heavenly body had actually appeared at His conception around nine months earlier.
· Herod the king sent out an order with the purpose of all of the children less than the age of two in Bethlehem and all of it's adjoining countryside must be slaughtered. This was his attempt in order to make sure that specifically one baby, Jesus, was also murdered. (Matthew 2v16)
· After the call of the wise men, Joseph took Mary and the newborn child to Egypt in a rush, seeing that he had been warned in relation to Herod the king's strategy through an angel. (Matthew 2v13-14)
· Whilst Joseph, Mary and Jesus had been living in Egypt, King Herod died so Joseph was advised to come back toward Israel together with “the young child”. (Matthew 2v19-20)
· When Herod the king died, his son Archelaus ruled Judaea instead. (Matthew 2v22)

Unmistakably, the author Matthew locates the events in the time of the Lord Jesus Christ within the situation of who was ruling Judaea, and a few of the things that they had ordered. This would most probably locate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ to within a small number of days or weeks from the instruction that Herod the king had given in order to ensure him in addition to any other babies in and round about Bethlehem slaughtered. It is likely that several of Matthew’s readers had lost a infant, brother or sister at some stage in this moment in time and may well connect the report of Matthew straight to events inside their individual family. It was into these time in the reader's past that John the Baptist had arrived, preaching as well as baptising.

John the Baptist was not preaching inside the temple or synagogues, but in the wilds. Perhaps he was banned in the temple for one reason or another - the most probable reason was the message that he produced. For extra confirmation of this, notice also v7 3.

Let us look at the message that he taught, which is set up within the few scriptures which go after the present one:

· Repentance was commanded to every one (v2)
· The “kingdom of heaven” was at hand - about to be exposed (v2)
· John the Baptist saw his peculiar ministry having the function of laying the groundwork in support of the ministry of the Jesus, sowing the soil, getting the whole thing prepared, and making His path a little easier. (v3)

Without a doubt, right from the commencement of the scriptural writings of baptism, repentance from sinful behavior was trapped within the teaching of baptism. This idea of repentance and baptism was laying the groundwork for each individual that received the message for the future ministry of the Lord Jesus.

Article Source: http://gamblingarticlessite.com

MJ Anderson All quotations from the Good News Bible unless otherwise indicated. MJ Anderson writes on Baptism, and has also written a book studying each of the 91 verses of scripture about baptism. The book is called "Baptism's 91 Witnesses", and further information can be found at www.91witnesses.com MJ Anderson also writes on Natural Health Treatments and Nutritional Supplements. Thyroid websites include NaturalThyroidTreatment.org/ and ThyroidBooster.net/

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