In the third chapter of Matthew, Matthew fast forwards in Jesus' life about 30 years, to the very beginning of his ministry. He doesn't mention a great deal about the years in between for the simple reason that they are not crucial in knowing who Jesus is and having a personal relationship with him. What we know about those in-between years is that he spent them working as a carpenter, living with his family. At some time during these years Joseph passed away; he is never mentioned during the ministry of Jesus.

Matthew 3 begins with an introduction of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was an preacher who lived in the wilderness, ate locusts and wild honey, and preached repentance.

John the Baptist did something unique: he baptized Jews. Jews were familiar with the rite of baptism, but it was only for proselytes who were converting to Judaism from another religion. Baptism symbolized the washing away of their old, sinful, pagan selves as they accepted a new life as a child of the one true God. Jews didn't believe they needed to be baptized, because they were already children of God. John, however, emphasized that we are all sinners, that we all have need of repentance, no matter what our racial heritage is.

John was an extremely popular preacher at this time. Huge crowds came out to hear him speak, and scholars estimate that he baptized tens of thousands of people.

Also, it's clear to see that John the Baptist was no Tony Robbins. When some Pharisees came to hear him speak, he didn't flatter them with a warm welcome. ("Well, we're glad to see we have some Pharisees visiting with us today. We'd like to welcome you to the wilderness. We hope you enjoy our service today.")

Instead, he said …

(v. 7-8) "You brood of snakes. Who warned you to flee God's judgment? Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God."

John the Baptist spoke harsh words to those who needed to hear harsh words, but that wasn't the entirety of his message. As a matter of fact, he saw himself primarily as a forerunner to the Messiah. In the gospel of John, when John was asked if he was the Messiah, he said, "No," and then quoted Isaiah's prophecy about him, saying,

"I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare a straight pathway for the Lord's coming!'" (John 1:23)

John's message was "The Messiah is coming! Get ready!" In Matthew 3 he says,

(v. 11) "I baptize with water those who turn from their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming who is far greater than I am—so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave."

This is how John described the coming Messiah:

(v. 11-12) "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, storing the grain in his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire."

If you've never worked on a farm, these references to chaff and grain may not be easy to understand, but we'll explain them further in a few minutes.

John's words in Matthew 3 tell us what you can expect from the Messiah … what he will do in your life. There are three things he shows us. First of all …

1. He will give you power.

John said,

(v. 11) He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The concept of God living in a person was not a familiar concept at this time in history … it's not an Old Testament doctrine. It was understood in those days that God's Spirit would come upon one of God's prophets as he prophesied or as he performed a mighty work, but it was a temporary experience. The Spirit would come and go. The idea of being filled with the Holy Spirit as it is taught in the New Testament was foreign to them. For centuries, however, the Old Testament prophets had been predicting a time when God's Spirit would dwell in people in a new way…

And I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children. (Isaiah 44:3)

I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command. (Ezekiel 36:27)

I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live …(Ezekiel 37:14)

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. (Joel 2:28)

God promised in the Old Testament that there would come a time when he would make the power of the Holy Spirit available to everyone. John the Baptist said that promise would come true through the Messiah.

John said, "He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit." The word baptize means immerse. It means to dip into, or to plunge. When someone who is baptized by immersion in water, they become completely wet. In the same way, when someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit, they become completely "drenched" by the Holy Spirit.

John is saying, "There will come a time when men don't have to live life in their own power, for the Spirit of God will be living through them."

After his resurrection, when Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to his followers, he said,

But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power …(Acts 1:8)

The mark of the Holy Spirit's presence in your life is power, and it is available to everyone. Jesus came to give us the Holy Spirit's power.

You may ask, "How do I receive it?" You receive it by asking for it. Jesus said,

"If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more with your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." (Luke 11:13)

To receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, you pray a prayer: "Lord fill me with your Spirit." It's a prayer that says, "Lord, I don't want to go my way, I want to go your way. I don't want to live by my power, I want to live by your power."

It's a simple prayer, but it involves three things:

Repentance, which is turning from sin.
Submission, which is yielding yourself to God.
Faith, which is trusting God to fill you.

Jesus came into the world so that we could experience the fullness of God in our lives … the fullness of his presence, the fullness of his power. That's what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And that's what John said the Messiah would come to do.

John also said …

2. He will make you pure.

John said …

(v. 11) He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

What does he mean by the statement, "He will baptize you with fire"? What does fire represent? It represents, primarily, purification. Metal is purified by fire, so are our lives.

Paul made reference to this in 1 Corinthians.

For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames. (1 Corinthians 3:11-16)

When John promises the baptism of fire, he is promising God's work in your life to make you pure. He is saying the ministry of the Messiah will be to cleanse your life of everything that is not pleasing to God.

John uses a further example. He says …

(v. 12) "He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, storing the grain in his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire."

This metaphor may not be easy for us to understand, but it was clear to all who heard John speak it. When grain is harvested, it includes impurities, called "chaff". Grain farmers would use a tool called a winnowing fan, which was like a big shovel. They would scoop up the grain and chaff that was on the threshing floor and toss it into the air. Grain is heavy and would fall to the ground. Chaff is light, so it would be blown away by the wind.

John says that is the work the Messiah will do in your life. He will separate the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad, the meaningful from the significant.

Some people may interpret this as a threat, but I see it as a promise. Jesus wants to clean up your life. He wants to get rid of everything that is useless and harmful, so that you are pure and holy. You can't make bread from chaff. If you want your bread to be worth eating, the grain must be good. You have to eliminate the chaff.

In the same way, if you want your life to produce good results, you have to get rid of the chaff. You have to get rid of the impurities.

Hardly a day goes by that I don't ask God to burn away everything in my life that is preventing me from being who he wants me to be, and doing what he wants me to do. I welcome the baptism by fire, because I know God is using it to make me pure. He's using it to get rid of everything that is holding me back. This includes sin, mixed-up priorities, religious superficiality, and anything else that doesn't conform my life to his will.

Jesus came into this world so that his followers could become pure. He came so that could escape the foolishness of dead religion, of selfish ambition, of destructive relationships. He wants to cleanse you of all that so that you will be free to serve him with a pure heart.

There is a third thing we see in Matthew 3.

3. He will provide a path to follow.

Jesus came to John to be baptized. Do you wonder why? John was preaching a baptism of repentance, but Jesus didn't need to repent. He was without sin. He didn't need God's forgiveness. Why did he come to John to be baptized?

Even John recognized this contradiction. He said,

(v. 13) "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you … why are you coming to me?"

Jesus answered him by saying,

(v.15) "It must be done, because we must do everything that is right."

Another translations says,

(v. 15) "It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." (NIV)

Jesus was baptized by John to endorse (so to speak) John's message, so that we might identify with it as well. John's message was one of repentance. It is a message we all need to hear and obey.

As I mentioned earlier, it wasn't customary in those days for Jews to be baptized. They didn't believe they had any reason to be baptized—they were already God's children. But John taught that everyone—both Jews and non-Jews—are separated from God by sin. Jesus was saying, "My act of obedience is an example for us all. Follow my example."

The baptism of Jesus was also a public initiation for his ministry. After he was baptized the Spirit of God descended on him and a voice from heaven said,

(v. 17) "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him."

God's words made it clear to everyone: Jesus is the one whom we should follow. He is the way.

Later in his ministry, one of the disciples of Jesus asked him, "How can we know the way?" Jesus answered him by saying,

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Jesus the Messiah is our path to God. We are to follow his example, we're to follow his teachings … we're to follow him.

Conclusion

Jesus came into this world to be the Messiah. Your Messiah. Your savior. He wants to fill your life with power by filling you with the Holy Spirit. He wants to make you pure by burning away all the chaff, all the impurities, all the things that hold you back. And he wants to give you a path to follow. A path that leads to eternal life. That's something only the son of God can do, and that's who he is. He's the son of God. He's the Messiah. Let him be your Messiah.

Steve May has been a pastor to pastors for more than 20 years, helping preachers and teachers to become more effective communicators of the gospel.