Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Matthew
Book: Matthew
Chapter: 3
Overview:
John the Baptist, His preaching, manner of
Life, and
Baptism.
(1-6) John reproves the
Pharisees and
Sadducees.
(7-12) The
Baptism of
Jesus.
(13-17)
1-6 After
Malachi there was
No Prophet until
John the Baptist
came. He appeared first in the
Wilderness of
Judea. This was not
an uninhabited
Desert, but a part of the country not thickly
peopled, nor much enclosed.
No place is
So remote as to shut us
out from the visits of Divine
Grace. The doctrine he preached
was
Repentance; "Repent ye." The
Word here used, implies a total
alteration in the mind, a change in the
Judgment, disposition,
and affections, another and a better bias of the soul. Consider
your ways, change your minds: you have thought amiss; think
again, and think aright. True penitents have other thoughts of
God and
Christ,
Sin and
Holiness, of this world and the other,
than they had. The change of the mind produces a change of the
way. That is
Gospel Repentance, which flows from a sight of
Christ, from a sense of his
Love, and from hopes of
Pardon and
forgiveness through him. It is a great encouragement to us to
repent; repent, for your sins shall be pardoned upon your
Repentance. Return to
God in a way of duty, and he will, through
Christ, return unto you in the way of
Mercy. It is still as
necessary to repent and humble ourselves, to prepare the way of
the
Lord, as it then was. There is a great
Deal to be done, to
make way for
Christ into a soul, and nothing is more needful
than the discovery of
Sin, and a conviction that we cannot be
saved
By our own
Righteousness. The way of
Sin and
Satan is a
crooked way; but to prepare a way for
Christ, the paths must be
made straight, Heb 12:13. Those whose business it is to
Call
others to
Mourn for
Sin, and to mortify it, ought themselves to
live a serious
Life, a
Life of self-denial, and contempt of the
world.
By giving others this
Example,
John made way for
Christ.
Many came to
John's Baptism, but few kept to the profession they
made. There may be many forward hearers, where there are few
true believers. Curiosity, and
Love for novelty and variety, may
bring many to attend
On good preaching, and to be affected for a
while, who never are subject to the power of it. Those who
received
John's doctrine, testified their
Repentance By
confessing their sins. Those only are ready to receive
Jesus
Christ as their
Righteousness, who are brought with sorrow and
shame to own their guilt. The benefits of the kingdom of
Heaven,
now at
Hand, were thereupon sealed to them
By Baptism.
John
washed them with water, in token that
God would cleanse them
from all their iniquities, thereby intimating, that
By nature
and practice all were polluted, and could not be admitted among
the people of
God, unless washed from their sins in the
Fountain
Christ was to open, Zec 13:1.
7-12 To make application to the souls of the hearers, is the
Life of preaching;
So it was of
John's preaching. The
Pharisees
laid their chief stress
On outward observances, neglecting the
weightier matters of the moral
Law, and the spiritual meaning of
their legal ceremonies. Others of them were detestable
hypocrites, making their pretences to
Holiness a
Cloak for
iniquity. The
Sadducees ran into the opposite extreme, denying
the existence of spirits, and a future state. They were the
scornful infidels of that time and country. There is a wrath to
come. It is the great concern of every one to flee from that
wrath.
God, who delights not in our ruin, has warned us; he
warns
By the written
Word,
By ministers,
By Conscience. And
those are not worthy of the name of penitents, or their
privileges, who say they are sorry for their sins, yet persist
in them. It becomes penitents to be humble and low in their own
eyes, to be thankful for the least
Mercy, patient under the
greatest affliction, to be watchful against all appearances of
Sin, to abound in every duty, and to be charitable in judging
others. Here is a
Word of caution, not to trust in outward
privileges. There is a great
Deal which
Carnal hearts are apt to
say within themselves, to
Put aside the convincing, commanding
power of the
Word of God. Multitudes,
By resting in the honours
and mere advantages of their being members of an outward
Church,
come short of
Heaven. Here is a
Word of terror to the careless
and secure. Our corrupt hearts cannot be made to produce good
Fruit, unless the regenerating
Spirit of
Christ Graft the good
Word of God upon them. And every tree, however high in
Gifts and
honours, however green in outward professions and performances,
if it bring not forth good
Fruit, the fruits meet for
Repentance, is hewn down and cast into the
Fire of
God's wrath,
the fittest place for
Barren trees: what else are they good for?
If not fit for
Fruit, they are fit for
Fuel.
John shows the
design and intention of
Christ's appearing, which they were now
speedily to expect.
No outward forms can make us
Clean.
No
ordinances,
By whomsoever administered, or after whatever mode,
can supply the want of the
Baptism of the
Holy Ghost and of
Fire. The purifying and cleansing power of the Holy
Spirit alone
can produce that purity of
Heart, and those holy affections,
which accompany
Salvation. It is
Christ who baptizes with the
Holy Ghost. This he did in the extraordinary
Gifts of the
Spirit
sent upon the apostles, Ac 2:4. This he does in the graces and
comforts of the
Spirit, given to those that ask him, Lu 11:13;
Joh 7:38,39; see Ac 11:16. Observe here, the outward
Church
is
Christ's floor, Isa 21:10. True believers are as
Wheat,
substantial, useful, and valuable; hypocrites are as
Chaff,
Light and empty, useless and worthless, carried about with every
wind; these are mixed, good and bad, in the same outward
Communion. There is a
Day coming when the
Wheat and
Chaff shall
be separated. The last
Judgment will be the distinguishing
Day,
when saints and sinners shall be parted for ever. In
Heaven the
saints are brought together, and
No longer scattered; they are
safe, and
No longer exposed; separated from corrupt neighbours
without, and corrupt affections within, and there is
No Chaff
among them.
Hell is the unquenchable
Fire, which will certainly
be the portion and
Punishment of hypocrites and unbelievers.
Here
Life and
Death, good and evil, are set before us: according
as we now are in the
Field, we shall be then in the floor.
13-17 Christ's gracious condescensions are
So surprising, that
even the strongest believers at first can hardly believe them;
So Deep and mysterious, that even those who know his mind
Well,
are apt to start objections against the will of
Christ. And
those who have much of the
Spirit of
God while here, see that
they need to apply to
Christ for more.
Christ does not deny that
John had need to be baptized of him, yet declares he will now be
baptized of
John.
Christ is now in a state of humiliation. Our
Lord Jesus looked upon it as
Well becoming him to fulfil all
Righteousness, to own every Divine institution, and to show his
readiness to comply with all
God's righteous precepts. In and
through
Christ, the heavens are opened to the children of men.
This descent of the
Spirit upon
Christ, showed that he was
endued with his sacred influences without
Measure. The
Fruit of
the
Spirit is
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
Goodness,
Faith,
Meekness, temperance. At
Christ's
Baptism there
was a manifestation of the three Persons in the sacred
Trinity.
The
Father confirming the Son to be
Mediator; the Son solemnly
entering upon the work; the Holy
Spirit descending
On him, to be
through his mediation communicated to his people. In Him our
spiritual sacrifices are acceptable, for He is the
Altar that
sanctifies every
Gift, 1Pe 2:5. Out of
Christ,
God is a
consuming
Fire, but in
Christ, a reconciled
Father. This is the
sum of the
Gospel, which we must
By Faith cheerfully embrace.