Back in 2013, I started writing out chapters from Matthew, but finished off at chapter 2, I think. Interestingly enough, chapter 3 contains a verse which (to me anyway) is very significant in tying things together. Ok, so here we go:
Matthew 3
1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Wait a minute. Who is this guy? And if he's bringing people to God, why isn't he doing it at the temple? What's he doing out in the wilderness? What's with that?
Everybody's talking about this guy! Of course, the priests hear about it and probably want to find out what's going on. Is it some new cult? So, they probably sent out spies to check up on him.
John 1:19 says," ...the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?" They still didn't get it when he told them he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
HOWEVER... if they had read their Torah (Old Testament) they would have found him right in there, prophesied about in the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
It really seems to me now that "the wrath to come" is the Wrath of God poured out in the end. Here's John the Baptist warning ---not the common people, not the little guys, but the "holy" men, the Pharisees and Sadducees. No doubt he is questioning their motives for coming out into the wilderness all dressed up in their finery to get baptized. Why would they get baptized unless they accepted this wild-looking wilderness hippy as a sort of prophet?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: (John is telling them it's not enough to get water on yourself. You need to have a heart-change.)
9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. (We cannot trust in flesh and blood, no matter who our ancestors are.)
10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
12 Whose fan is in His hand, and He will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
(Again, he's referring to the Wrath of God here as seen in Revelation 14:16.)
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered Him. (Jesus had human flesh from his mother. There was that human part of Him that had to learn obedience to His Father. In getting baptized, he was obeying God and also setting an example for others.)
16 And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
If any of the Sanhedrin heard that, it should have struck awe into their hearts. Nicodemus was one of the Pharisees that believed in Jesus.
The reason this is significant is because, when the Jews of Jesus's day missed the meaning of their holy books and didn't connect the dots that proved without a doubt that He is the Messiah, they missed a lot. They missed out on salvation by grace. They continued to hold onto their laws and temple worship and to teach their children that Jesus Christ was an impostor. Nowadays, when asked, "Who is Jesus to you?" they will answer that He is the "God of the Christians". How sad for them.
That is why Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Luke 19
41 And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
And THAT, my friends, is why God has to judge Jerusalem. She didn't know the "time of her visitation", the time when her Messiah came.
Though, of course, some Jews did know; mainly the twelve disciples of Jesus and many others, including Saul, who persecuted Christians but then became one.
Many Christians have been duped into believing that the Jewish religion should be reverenced and even follow the Jewish "Holy Days". These so-called Holy days do not exist any more in the eyes of God. And their sacrifices are a stench in the nostrils of God, sorry to say.
When Jesus died, the veil of the temple was ripped from the top to the bottom. It was a demonstration that the body of Christ, torn for us, is now the way into the "Holy of Holies" and "it is finished". The final and great sacrifice has been made.
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