Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!

 

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.'"

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  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?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 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.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  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."

 

- Matthew 3:1-12 

 

 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee into Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."  Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."  Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

 

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:   "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  The wilderness of Judea, my study Bible explains, is the barren region descending from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.  The preparation for the Savior's ministry begins with John the Baptist's call to repent.  Repentance, which accompanies faith, is a complete about-face.  The word in Greek for repentance (μετάνοια/metanoia) means literally to change one's mind, or more generally, to turn around.  My study Bible says that repentance is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart, a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  It's the necessary first step in the way of the LORD.  It is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism (verse 6), and is followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change (verse 8).  

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.   According to my study Bible, John's ascetic life conformed to that of the Jewish sects such as the Essenes, who lived in the wilderness and whose purpose was to prepare for the coming Kingdom of God.  John's clothing was typical of a prophet (2 Kings 1:8).  The monastic movement in the early Church was patterned after John's manner of life.

 

 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.   My study Bible comments that the confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old Covenant and the New.  But John's baptism was a sign of repentance and the forgiveness of sins only.  It did not confer the power of total regeneration, nor adoption as a child of God, as does Christian baptism (verse 11). 

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?"  This is Matthew's introduction of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  My study Bible describes the Sadducees as members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They denied the resurrection of the dead and had no messianic hope beyond this life.  The Pharisees, it says, formed a lay religious movement centered on the study of the Law and on strict observance of its regulations.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead, and they cherished a messianic hope.  But they taught that righteousness is attained on the strength of one's works according to the Law, and that the Messiah would be only a glorious man.  John's title for them, brood of vipers, is later used by Jesus in Matthew 12:34, 23:33.   It is indicative, according to my study Bible, of their deception and malice and their being under the influence of Satan.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'"  My study Bible says that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance, a way of life that is consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life does not follow, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  Therefore, in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, there is an ax pictured chopping a fruitless tree (verse 10).  

"For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."  This warning is a play on words:  from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim).  My study Bible says that God will not admit fruitless children into God's house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.

"And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."   This fire refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11, 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22, 29:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  See also the reference to fire in the following verse.

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."  Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, which my study Bible says is the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  (See also the reference to fire above, in the previous verse).  It notes that the fire of the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), and the fire of the judgment of Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; 2:8) is one fire.  It is the same Power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless.  John says of Christ that His "sandals I am not worthy to carry."  In his culture, a slave would carry the king's sandals.  So here, as my study Bible explains it, John is declaring himself to be even lower than a slave of Jesus.  John's inability to carry Christ's sandal also has a second meaning, for to carry another's sandal once meant taking someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Here it shows that John could not have carried the responsibility of Christ, and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.

"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."  Winnowing the threshed grain from the chaff is a way of using a fan to separate the edible grain from the inedible chaff.   Still today in many countries, a woven winnowing fan, shaped like a tray, is used to toss grain such as rice into the air, where the lighter chaff will separate and the heavier, edible grain will fall into the tray.  As used by John the Baptist here, the winnowing fan is a metaphor for the divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.

It's important that we understand the use of fire for both judgment and the Holy Spirit as the same fire.  That is, it is the fire of the energies of God that both quickens and livens and builds the love of God, but also judges that which is incompatible with God's energies.  If we think of fire as pure energy, we can understand that elements are either able to stand in this energy or are burned by it.  It is a similar idea to the ancient purification of metal in fire:  that which can remain standing in the fire is the desired pure metal, while the impurities are burned away.  At the Last Supper, Jesus speaks to the disciples, saddened as He is "going away" to His Passion:  "But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'  But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:5-11).  Jesus speaks of the same Holy Spirit who will convict the world both of sin and righteousness, and of judgment.  It affirms that the holy fire of God is one; it is simply a question of what we seek in life to be "like."  Do we seek to participate in the energies of God and the life of Christ?  This is the goal for which all of the sacraments of the Church are designed, especially Baptism (including Chrismation) and the Eucharist.  We follow His commands as He has taught, so we seek to be conformed to His likeness.  And this is the way that we become "sons of God" (meaning heirs, regardless of gender) by adoption, by becoming more "like Christ."  This is salvation, and the whole of the purpose of the Incarnation, and as John the Baptist indicates, and Jesus explicitly declares in the passage from John 16, the purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  This fire is one:  it is simply a question of our acceptance or rejection of the energies of God, the gift of grace and mercy and the Holy Spirit at work in us, living and present to help to guide us through life and our prayers (Romans 8:26-27).  This gift is with us at every moment, welcoming our desire to love God, and to turn away (repent) from whatever separates us from God's love (Romans 8:35-39).