This current scripture is the opening direct reference to baptism within the whole Word of God. By utilising the turn of phrase “In those days”, Matthew is placing his account into it’s chronological situation. He is additionally revealing to his contemporaries about years that had since gone bye, and was most likely writing to his readers a prolonged spell subsequent to the events that he records. In order to understand which days Matthew is telling his contemporaries about, we must examine the preceding chapters.
In the beginning of his gospel, the Aposple Matthew brands it “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1v1). Here Matthew states his target - to reveal The Lord Jesus Christ as a genuine human being who lived at a certain stage, was born to specific parents, and had the ministry and prominence of “Christ”, the anointed Messiah or Saviour. The balance of chapter one talks of the forebears of Jesus, and also a brief report of how Mary became pregnant: “she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 1v18)
It is within chapter 2 that we begin to perceive the precise events that Matthew makes use of so that we can put his gospel into a historical period. The historical events here include:
· Jesus was given birth to in Bethlehem (King David’s historical home) “in the days of Herod the king” (Matthew 2v1)
· Wise men came out of the east headed for Jerusalem, wanting to know “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2v1-2)
· The wise men journeyed for the reason that, in their words, “we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (Matthew 2v2)
· Herod asked the wise men at what instant the star did appear (Matthew 2v7) and found that it had been as long as two years previously (Matthew 2v16). It is likely nevertheless that he overcompensated in an effort to ensure that the baby Jesus was killed, thinking that the heavenly body had in fact appeared on His conception roughly nine months earlier.
· King Herod sent out the instruction with the aim of every one of the children under the age of 2 in Bethlehem in addition to the whole of it's surrounding rural area ought to be murdered. This was his attempt in order to make sure that merely a single infant, Jesus, was also murdered. (Matthew 2v16)
· After the visit of the wise men, Joseph transported Mary along with the baby Jesus toward Egypt in a hurry, seeing that he had been warned about Herod's strategy by an angel. (Matthew 2v13-14)
· Whilst Joseph, Mary and Jesus had been living in Egypt, King Herod died and Joseph was instructed to return in the direction of Israel together with “the young child”. (Matthew 2v19-20)
· When Herod had died, his son Archelaus ruled Judaea instead. (Matthew 2v22)
Undoubtedly, the aposple Matthew locates the events within the years of the Lord Jesus Christ within the perspective of who was ruling Judaea, along with a few of their achievements. This would almost certainly put the birth of the baby Jesus to within a few days or weeks of the directive that king Herod had given in order to ensure him along with any further children living in and around Bethlehem murdered. It is likely that some of Matthew’s readers had lost a infant, brother or sister throughout this instant and may possibly associate the report of Matthew immediately to situations in their own family unit. It was into these time in their past that John the Baptist had arrived, preaching in addition to baptising.
John the Baptist was not teaching inside the temple or synagogues, but in the wilds. Maybe he was not wanted inside the temple for some reason - the most possible reason was the preaching that he introduced. To see more evidence of this, see moreover v7 3.
Shall we see the message that he preached, as found within the small number of scriptures that go after the current one:
· Repentance was commanded to everyone (v2)
· The “kingdom of heaven” was at hand - just about to be exposed (v2)
· John the Baptist saw his peculiar ministry having the function of laying the foundations for the ministry of the Jesus, sowing the soil, getting everything geared up, and making His path a little less difficult. (v3)
Undoubtedly, precisely from the start of the scriptural writings of baptism, repentance from sinful habits was trapped within the message of baptism. This idea of repentance and baptism was preparing each individual that heard the preaching for the imminent ministry of the Lord Jesus.
Author Resource:
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 http://www.91witnesses.com
MJ Anderson also writes on Natural Health Treatments and Nutritional Supplements.
Thyroid websites include http://www.NaturalThyroidTreatment.org/ and http://www.ThyroidBooster.net/
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