Lesson 3 – The King’s Introduction
Read Matthew 3 – www.bible.com/bible/59/mat.3

God foretold the coming of Jesus through prophecy written hundreds of years before in the Old Testament. But God doesn’t give us just one chance to hear His offer of forgiveness and hope. He also provided another chance for the people of Jesus’ day to hear and pay attention to His coming – a “voice in the wilderness” just as had also been prophesied. This promised prophet was John the Baptist.

An important part of this chapter is John’s introduction to the Messiah, to prepare the way for the Messiah to begin His ministry. This might be the same as when a dignitary comes to a city to visit, there are banners and posters proclaiming his coming so people can be prepared to honor him properly. For centuries God’s people had been living under the law, but now the fulfillment of the law was coming, as we will read in Jesus’ own words in Matthew 5:17. People who had been servants or slaves to the law were about to be set free from that law. John’s words set this plan in motion.

What was John’s message? Verse 6 gives us the first look – cleansing and repentance. He called the religious leaders “snakes” in verse 7 because while they might be saying the right words, the result – fruit – of their words was the wrong kind of fruit. This type of fruit would subject the people to the judgment of God.


Jesus’ request for baptism, in verses 13-17, surprised John because he knew the Messiah did not need to be cleansed, for He had no sin and therefore no need to repent. Jesus asked John to baptize Him anyway with the baptism of consecration – a setting apart for a specific ministry. Jesus became an example for us to follow: our baptism of cleansing is performed by the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation (Titus 3:5), followed by a water-baptism of obedience to consecrate us for service to Him.

In the last few verses of this chapter we witness God’s own introduction of Jesus as the King. These verses are also a definite view of God being three Persons while yet being one – Jesus the Son comes up from the water, the heavens open and God the Father speaks to claim Jesus as His own Son, and the Spirit of God comes to rest on Jesus like a dove. If this concept of three being one could be explained, we would not need faith to trust Him.

*Where was God the Father when He spoke in this chapter? ___
*Where was God the Son when the Father spoke? ___
*Where was the Holy Spirit? ___