Matthew Chapter 3- Matthew 3 introduces two key figures: John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind.
It begins by describing John as a man who lives in the wilderness, wears animal skins, eats locust, all whilst proclaiming the name of and preparing a way for the One to come, Jesus Christ. It then goes on to describe the baptism of Jesus Christ. Some interesting notes on Mat. Ch 3:
Matthew uses the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven" whereas the rest of the gospel writers use "Kingdom of God". This shows that Matthews primary audience was Jewish since they would have been more sensitive to (and offended by) the phrase "Kingdom of God".
John the Baptist’s followers were mainly Jewish; furthermore, the baptism he offered them was not quite the same in its symbolism or meaning as the later Christian baptism. JM notes that the Jewish people who did repent and get baptized were taking a big step of humility; it was normally only Gentile converts to Judaism that participated in this ritual of baptism. Also, early baptism was a symbol of repentance, whereas current Christian baptism is a public proclamation of one’s desire to follow Christ as well as a symbol of his death, burial and resurrection.
When Jesus was baptized by John, he was doing so to show that he identified with sinners and would one day take upon Himself the sin of all mankind, past, present and future. It is also one of the first times the reader sees all three persons of the Holy Trinity in one place at one time (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit).
