Malachi 3
Matthew 3 records John the Baptist’s ministry and the event of Jesus’ baptism before Jesus’ public ministry begins in earnest. This chapter can be reviewed in three main movements. First, the appearance of John the Baptist and the message of repentance he proclaims (verses 1–6). Second, John’s guidance on true repentance and his warning to the Pharisees and Sadducees (verses 7–12). Third, the scene in which Jesus is baptized (verses 13–17).
1verse“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me! The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Behold, the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, is coming!” says the LORD of Armies.
2verse“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap;
3verseand he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to the LORD offerings in righteousness.
4verseThen the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the LORD as in the days of old and as in ancient years.
5verseI will come near to you to judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don’t fear me,” says the LORD of Armies.
6verse“For I, the LORD, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
7verseFrom the days of your fathers you have turned away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
8verseWill a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.
9verseYou are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation.
10verseBring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says the LORD of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be enough room for.
11verseI will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,” says the LORD of Armies.
12verse“All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says the LORD of Armies.
13verse“Your words have been harsh against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’
14verseYou have said, ‘It is vain to serve God,’ and ‘What profit is it that we have followed his instructions and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of Armies?
15verseNow we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’
16verseThen those who feared the LORD spoke one with another; and the LORD listened and heard, and a book of memory was written before him for those who feared the LORD and who honored his name.
17verseThey shall be mine,” says the LORD of Armies, “my own possession in the day that I make. I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.
18verseThen you shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves God and him who doesn’t serve him.
John the Baptist’s Ministry and Message
John the Baptist is presented as the one who fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet of the Old Testament (Isaiah 40:3), proclaiming in the wilderness the message, “Repent,” and urges people to recognize their sins and turn back. Along with warnings about the coming kingdom of God, John’s message is a call to acknowledge one’s guilt and change one’s life. Many people confessed their sins and received baptism in the Jordan River. This shows how inner transformation (repentance) is revealed through outward actions (baptism).
A Warning to the Pharisees and Sadducees
When John the Baptist saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he rebuked their attitudes. He emphasized that they should bear “fruits worthy of repentance,” and said that they need true repentance and a life that has changed, not their ancestry or outward status.
Jesus’ Baptism and God’s Voice
The scene in which Jesus is baptized is the climax of Matthew 3. Jesus, who was without sin, says that receiving baptism in the Jordan River was to fulfill all righteousness; this shows a model of obedience to God’s will. At the moment of baptism, the heavens open, the Holy Spirit comesss down like a dove, and “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” is heard as God’s voice. This confirms that Jesus’ identity and his ministry are God’s delight.
Meditation Points
- How are you receiving the message of “repentance” proclaimed by John?
- Let’s examine whether your faith is leaning too much toward outward actions, and whether true change is taking place within you.
- Through the scene of Jesus’ baptism, let’s reflect on the meaning of the “kingdom of God” coming to this earth.
Apply It to Yourself
- Let’s check whether you set aside time to repent and turn back every day in your place of life.
- Let’s also examine our attitude toward those we have kept at a distance or judged too easily, and make a decision to bear fruit in life that has been changed, just as John’s words urge.
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