Matthew 3

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:9

And . An additional warning against any false feeling of security based on natural privileges. As this feeling was common to all Jews, the reference to the larger audience ( Matthew 3:7 , note) was probably begun here. Think not to say . Not do not think, consider, with a view to saying; but do not think it right to say, do not be of opinion you may say ( Luke 3:8 , "Begin not to say ). St. Luke deprecates the commencement of such an utterance in their heart; S t. Matthew denies... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:9

The subtlety of self-deceptions. The Jews always were, and still are, remarkable for their pride of race; for their confidence of acceptance with God on the simple ground of their Abrahamic relations. And there was a certain amount of reasonable ground for such pride. The Abrahamic was a privileged race; it did stand in a special covenant with God. But, in a subtle way, this merely outward relationship had come to be used as an excuse for neglecting personal piety. Their relation to God was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:9-10

The axe at the root. Here we have an insight into the method of John the Baptist. We see how he led his hearers to repentance. He found them too often soothing their consciences in a false security, and quite blind to the danger that threatened them. So he set to work first to destroy the false security and then to reveal the imminent danger. I. A GREAT DELUSION . ( Matthew 3:9 .) 1 . Its excuse . The Jews prided themselves in their pedigree. They were Abraham's children, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:10

And now also ; Revised Version, and even now. "And" ( δὲ ), slightly adversative. In contrast to the delay supposed in Matthew 3:9 a , preparations have already been made for your destruction. The axe is laid ; Revised Version, is the axe laid ; bringing out more emphatically its present position. The American Revisers propose, "the axe lieth at," avoiding the suggestion of an agent; but κεῖμαι often implies one, being used of vessels set ready for use; e.g. John... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:11

(Cf, especially John 1:27 ; Acts 13:25 ; also Acts 19:4 .) After our Matthew 3:10 St. Luke inserts details of the various kinds of fruit that repentance ought to produce, suggested by the questions of different portions of the Baptist's audience; and then, with an explanatory note that John's words were due to a misconception having arisen that he was himself the Messiah, he adds what we have in verses 11, 12. But even if verses 10-12 were, in fact, not said consecutively, yet their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:11

The two baptisms. John here contrasts himself and his work with Christ and the work of Christ. We cannot but be struck with the humility and the discernment of the Baptist. Thus he reveals himself as true to his mission; he is but the forerunner, preparing the way of the Lord. I. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE ADMINISTRATORS . John was regarded as the great prophet of his day; yet he considered himself to be infinitely inferior to the coming Christ. Wherein were the great differences... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:11

The twofold baptism. The author of 'Ecce Homo'suggests the distinction between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus, which John himself puts in such strong contrast. "Christ was to baptize with a Holy Spirit' and with fire. John felt his own baptism to have something cold and negative about it. It was a renouncing of definite bad practices. The soldier bound himself to refrain from violence; the tax-gatherer, from extortion. But more than this was wanting. It was necessary that an... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:12

Whose fan . The pronged winnowing-fork which throws up the grain against the wind. The Coming One is to put an end to the present mixture of chaff and corn. He will thoroughly purge the threshing-floor of this world, gathering the good into one safe place, and destroying the evil. The figure of winnowing comes not unseldom in the Old Testament (e.g. Jeremiah 15:7 ; Jeremiah 51:2 ), but generally with the sole idea of destruction of the ungodly, not with that of separating so as to also... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:12

Christ's unquenchable fire. It is not possible to think that John could have referred to what we call "hell-fire"—the punishment-fires of the next life. And we need have no definite opinions concerning the nature of that fire in order to understand John's figure here. Speaking of Messiah's actual present work in souls, he calls it a "baptism of fire," and he further remarks on its severity and continuity. His baptism of water was but of a temporary and symbolical character. Christ's... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 3:13

Then ; temporal ( Matthew 3:5 , note). When John was preaching and baptizing. Cometh (verse 1, note). From Galilee . Mark adds, "from Nazareth of Galilee" (for this is his first historical mention of our Lord), thereby implying that our Lord had lived in Nazareth since our Matthew 2:22 , etc. In contrast to the representative teachers from Jerusalem, and the crowds both from there and from the Jordan valley ( Matthew 2:5 ), this Stranger came from Galilee. To Jordan . It is hard... read more

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