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The third chapter of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew jumps ahead several decades from chapter two: the second chapter ended with Christ as a young child, while in this He is a mature man.
The chapter begins with St. John the Baptist preaching a message of repentance in the Judean wilderness (3:1-2). His message, to repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand, fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3, that a man in the wilderness would call people to prepare the path of the Lord (3:3). St. John Chrysostom describes the saint’s fulfillment of the Holy Prophet Isaiah’s prophecy like this, “Both by the words of the prophets and by John’s own preaching, this one thing is clear: he had arrived, making a way and preparing it beforehand. John was not bestowing a gift, which was the remission of sins, but preparing beforehand the souls of those who would receive the God of all.” St. John the Baptist’s preaching is the reason why in the Orthodox Church, in addition to referring to him as “the Baptist,” we also call him “the Forerunner.”
Many Orthodox teachers see great significance in the fact that St. John lived a deeply ascetic life, wearing rough skins and eating locusts and honey (3:4). As St. Chromatius teaches, “The heavenly life and glorious humility of John are demonstrated in his way of living. He who held the world in low regard did not seek costly attire…Such a precursor ought to be the prophet of the Lord and the apostle of Christ who gave himself completely to his heavenly God and had contempt for the things of the world.”
People came from around Judea to be baptized by St. John and confess their sins. Blessed Theophylact points out an important difference between the baptisms performed by St. John and the Mystery of Holy Baptism: “They were baptized, but the baptism of John did not have the power to forgive sins; for John was only preaching repentance and brining them towards the forgiveness of sins, that is, he was guiding them to the baptism of Christ, from which there is remission of sins.”
St. Matthew makes it clear that Pharisees (lay religious leaders) and Sadducees (priests of the Temple) came to St. John and were baptized (3:7), but ultimately refused to follow his message of repentance (21:32). For this reason, the Baptist rebuked them, telling them that their status as the descendants of our Righteous Forefather Abraham was worth little if they did not repent (3:7-9); people like them who did not repent would ultimately be judged and destroyed by his Successor, Who would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (3:10-12).
Finally, Jesus came from Galilee to be baptized by St. John. This created a crisis for the prophet: “I need to be baptized by You,” he said to Christ, “and are You coming to me” (3:13-14)? Jesus responded that this needed to be done “to fulfill all righteousness” (3:15), meaning, the saints tell us, to fulfill all God’s commandments. As Christ was raised from the water, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Him. A voice from heaven was then heard saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (3:16-17).
The meaning of Christ’s baptism, which we celebrate at the Feast of Theophany on January 6th, is clearly explained in the troparion for the feast:
When You, O Lord were baptized in the Jordan / The worship of the Trinity was made manifest / For the voice of the Father bore witness to You / And called You His beloved Son. And the Spirit, in the form of a dove, Confirmed the truthfulness of His word. O Christ, our God, You have revealed Yourself / And have enlightened the world, glory to You!
