Jesus will not begin his ministry for about a month, but John has been preaching in the wilderness for at least several months.  In the weeks (or likely months) before our study begins, John has been preaching in the wilderness and baptizing at the Jordan River.  He is attracting quite a crowd. Matthew 3:3 tells us:

“For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

Now Matthew has just quoted a passage from his scriptures  (his scriptures being what we call the Old Testament),  He expects us to know this passage so that we will understand why he placed it here.  Unfortunately, Matthew’s modern readers are not as familiar with the Scriptures as were religious students in his day.  Many in the first century had much of the Scriptures committed to memory.  (It is amazing what you can learn and commit to memory when you don’t have to set aside time for Netflix.)   Since there were no chapter or verse numbers, it was common practice for teachers to quote a single verse to bring to mind the full passage for the students.¹ So unless you are aware of the background and full passage Matthew is referring to, then you need to spend some time catching up.  

Let’s back up to Isaiah 39:5 to get the background.

Is. 39:5-7   Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.  And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 

So bad news for the future delivered to the current King, Hezekiah²:  Babylon will conquer Israel and carry off everything and everyone.  But then Isaiah has good news:

Is. 40:1-5    Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

So further into the future, warfare will end and Israel will have paid for her sins and be pardoned.  The punishment of exile will not be forever.  And then more good news for even further into the future.  God himself is going to show up, his glory is going to be revealed. John the Baptist is this voice crying in the wilderness.  He was also predicted by the prophet Malachi.

Mal. 3:1   “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 

Malachi tells us God’s messenger is coming and then God is going to finally return to his temple.  (In case you missed it in Ezekiel, because of the accumulation of years of sin, the temple had become so defiled that God decided he had to leave it.  So the presence of God left the temple, and God did not return his presence to the temple when it was rebuilt after the exile.)  So Israel waits… for almost 500 years, for God to “suddenly return” to his temple.

Hear the good news of John:  God himself is coming here… to us!!!  But John’s message is one of preparation.  As we prepare to spend 70 weeks walking through Jesus’ ministry, we next look at the core of John’s message — repentance.

1. As an example of this method to refer to scripture, Jesus, on the cross wants his few faithful followers present to think about Psalm 22 to reassure them in this horrible moment.  Today we could just call out “Psalm 22”, but not in Jesus’ day.  (Chapter numbers were not assigned until the 13th Century CE and verse numbers not until the 16th Century.)  So he quotes the first line of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  If you aren’t aware of how this works, you might be led to believe that Jesus is saying that God has forsaken him.  But those followers who are well aware of the content of Psalm 22 recognize that Jesus is telling them exactly what is happening. They recall how the Psalm mentions one who is “scorned”, “despised”, and “mocked”, one whom evildoers “pierced his hands and feet”, and one whom the evildoers have divided his garments and have cast lots for them.  They know this Psalm that Jesus directed them to, and so they see that God foreknew all that would happen. God is still in control.  They know how the Psalm ends, not with rejection, but with redemption.  God does not forsake but delivers.  Jesus delivers a message of hope, but it is only understood by those who know the scriptures.
2. Hezekiah, in Isaiah 39:8 oddly says “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”  He has just been given the worst news a nation’s leader can receive – your nation is going to be destroyed.  Yet he sees that it is good because it won’t happen while he is king.  Interesting view, Hezekiah.