Verse For Today

[airIam2worship]

Mt 2:17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

Mt 2:18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more."


Observe here, The loud and bitter cry which the mothers of Bethlehem make for the death of their innocent children which were barbarously slain by the sword if Herod; here was lamentation, weeping, and great mourning made by Rachel, that is, by the women inhabiting in and about Bethlehem, where Rachel's sepulchre was: for the land about Bethlehem was called Rachel, from her sepulchre, so famous in those parts. Rachel here is not the name of a person, but of a place.
 
Observe, 2.  The cause and reason of this cry and bitter lamentation: the mothers weep, not because the children are, but because they are not; they did not, with some wicked parents repine because they had lost them: mothers have the sharpest throes both in their children's births and burials.  As children in their births are their mothers' Benjamins; so in their burial they are their mothers' Benonis, sons of sorrow.

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Mt 2:19 ¶ But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

Mt 2:20 saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."

WBN


Observe, 1.  Herod's death: like a bloody persecutor, he is sent unlamented to his grave.  Historians say, that out of his body issued forth such impure streams of blood that the loathsomeness and pain made him attempt the killing of himself.  God seldom suffers persecuters to pass in quiet to their graves; they rarely die the common death of all men, having no other balm at their funeral than their own blood.
 
Observe, 2.  The happy consequence of Herod's death.  Christ is now called home without danger: Herod being sent to his grave, the coast is clear for the return of the holy family.  The death of persecutors is the delivery of the persecuted.
 
Observe, 3.  An angel is dispatched to acquaint Joseph with Herod's death.
 
O! how cheerfully do those glorious spirits execute the commands of their sovereign Master!  With what delight do they carry the message of God's kindness to their fellow-creatures!
 
Lord, what an argument is this of thy love unto us, that in this our pilgrimage state thou allowest us thine own royal guard to attend and preserve us!


Barnes

 
Verse 20.  They are dead which sought, etc. This either refers to Herod alone, as is not uncommon, using the plural number for the singular; or it may refer to Herod and his son Antipater. He was of the same cruel disposition as his father, and was put to death by his father about five days before his own death.

{f} "they are dead" Ex 4:19

[airIam2worship]

Mt 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

WBN

 
A threefold interpretation is given of these words,  He shall be called a Nazarene.
 
Some read the words, 1. He shall be called a Nazarite.  The Nazarites were a religious and separate rank of persons among the Jews, who abstained from wine, and came not near the dead, for fear of pollution.  Christ was a holy person, but no Nazarite, in a strict sense; for he drank wine, and touched the dead.
 
2.  Others read the words, He shall be called a Netzer, a branch, in allusion to Isa 11:1 where he is called a branch of the root of Jesse.  Christ was that true branch of which the prophets had so often spoken.
 
3.  Others will will have the word Nazarene refer to the city of Nazareth, where Christ was conceived, and lived most of his time, He shall be called a Nazarene, because he dwelt at Nazareth.
 
Hence his disciples were called the sect of the Nazarenes; that is, the followers of him that dwelt at Nazareth; and Christ himself is pleased to own the title, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. Ac 22:8
 
Learn from hence, The great humility of mind that was found in our Savior.  He was born at Bethlehem, a little city; he lived at Nazareth, a poor, contemptible place: he aspired not after the grandeur of the world, but was meek and lowly in spirit.
 
May the same humble mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus!

[airIam2worship]

Mt 3:10 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

WBN

 
The baptist had preached the doctrine of repentance in the former verses, he backs it with a powerful motive in this verse, drawn from the certainty, the severity, and suddenness of that vengeance which would come upon them, if they continued impentent:  Now is the ax laid to the root of the trees.
 
Learn, 1.  That those whose hearts are not pierced and destroyed by the ax of his judgments.
 
Learn, 2.  That it is not unsuitable for gospel preachers to press repentance and holiness of life upon their hearers from arguments of terror: John does it here, and Christ elsewhere.
 
Observe farther, That forasmuch as the sin here specified, is a sin of omission, which brings this sore and severe judgment, Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, as well as that which bringeth forth evil fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire; we may gather, that sins of omission are certainly damning as well as sins of commission; the neglects of duty are as dangerous and damnable as the acts of sin.  Such trees as stand in God's orchard, and bring forth no good fruit, are marked out as fuel for the devil's fire.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 3:11 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

WBN

In these words John declares the excellency of Christ's person and ministry above his own.
 
As to his person, he owns that he was not worthy to carry his shoes after him, or to perform the lowest offices of service for him.
 
And as to his office, he declares that Christ should not baptize as he did, with water, but with the Holy Ghost and with fire; that is, should plentifully pour down of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit upon his proselytes, which, like fire, in their operation should purify their hearts from sin, consuming their lusts, and corruptions: but at the same time he has a fiery indignation, and flaming judgments, to destroy and burn up impenitent sinners like combustible stubble.
 
Where Observe, How Christ is represented by one and the same metaphor of the fire, in a way of comfort to his children, and in a way of terror unto his enemies, he is a fire unto both:  He sits in his church as a refiner's fire; he is amongst his enemies as a consuming fire: a fire for his church to tke comfort in, a fire for his enemies to perish by.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 3:12 "His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

WBN


In these words the baptists compare Christ, the promised Messiah, to an husbandman, the Jewish church to a barnfloor.  The office of the husbandman is to thresh, fan, and winnow his corn, separating it from the chaff: preserving the one and consuming the other .
 
Learn hence, 1. That the church is Christ's floor.
 
2. That this floor Christ will purge and that thoroughly.
 
3. That the word of Christ is the fan in his hand, by and with which he will thoroughly purge his floor.
 
The church is compared to a floor, upon the account of that mixture which is in the church; in a floor there is straw as well as grain, chaff as well as corn, tares as well as wheat, cockle and darnel as well as good seed.
 
Thus in the church there is and will be a mixture of good and bad, saints and sinners, hypocrites and sincere Christians.  But this floor Christ will purge; purge it, but not break it up: purge out its corruptions, but not destroy its essence and its existence:
 
And the fan with which he will purge his floor is his word, accompanied with the wind of discipline.  The fan detects and discovers the chaff, and the wind dissipates and scatters it; and by the help of both the floor is purged.   His fan is in his hand

[airIam2worship]

Mt 3:13 ¶ Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.

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Here we have our Savior's solemn inauguration and public entrance upon this prophetic office, by baptism, or washing with water, according to the manner of the priests under the ceremonial law, Ex 29:4.
 
Where we have observable, 1.  The circumstance of time: Then cometh Jesus: that is, after he had lain hid in Nazareth thirty years he comes abroad, and enters upon his public ministry.
 
Teaching us by his example, That when we are ripe and fit for public service, we should no less willingly leave our obscurity, than we took the benefit of it for our preparation.
 
Observe, 2.  The action itself, Christ is baptized now, as he was circumcised before; not because there was any impurity in him, either filth, or foreskin, which wanted either the circumcising knife, or the baptismal water; yet purity itself condescends to be washed, Christ to be baptized; for these reasons:
 
1. That by this symbol he might enter himself into the society of Christians, as by circumcision he had done into the society of Jews; as a king condescends sometimes to be made a free man of a city or corporation.
 
2. That he might by his own baptism sanctify the ordinance of baptism unto his church.
 
3. That thereby he might fulfil the righteousness of the ceremonial law, which required the washing of the priests in water, when they entered upon their office as appears from Ex 29:4.
 
Observe, 3. The great condescension of Christ, in seeking and submitting to the baptism of John; Christ cometh to John, not John to Christ.
 
Behold! the Lord seeketh to his servant, Christ will be baptized of his messenger! Our Savior's design hereby no doubt was, to put honour upon the ministry of John.
 
Oh! how dare the greatest upon earth despise the ministry of man being appointed by God, which Christ honoured in his own person, and graced with his own presence!

[airIam2worship]

Mt 3:14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"

WBN

Note here, 1.  The modesty of John's refusal:  John forbade him, and refused to admit him.  But why?  1. In regard of Christ, because he knew he needed it not: such was his majesty and greatness, that he was above it: and such was his purity and holiness, that he could not want it.
 
2. In respect of himself, he knew his own uncleanness: I have need to be baptized of thee, &c.  He thought it unsuitable that a sinner should baptize and wash him that was no sinner.
 
3.  With respect to the people; lest they seeing Christ baptized should apprehend him to be a sinner, and one that wanted the baptism of repentance as well as themselves.
 
Observe, 4.  As the modesty of John's refusal, so the reason he assigns for it: I have need to be baptized of thee; as if he had said, "Thou art purity, I am pollution; thou art spirit, I am flesh; humble apprehension has this holy man of himself.
 
Learn, That the more holy a person is, the more sensible he is of his unholiness; where there is most grace, there is the greatest sense of the want of grace.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 3:15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.

WBN

These words contain our Saviours's reason why he submitted to John's baptism, because it became him to fulfil all righteousness; that is, to own every divine institution, particularly the righteousness of the ceremonial law, which required the washing of the priests in water, when they entered upon their office, Ex 29:4.
 
Learn hence, 1. That whatever the law required in order to perfect righteousness, that Christ fulfilled in most absolute perfection.
 
2. That as it became Christ to fulfil the righteousness of the ceremonial law for himself, so it is our duty and interest to fulfil the righteousness of the moral law for ourselves, as an exidence of our being righteous in God's sight, He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 1Jn 3.7

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Mt 3:16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.

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Here we have the solemn inauguration of Christ into his prophetic office, accompanied with a threefold miracle.
 
1. The opening of the heavens.
 
2. The descent of the Holy Ghost upon him, like as a dove descends.
 
3. God the Father's voice concerning his son.
 
The heavens were opened to shew that heaven, which was closed and shut against us for our sins, is now opened to us, by Christ's undertaking for us. As the first Adam shuts us out of heaven, the second Adam lets us into it; he opened heaven, to us by his meritorious passion, and he keeps it open by his prevailing intercession.
 
Next, the Holy Ghost descends like a dove upon our Savior: here we have an evidence of the blessed Trinity; the Father speaks from Heaven, the Son comes out of the water,
 
Hence we gather, That the Holy Ghost is not a quality, or an operation, but a person, and a person really distinct from the Father and the Son.
 
But why did the Holy Spirit now descend upon Christ, seeing he was mow truly and really God?
 
   Answer The divinity of Christ was quiescent in him, till he entered upon his prophetic office at thirty years old, and after.
 
And the Holy Ghost now descends, first, for the  designation of his person, to shew that Christ was the person set apart for the work and office of a mediator.
 
Secondly, For the qualification of his person for the performance of his office.  This was Christ's unction, Isa 61:1 when he was anointed above his fellows, to be the king, priest and, prophet of his church.
 
Last of all, We have the audible voice of God the Father pronouncing,
 
1. The nearness of Christ's relation to himself, This is my Son, not by adoption, but by eternal generation.
 
2. The endearedness of his person, This is my beloved Son.
 
3. The fruit and benefit of this near and dear relation unto us; In him I am well pleased.
 
Note, 1. That there is no possibility for any person to please God out of Christ; both our persons and our performances find acceptance only for his sake.
 
2. That in and through Christ, God is well pleased with all believers: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, &c.
 
Lord!  what revivng news is this to thy church, to hear that her head and husband, her surety, mediator, and intercessor, is that only Son of God in whom his soul is delighted and ever well pleased!  That Son who always pleased thee, and by and through whom thou art well pleased with, and reconciled to, thy offending creatures!

[airIam2worship]

Mt 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."


GBN


3:17   And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am (p) well pleased.
 
 Christ's full consecration and authorization to the office of mediator is shown by the Father's own voice and a visible sign of the Holy Spirit. (p) The Greek word signifies a thing of great worth and such as highly pleases a man.  So then the Father says that Christ is the only man whom when he beholds, looking at what opinion he had conceived of us, he lays it clean aside.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 4:3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

WBN

 
Observe here, 1. The occasion of the temptation.
 
2. The temptation itself.
 
The occasion was our Savior's hunger and want of bread.
 
Learn thence, That when God suffers any of his dear children to fall into want, and to be straitened for outward things, Satan takes a mighty advantage thereupon, to tempt and assualt them.
 
But what doth he tempt our Savior to?
 
To the sin of distrust, to question his sonship;  If thou be the Son of God; and next to distrust his Father's providence and care. Command that these stones be made bread.  As Satan had said, "How unlikely is it, that thou shouldst be highly favoured, and yet deserted?  What! the Son of God; and yet ready to starve!  Certainly if thou canst not supply thy necessities, thou art nothing akin to God.'
 
Learn hence, 1. That Satan's grand design is, first to tempt the children of God to doubt of their adoption; and next, to distrust God's fatherly care over them and provision for them; and last of all, to use unwarrantable means to help themselves.
 
Thus Satan dealt with Christ, and thus he deals with Christians: for for to work a miracle at Satan's direction was not a lawful means of providing food for himself.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

WBN


Observe here, The weapon which our Savior made use of to repel the temptation, and to vanquish the tempter and that is the word of God,  It is written.
 
Learn, That the scripture, or the written word of God, is the only sure weapon wherewith to vanquish Satan, and to beat back all his fiery temptation.
 
Satan himself has not the impudence to oppose scripture: What monsters of impiety then are they who ridicule and deride it!  They not only run counter to the practice of Christ, but outdo the devil himself in impudence.

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Mt 4:6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'"

WBN

 
Here we have observable, first, the sin which Satan tempts Christ unto; and next, the argument which he tempts him from.
 
The sin tempted to, is the sin of self-murder;  Cast thyself down.
 
Whence we learn, That  self-murder is a sin which Christ himself was, and the best of saints may, by Satan, be tempted to the  commission of.
 
But forasmuch as Satan tempted Christ to murder himself, but had not the power to do it himself,(do thou cast thyself down,) we learn, That though Satan may tempt, yet he cannot compel; he may entice, but cannot enforce any to sin, without their own consent.
 
Observe, 2. The argument which Satan uses; it is a scripture; argument;  he quotes the promise of God.  He shall give his angels charge over thee.
 
What a marvel is here, to find Satan with a Bible under his arm, and a text of scripture in his mouth!  Christ had alleged scripture before to Satan; here Satan retorts scripture back again to Christ: It is written, says Christ; It is written, says Satan.
 
Learn thence, That it is no wonder to hear heretics and hypocrites quote scripture, when Satan himself durst recite it: he that had profanely touched the sacred body of Christ with his hand, sticks not presumptuously to handle the holy scripture of God with his tongue.
 
Yet observe, How wretchedly the devil wrests, perverts, and misapplies, the scripture.  When God  promises his angels shall keep us, it is in viis, non in praecipitiis; 'tis in all God's ways, not in any of our own crooked paths.
 
Note here, That although the children of God have the promise of the guardianship of holy angels, yet then only may they expect their protection, when they are walking in the way of their duty, and using the means for their own preservation.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 4:7 Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"

WBN

Observe here, Though the devil had wrested and abused scripture, yet still Christ alleges scripture.   The abuse of the holy scriptures by heretics and seducers is no argument against the use of them.  We must not throw away our Bibles because the devil quotes scripture: but as Christ here compares scripture with scripture, so should we, in order to find out the true sense and meaning of it; for scripture is the best interpreter of itself; scripture is most clearly expounded by scripture .  This Satan knew full well, and therefore dares not make any further reply.