Matthew 3 - Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

In Matthew 3, John was preaching and baptizing people in the wilderness telling them to "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at Hand" - Matthew 3:2. All the people of Judea and the regions around Jordan were baptized and they confessed their sins Matthew 3: 5-6.

When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to John's baptism, he said, 

“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore
bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 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. 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.[b] 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.”

It's amazing here how John speaks to them but the message here is very crucial.

1. John talks about the wrath to come. This same wrath is what many of the earlier prophets like Elijah spoke about and which Revelations vividly depicts.
2. He then says to "bear fruits worthy of repentance." This means to show yourself worthy as a person who has repented. As a person who has repented, you cannot go back to the same old same old, there has to be a change and that change will be obvious by the type of fruits you bear and not any type of fruits but fruits deemed worthy of repentance.
3. The Pharisees and Sadducees can no longer get by by saying that Abraham is their father. That is not enough to escape the wrath that is to come. The only way is to repent, be baptized and bear the fruits worthy of repentance. 
4. "God is able to raise sons from these stones." This clearly shows that God has not only called a selected few but everyone who wants to be his son and daughter. Therefore the Pharissees and Sadducees cannot think themselves as being God's elect as God is able to raise sons and daughters from the least expected people and places.
5. The judgement is ever present as the ax is laid at the root of the tree and who ever does not bear fruit will be cut down. This speaks about the harvest that Jesus repeated spoke about to his disciples and Revelations speaks about as well. And John goes further to talk about Jesus' winnowing fan. To winnow something is to separate things to make them clearly distinguishable and that is what Jesus is going to do. Jesus is going to gather the wheat and burn the chaff. This is the great harvest that is to come. 

John the Baptist spoke about Jesus being that person who is going to come and reap God's harvest. Jesus spoke about the harvest repeatedly and the judgement that is to come. We clearly cannot escape it but we can prepare for it and be ready. We can be ready by first repenting, being baptized and bearing fruits that are worthy of repentance. Those are only the first steps but steps that are very crucial. 

Jesus himself was baptized as an example for us and we will see in Matthew 4 what happened right after his baptism. Continue to read with me and leave your comments. 

God bless you!