The Gospel of Matthew opens and closes with the theme of authority, and speaks of the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven and its long awaited King. Matthew is also the only Gospel in which the word “church” appears – not once, but twice. With this in mind, let us see how Matthew helps us to understand how the church is God’s kingdom.
(A) The King baptizes with the Spirit (Matt 3:11-17)
We begin with this account of John the Baptist. John, baptizing in the Jordan River, tells the people that he baptizes with water for repentance, but Jesus who is coming after him is mightier (Matt 3:11a). The word “baptise” means “immerse” in Greek. John therefore is baptising people, immersing them in water, as a sign of their repentance from sin. His is not a feel-good message – the entire purpose is to expose their spiritual depravity and need. In doing so, the people are leaving behind their old lives and are turning to God in right living.
Jesus, the One who comes after John, is greater than John. John also says that He will come to baptise, not with water but with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt 3:11b). Along with this baptism of fire, He will distinguish between His wheat and the chaff (Matt 3:12). Jesus will be the One who seems to sort and gather those that belong to Him and are true to His purposes, while He judges those that are not His and have become wasteful chaff. But what has baptism got to with this? To John, baptism is an act done to us by someone else, and in its function as an identifier, it acts is a kind of sorting.
We are baptised in the Spirit by the Son, John says. As He does it, we are identified: whether we are His or not. The baptism by the Spirit marks us out as His, to be separated from those that are not His. Baptism is inherently a publicly declarative act in which God’s people are known for whose and who they are.
Then, Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptised by him (Matt 3:13). John wanted to prevent this, saying that he needed to be baptised by Jesus, recognising his own sin before a sinless Savior (Matt 3:14). But Jesus then replied that it is righteous for Him to stand before John, in the place of a sinner, to be baptised. It was important for Jesus to be identified with the sinners. This was an amazing statement. So much so that it caused the Father to declare that He was well pleased with this Son (Matt 3:17), who though He is perfect and is not a sinner, stood publicly to identify Himself with us.
Jesus did not need to be baptised. But He was baptised nonetheless. He was enacting a greater plan of active righteousness and obedience. His act of baptism was not a concession of His own sin. He was actively obeying the Father’s plan in redemption (Jn 17:4-5). In His baptism, He stood with His brothers in His baptism, as man’s representative. As One who has identified Himself with sinners just like us, He is immediately tempted, just as we are (Heb 4:15).
But first, the heavens part as Jesus emerged and the Spirt of God descended like a dove, coming to rest on Him (Matt 3:16). The voice of the Father declaring His pleasure was also heard (Matt 3:17).
The Triune God shows up.
(B) The King ushers in a heavenly kingdom (Matt 4:1-17)
Immediately, the scene changes as Jesus’ ministry continunes to be revealed. The Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt 4:1). Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights (cf. Deut 9:18) and he was hungry. Then the tempter came and tempted Him in 3 ways — provision, safety and power (Matt 4:3-10).
How will this beloved Son of God obtain provision, safety and power? Jesus answers each temptation by quoting specific parts of the OT. More precious to Him than food to be His provision is every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4, cf. Deut 8:3). He is committed to trusting God alone for His safety (Matt 4:5-7, cf. Ps 91:11-12). He will also trust God alone for power and seek to worship Him only (Matt 4:10, cf. Deut 6:13).
In the temptation sequence, a new Adam, Moses, and Israel is revealed – One who passes the test of temptation, as angels come and minister to Him (Matt 4:13).
Changing gears, Matthew establishes a new era in his narrative in the next set of verses in Matthew 4:12-17. Jesus’ relocation to Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, is set as the fulfilment of the prophetic writings of Isaiah from Isaiah 9:1-2 (Matt 4:12-16). With the arrival of Jesus, the people who had lived in darkness have seen a great light. Matthew is showing his readers how the kingdom of heaven arrives like light that has begun shining in the dark. It arrives through Jesus’ baptism, after He had overcome temptation without sinning, and Jesus finally begins His public ministry, marking the arrival of the Kingdom.
There is no such thing as a Kingdom without a King. There is also no such thing as a King without a realm to rule over, or a secure realm defined by its borders and walls. The heavenly Kingdom has arrived and people can enter in. But there must be a way to distinguish between those who have entered in from those who have not.
People begin to enter the King’s heavenly Kingdom as they are baptised. What is needed is repentance and faith — turning away from sins and turning to Christ —marked by baptism. Do you belong to His Kingdom? How will you respond to Him to repent and enter the kingdom?
(C) The King with authority calls for discipleship and baptism (Matt 28:16-20)
We turn to the close of Matthew. Matthew 28:16 takes place after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Eleven, not twelve, disciples find themselves in Galilee, at the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. High mountains were secluded, quiet places where people left the world to meet with God like Moses ascending to Mount Horeb. When the disciples saw Him, they worshipped Him but some doubted (Matt 28:17). How humbling to see the faith struggles of these disciples and realising that the resurrection was not even easily believed by these who also doubted.
What will the resurrected Jesus say to them? He speaks first about His authority (Matt 28:18). Now that the Kingdom of Heaven has come, there is an authority problem as another kingdom has come to make sovereign claims against the earthly kingdom. Rival kingdoms means war. But through the Cross and resurrection, Jesus has defeated His enemies and He now rules and reigns as King over all. So He declares that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him (Matt 28:18). With this authority. Jesus calls them to go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Trinitarian God and to also teach them to observe all He has commanded them (Matt 28:18-19). His disciples are charged to go out into the world to proclaim Jesus’ victory to them.
What is this baptism that Jesus speaks of? This baptism, unlike John’s, is to be done in the name (singular) of the Triune God. John only understood that he was calling people to turn away from their sins, but he did not know how to call people to turn to faith in Christ for righteousness. He did not know how the Son was to supply righteousness to sinners. Thus a true and valid Christian baptism must be a Trinitarian one, symbolising repentance from sin and faith in Jesus Christ.
Who is to be baptised? Those who have believed in Jesus and are following Him. They show by their actions, that they have been born again. As Jesus teaches in Jn 3, this is the Spirit baptism that Matt 3 also speaks of. The Holy Spirit brings about new birth and regeneration. Believers are born again, and churches are made when Christians are baptised.
Notice that there is no mention of water here. This is because what is key is not water, but the name into which one is baptised. In the ritual, the water comes to symbolise the judgment on sins, and rising in resurrection hope through our union with Christ. Believer are to be baptised in the name of the Trinitarian God.
No wonder they must be taught clearly about who God is, what their sin problem is, what God has done in Christ to deal with sin, what repentance and faith looks like, how regeneration works, what union in Christ means, and what life in the Spirit should look like now. This is how disciples are made.
The Church that baptises is admitting people into God’s Kingdom. The Church that teaches its disciples clearly is training citizens to be a part of the Kingdom and to also work for its advance. Conversion is the requirement for entry. Baptism is the sign of our conversion. This also means that there is no baptism without a church, no church without members and no members without a body.
Who makes disciples, teach and baptise? It is the job of the church.
What has your attitude been to the church, to the heavenly Kingdom? If the Kingdom is not distinct from the world, is it a Kingdom at all? If He does not rule over our lives as a church, where is His Kingdom to be found? Where can we find, on earth, the representatives of this heavenly Kingdom?