Matthew 3:1-12

Ancient Lens

What can we learn from the historical context?

A Dry Spell

It had been a dry period for “Team Israel,” 400 plus seasons without a shout out from God. Since the prophet Malachi and his clarion call for the religious leaders to appropriately align their behavior with their vocation to John the Baptist and his strikingly similar message to the religious elite of 1st Century Roman occupied Judea, apparently little had changed.

Champion teams are made by leaders with character, integrity, value, heart, and sweat, who rally their bench. The leaders of the people whom Malachi and John bookend seem absent such qualities. They possess no pennants, trophies, and victories of any moral and spiritual…