But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 3:7 – Fast-forwarding about 30 years from the stories within chapter 2, we now see John the Baptist baptizing flocks of people in the Jordan river. He was announcing the coming Messiah and calling people to ready themselves for the Messiah by turning back to God now. Because this was such a popular event happening, we see the religious leaders of the day coming to the Jordan. Yet why did they come? Was it to repent themselves? Was is to prepare their own hearts for the Messiah like everyone else? Was it just a showy demonstration of faithfulness yet no heart was in their actions? Clearly John knew of the disposition of these leader’s hearts and it wasn’t true repentance. Like with Herod in yesterday’s devotion, we are seeing that when people are face to face with the truth of God’s word, the response isn’t always acceptance. These leaders would have known well the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah and the one that was to prepare the way for Him. Knowing what they did this should have caused them to want to be the first in the water for baptism, yet that’s not the image we get from this chapter. For us, like the leaders in our story, the truth of Jesus is plainly in front of us. What will you do though? Will it cause you to desire to be the first to repent for you see the king is here? Will it have no effect on your life? I pray that knowing the kingdom of God is here not only calls you to repentance but fuels a life of following Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3325
Question To Ponder: How would you have handled being there at the river?
See Full Chapter
See Previous Devotions Over This Chapter
Daily DEVO 
Leave a comment