Matthew 3v1

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

This current verse is the first direct reference to baptism in the whole Bible. By using the phrase “In those days”, Matthew is placing his writing into it’s historical context. He is also telling us about days that had since passed, and was most likely writing to his audience a long time after the events that he records. In order to find out which days Matthew is telling us about, we need to look at the previous chapters.

In the introduction of his gospel, Matthew calls it “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 1v1). Here Matthew states his aim – to show Jesus as a real person that lived at a specific time, was born to specific parents, and had the ministry and status of “Christ”, the anointed Messiah or Saviour. The rest of chapter one talks of the genealogy of Jesus, and also a brief description of how Mary became pregnant: “she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 1v18)

It is in chapter two that we start to see the specific events that Matthew uses to place his gospel into a historical timeframe. The historical events here include:

Jesus was born in Bethlehem (King David’s historical home) “in the days of Herod the king” (Matthew 2v1)
Wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, asking “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2v1-2)
The wise men came because, in their words, “we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (Matthew 2v2)
Herod asked at what time the star had appeared (Matthew 2v7) and found that it had been up to two years earlier (Matthew 2v16). It is possible however that he overcompensated in an attempt to make sure that Jesus was killed, and that the star had in fact appeared at His conception approximately nine months earlier.
Herod sent out an order that all of the children under the age of two in Bethlehem and all of the surrounding country should be killed. This was his attempt to make sure that just one child, Jesus, was also killed. (Matthew 2v16)
After the visit of the wise men, Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt in a hurry, as he had been warned about Herod’s plans by an angel. (Matthew 2v13-14)
While they were in Egypt, Herod died and Joseph was told to return to Israel with “the young child”. (Matthew 2v19-20)
When Herod died, his son Archelaus ruled Judaea in his place. (Matthew 2v22)

John the Baptist was not preaching in the temple or synagogues, but in the wilderness. Perhaps he was not welcome in the temple for one reason or another – the most likely reason was the message that he brought. For more evidence of this, see also v7 {3 }.

Let us look at the message that he preached, as found in the few verses that follow the current one:

Repentance was commanded to all (v2)
The “kingdom of heaven” was at hand – about to be revealed (v2)
John the Baptist saw his own ministry as preparing the way for the ministry of the Lord, sowing the ground, getting everything ready, and making His path a little easier. (v3)

Clearly right from the start of the biblical account of baptism, repentance from sinful ways was caught up within the message of baptism. This message of repentance and baptism was preparing each individual that received the message for the coming ministry of the Lord Jesus.