32 It is a remarkable testimony to the high view of John the Baptist in this
gospel that whereas previously Jesus has condemned those who refused to
believe and respond to his own message (11:20–24; 12:41–42), he now places
rejection of John’s ministry on the same level. Those previous denunciations
were of unbelief in Galilee, where Jesus had himself been active; now he is
in Judea, where according to this gospel’s story-line he has not hitherto
been heard, and so he speaks now of John as his southern predecessor and
“colleague”, to whose call Jerusalem had responded before he himself took
up the mission in the north (3:5). The “way of righteousness” (see p. 801, n.
4) which he has himself preached in Galilee was represented in Judea by
John. For the meaning of “righteousness” as the way of life according to the
will of God see p. 119, n. 15 and the uses of the term in 5:6, 10, 20; 6:33.¹⁸
The phrase “the way of righteousness” (a Semitic expression for “the right
way”; cf. Prov 8:20 etc.)¹ occurs only here in the NT, but it well suits the
behavioral sense of the term which we have seen to be dominant in
Matthew. That John “came in the way of righteousness” no doubt implies
that he lived a godly life, but that in itself gives no message to which to
respond by “believing” him, and so the phrase here probably refers mainly
to his message; hence my translation above, “as a preacher of
righteousness.”²
The repentance and its appropriate “fruit” which John demanded according to
3:7–10 matches closely the Matthean sense of “righteousness.” John came to
show people how to live according to God’s will, and those who “believed” him
repented and were baptized. They included especially the less respectable
members of Jewish society, for whom repentance was an obvious need, and
perhaps for that reason his message was resisted by those who already
coinsidered themselves “righteous” (cf. Jesus’ own mission according to 9:12–
13). The obvious and enthusiastic response of the common people should have
caused them to “change their mind later.”²¹ And if they refused John’s call, it is
clear that they will also refuse that of Jesus who comes with the same heavenly
authority (vv. 23–27), as Jesus has already predicted (17:12–13). The kingdom
of God is not for them. Cf. 11:18 for another statement of John’s mission and the
people’s negative response, using the same phrase “John came … ;” there too the
missions of John and of Jesus are placed in parallel.
A comparable, but not closely parallel, saying in Luke 7:29–30 contrasts the
positive response of “all the people and the tax collectors” to John with the
refusal of “the Pharisees and lawyers” to accept his baptism, thus rejecting
“God’s purpose for them.” That saying, with its focus on John’s baptism rather
than his message, is integrated into Luke’s parallel to Matt 11:7–19, Jesus’
verdict on John, and lacks the link with the parable which this saying expounds.
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