Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 3:5-6

"Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan; and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." — Matthew 3:5-6 (ASV)

Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

That was his baptism — a baptism of repentance and of confession, preparatory to the coming of the Master. See what power there was in John because God was with him.

I do not know that he had any remarkable eloquence. Certainly, some things about him were more repulsive than attractive. But when God is with a man, the people must listen to him.

Jerusalem must pour her thousands out of her gates, and the rural districts must yield their hundreds; for if God speaks, no matter by whom, he will have human ears to listen to his voice.

The people were expecting a Messiah and so they went en masse to John as soon as his shrill voice had startled the solitudes. Baptism, or the washing of the body in water, most suitably accompanied the cry, Repent ye. The confessing their sins, which went with baptism in Jordan gave it its meaning. Apart from the acknowledgment of guilt, it would have been a mere bathing of the person without spiritual significance, but the confession which went with it made it an instructive sign. John must have inwardly wondered to see the multitudes come, but his chief thought ran forward to his coming Lord. He thought more of Him than of all Judea.