Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 3:5-7

"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. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" — Matthew 3:5-7 (ASV)

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.

Then went out to him Jerusalem, and at Judaea, and all the region around Jordan, and were baptized by him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

These were the influential people of the times; the Pharisees were the Ritualists of that age, and the Sadducees were the Rationalists of the period. Why, John, you ought to have smoothed your tongue a bit, and have said some very pleasant words to these great men; for, by so doing, perhaps you might have won some of these Pharisees, or coaxed some of these Sadducees into the kingdom! Ah, no; that is not John's method! He is plainspoken, and he deals truthfully with his hearers, for he knows that converts made by flattery are merely flattering converts that are of no real value.