Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 3:3

"For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight." — Matthew 3:3 (ASV)

Matthew goes on to identify John the Baptist in an eschatological, prophecyand-fulfillment framework with the one of whom Isaiah spoke. In Isa 40:3 (cf. John’s own application of this verse in Jn 1:23) the way of the Lord is being “made straight” (a metaphor using road building to refer to repentance); in Mt 3:3 it is the way of Jesus. This sort of identification of Jesus with the Lord is common in the NT (e.g., Exodus 13:21 and 1 Corinthians 10:4; Isaiah 6:1 and Jn 12:41) and confirms the kingdom as being equally the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Jesus. The deity of Christ is clearly implicit in such texts.