Gospel of Matthew Chapter 3 Vs. 7

 John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Matthew 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

of the Pharisees... A sect of self-righteous and zealous Jews who held to the letter of their interpretations of the law and to their own traditions, regardless of whether they nullified the Word of God or not. They were Christ’s bitterest enemies (Mat. 15:2; 23:1-33; Mark 7:8-13; Luke 11:42; Gal. 1:14; Phlp. 3:4-6).

and Sadducees come... A radical and rationalistic sect who denied the supernatural (angels, demons, and resurrections) held to, more or less, by the Pharisees (Mark 12:18; Acts 4:1; 5:15-17; 23:8). The Sadducees were known for their denial of things supernatural. They denied the resurrection of the dead (22:23), and the existence of angels (Acts 23:8). Unlike the Pharisees, they rejected human tradition and scorned legalism. They accepted only the Pentateuch as authoritative. They tended to be wealthy, aristocratic members of the priestly tribe, and in the days of Herod their sect controlled the temple, though they were fewer in number than the Pharisees.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were hung up in tradition. The Pharisees were what we would call the people of the middle class today. The Sadducees were from the upper class, and some from high-priest families. The law was everything to them. They really thought themselves better than just the average person. They were righteous in their own sight.

There were about 6,000, legalistic sect of the Jews who were known for their rigid adherence to the ceremonial fine points of the law. Their name means “separated one.” Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees was usually adversarial. He rebuked them for using human tradition to nullify Scripture.

Pharisees and Sadducees had little in common. Pharisees were ritualists; Sadducees were rationalists. Pharisees were legalists; Sadducees were liberals. Pharisees were separatists; Sadducees were compromisers and political opportunists. Yet they united together in their opposition to Christ (22:15-6, 23-24, 35). John publicly addressed them as deadly snakes.

O generation of... Question 2. Next, Mat. 3:14.

vipers, who hath... Poisonous asps or adders, not ordinary snakes. Common ones are about 4 inches long and no thicker than a wire. They lurk under stones, in the sand of the desert, or in cracks of old walls, and are very deadly and aggressive (Gen. 49:17; Job 20:16; Isa. 59:5; Acts 28:3).

When John called them “generation of vipers”, he really was revealing their hidden sins. They were Self-proclaimed experts. He knew their personality and knew that from these groups would come much opposition to Jesus.

wrath to come... John’s preaching echoed the familiar Old Testament theme of promised wrath in the Day of the Lord (Eze. 7:19; Zeph. 1:18). This must have been a particularly stinging rebuke to the Jewish leaders, who imagined that divine wrath was reserved only for non-Jews.

However, not all believed. The Pharisees and Sadducees, who came to see what he was doing, rejected his appeal. Their feelings were summed up in John’s words to them (Mat. 3:7-10). They believed that they, as physical sons of Abraham, were automatically qualified for Messiah’s kingdom.