Matthew 3
3
The Preaching of John the Baptist
Mk 1:1–8; Lk 3:1–9, 15–17; Jn 1:19–28
1#Mt 11:11; 16:14In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2#Mt 4:17; Da 2:44; Mt 6:10and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3#Isa 40:3; Lk 1:76For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make His paths straight.’ ”#Isa 40:3.
4#Lev 11:22; 2Ki 1:8This same John had clothing made of camel’s hair, a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5#Mk 1:5Then Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him, 6#Ac 19:18; Mt 3:11and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
7#Mt 12:34; 23:33But 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 escape from the wrath to come? 8#Ac 26:20; Jer 36:3Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9#Lk 3:8; 16:24and do not think to say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10#Mt 7:19; Jn 15:2Even now the axe is put to the tree roots. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11#Ac 1:5; Lk 3:16; Isa 4:4“I indeed baptize you with water to repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12#Mal 4:1; Mt 13:30His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean His floor and gather His wheat into the granary, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
The Baptism of Jesus
Mk 1:9–11; Lk 3:21–22
13#Mt 2:22Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14But John prohibited Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?”
15#Ps 40:7–8; Jn 4:34But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.
16#Isa 11:2; 42:1And when Jesus was baptized, He came up immediately out of the water. And suddenly the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending on Him like a dove. 17#Ps 2:7; Mt 17:5; Isa 42:1And a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
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Military Bible Association
Matthew 3
3
John the Baptiser got the people ready
1Many years later, while Jesus was still in Nazareth, John the Baptiser started his work. He went to the bush in Judea country, and he started to tell everybody his message. 2He said, “Listen. God is going to show everyone how they can be in his family. So you have to stop doing bad things. You have to turn around and live God’s way.”#Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15
3John was the man that Isaiah wrote about, a long time ago. Isaiah was one of God’s men, and God got him to write this in God’s book,
“A man will be out in the bush,
and he will call out to people.
He will say, ‘You mob get ready.
God is coming to this country,
so you have to get ready for him.
It is like when a big boss comes,
and you have to make a good road for him.’ ”#Isaiah 40:3
4John wore rough clothes, made of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt. He ate grasshoppers and bush honey.#2 Kings 1:8 5A lot of people went out to see John, and to listen to him. They went out from Jerusalem city, and from all of Judea country, and from all the country around the Jordan River. 6And, after those people said they were sorry for the bad things they did, John took them through a special washing ceremony, that is, he baptised them in the Jordan River.
7Some men came to that place to watch John baptise people. Some of them were from the Pharisee mob, that were strong for the Jewish law, and some of them were from the mob called Sadducees. John saw them and said, “You mob are bad, and you are tricky. You are just like a mob of cheeky snakes. Did somebody tell you that God is really angry with you, so you want to do something to stop him from punishing you?#Matthew 12:34; 23:33 8If you really are sorry for the bad things you did, and if you are turning around properly to live God’s way, show us. If we see you doing good things, then we will know it is true. 9But don’t just say to yourselves, ‘We are in Abraham’s family, so we’ll be all right.’ Listen, God can turn these stones here into Abraham’s family.#John 8:33 10So you look out. God is going to punish you. He is like a man lifting up an axe to cut the roots of a tree. You are like trees that haven’t got good fruit, so men chop them down and throw them into a fire. God will punish you like that. He will throw you into a fire.”#Matthew 7:19
11John kept on talking to the people. He said, “If you say you are sorry for the bad things you did, and if you turn to God, then I will baptise you with water. But somebody is coming soon, and he is more important than me. I’m not even good enough to carry his shoes. I’m just nothing. He will put the Holy Spirit in you, that is, he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire. 12You know the way a farmer gets all the seeds from the plants he grows. He hits the seed heads with a stick and throws them in the air, so that the seeds fall off the plants. Then he gathers all the seeds and puts them in his shed. But he burns all the rest. It is rubbish, and he burns it in a fire. Well, God is like that farmer. He’s got that stick in his hand right now. If you turn around and live God’s way, he will look after you. But if you don’t, he will throw you in the fire that never goes out.”
John baptised Jesus
13At that time, Jesus left his home in Galilee country, and he went south to the Jordan River. Jesus wanted John to baptise him. 14But John didn’t agree with him. He said, “No. Don’t come to me. I can’t baptise you. You are better than me, so really, you have to baptise me.”
15But Jesus said, “We have to do it the way God wants. So now, while you are baptising people, you can baptise me too.” Then John agreed with him.
16So John baptised Jesus. And as Jesus came up out of the water, the sky opened up, and Jesus saw the spirit of God coming down like a pigeon, and landing on him. 17And God talked from heaven. He said, “This is my son. I love him very much, and I’m very happy with him.”#Genesis 22:2; Psalm 2:7; Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:18; 17:5; Luke 9:35
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