Matthew 3
3
John’s Witness to Israel’s Leaders
1In those days, John the Immerser came proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea,
2“Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”
3For he is the one Isaiah the prophet spoke about, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of Adonai, and make His paths straight.’”
4Now John wore clothing from camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan.
6Confessing their sins, they were being immersed by him in the Jordan River.
7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance;
9and do not think that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’! For I tell you that from these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
10Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!
11“As for me, I immerse you in water for repentance. But the One coming after me is mightier than I am; I am not worthy to carry His sandals. He will immerse you in the Ruach ha-Kodesh and fire.
12His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He shall clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn; but the chaff He shall burn up with inextinguishable fire.”
The Heavens Open at Yeshua’s Mikveh
13Then Yeshua came from the Galilee to John, to be immersed by him in the Jordan.
14But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be immersed by You, and You are coming to me?”
15But Yeshua responded, “Let it happen now, for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” So John yielded to Him.
16After being immersed, Yeshua rose up out of the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Ruach Elohim descending like a dove and coming upon Him.
17And behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased!”
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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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