| Matthew 3:1 In those
days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. 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? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. |
Mark 1:1 The beginning
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. |
Luke 3:1 Now in the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being
governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother
Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias
the tetrarch of Abilene, 2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; 6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 11 He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. 12 Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? 13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. 15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not; 16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: 17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. 18 And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison. |
| This is the
first parallel passage involving all three of the synoptic gospels.
Mark begins his account here; he pictured Christ in the active role of his
ministry. He wasn't concerned about the events that went before in his
account. We believe his was the earliest of the Gospels to be written,
and the material he provided was used extensively by Matthew and Luke, which
accounts for part of the similarity between them. Tradition says that
the source of much of the material here was Peter, who later refers to Mark
(using his Greek name, Marcus) as his son (1 Peter 5:13), though he was
actually the nephew of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). As a man of action,
Mark focuses on the actions and miracles of Jesus, rather than giving
extensive treatment of his teachings like the other two writers. Luke, with the spirit of a historian (he was a physician by training, and thus used to dealing with a thorough examination of the available facts), gives the most thorough treatment of the ministry of John the Baptist, as he did with other episodes. Where Mark only mentions that John came preaching the baptism for the remission of sins, both Matthew and Luke give examples of his preaching. We often pass over the importance of John the Baptist's ministry, but it was he who brought a mood of expectancy about the Messiah's coming to Judea, after hundreds of years in which the prophetic voice had been stilled. Though he drew great crowds to himself, John never claimed to be the Messiah, nor did he take to himself the power to save. Baptism, the act which gave him his name, was a symbolic act of washing away sin after repentance. It was never intended, either then or in its later practice by the disciples, to be a necessary work of salvation. Repentance means a change of direction coming out of the recognition of guilt, and it is just that change that must come if we are to be saved. John pointed out to the Jews their need for salvation; no one can be saved until they first realize they are lost. Matthew recounts only the accusation of sin for those who came, particularly the self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees, but Luke also gives John's answers to those who asked what they should do to repent. In place of self-righteousness, he taught them righteousness, the idea of treating others fairly and sharing what we have with those in need. His teachings were an early reflection of what Christ himself taught, inspired as they were by the same Spirit. John the Baptist made at least one another vital contribution to the ministry of Jesus, besides his role as forerunner: at least two of his disciples, Andrew and his brother, Peter, became two of the twelve disciples of Christ. In all likelihood, John the Apostle was the other of the two disciples of John the Baptist who first met Christ beyond Jordan, where John the Baptist was ministering All three of the accounts indicate that John pointed to the one who came after him. We don't know for sure if he and Jesus ever meant personally before the Lord came to be baptized, but he immediately recognized him in the power of the Holy Spirit, just as he had while he was still in the womb. It was that same power of the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, which he described as the main difference between what he did, the baptism for repentance, and what Christ would do, baptize to salvation by the power of the Holy Spirit. |
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| Matthew 3:13 Then
cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. |
Mark 1:9 And it came
to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was
baptized of John in Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. |
Luke 3:21 Now when all
the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized,
and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. |
| It is curious
that Luke, who gave the story of John the Baptist's ministry in such detail,
gives less attention to the baptism of Jesus than either Matthew or Mark.
Part of this was due to the primary audience for each writer; Matthew was
writing primarily to other Jews, and he wanted to give them the proofs that
Jesus was, indeed, the promised Messiah. His account of the life and
ministry of Christ points out the myriad of ways he fulfilled all of the
prophecies about his coming. Mark was writing, to a large degree, to
Romans, and his emphasis on actions and deeds, on Christ as the Man-God who
preformed mighty works as proof of his claims, was directed to people
accustomed to viewing their leaders as men of great deeds. Luke was
also writing to Gentiles, but he was also interested in conveying what Jesus
taught, about himself and his status as Savior-Redeemer, perhaps to people
of the same intellectual status as he was. He devotes a lot of time
and space in his Gospel to describing Christ, not just as the Messiah of the
Jews, but of the Gentiles as well. The question of why Christ should even want to be baptized, one that Matthew alone addresses, is a difficult one. Certainly he had no need of repentance, and no need to ministered to for remission of sins. There are some possible explanations. First of all, by participating himself in the ritual, he established it as a symbolic act for all who came after him. Before the coming of Christ, the sign of identification for the children of God was circumcision, and only for males. Jesus was beginning something new, and baptism was the act he chose to symbolize what he did, and does, in the lives of believers. Secondly, baptism symbolizes the death of the old flesh, by burial in the water, and rising again to new life, when coming out of the water. For Jesus it symbolized his own death, burial, and resurrection; it also pointed out that, like his death on the cross, his baptism was voluntary, not done out of any personal necessity. Also like his crucifixion and resurrection, his baptism was done for the benefit of others, not his own. For us, baptism is a picture of our own death, the price of sin, and of our being born again by the redemptive work of Christ. Perhaps nowhere else in scripture, except perhaps the description given in 1 John (1 John 5:7-8), which mirrors what happened here, is there a more explicit reference to the Trinity than what took place at the conclusion of the Baptism. Jesus the Son was standing there with John; the Holy Ghost descended on him out of Heaven in the form of a dove; and the Father's voice spoke out of Heaven acknowledging that Jesus was, and is, his Son. Jesus was not the only one who heard the voice; John the Baptist heard it as well (John 1:32-34), or at the very least saw the Spirit descending as a dove. Did Jesus "have" the Holy Spirit before this? Certainly, because he was himself conceived by the Holy Ghost, and he was both fully God and fully man. The event at the baptism was simply the heavenly acknowledgment of who he was, as John the Baptist indicated. It also marked the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, the end of the years of silence. |
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