Matthew 3
3
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1In those days John the Baptist came and preached in the desert around Judea. 2He said, “Turn away from your sins! The kingdom of heaven is near.” 3John is the one Isaiah the prophet was talking about when he said,
“A messenger is calling out in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ ”
4John’s clothes were made out of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey. 5People came out to him from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and the whole area around the Jordan River. 6They confessed their sins, and John baptized them in the Jordan.
7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, John said to them, “You little snakes! Who warned you to try to escape the punishment that’s coming? 8If you have turned away from your sins, you have to live in a way that shows that. 9Don’t think you’re safe just because you can say, ‘We come from Abraham.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones. 10The ax is already at the tree roots, and any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11“I’m baptizing you with water so you can show that you’ve turned away from your sins. But someone is coming after me who’s more powerful than I am. I’m not even worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12He’ll have a tool with him and use it to sort out everything on his threshing floor. He’ll gather the wheat into his barn, but he’ll burn up the husks in a fire that can’t be put out.”
Jesus Is Baptized
13Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River so that John could baptize him. 14But John didn’t want to. He told Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, so why are you coming to me?”
15Jesus answered, “Please agree to this. It’s right for us to do everything that God is asking of people now.” So then John agreed.
16Right after Jesus was baptized, as he was coming up out of the water, at that moment, heaven was opened and Jesus saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove. 17A voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son. I’m very pleased with him.”
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Matthew 3
3
Thunder in the Desert!
1-2While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called “the Baptizer,” was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”
3John and his message were authorized by Isaiah’s prophecy:
Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
4-6John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life.
7-10When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.
11-12“I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”
* * *
13-14Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!”
15But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.
16-17The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.