Matthew 3:1-11 - Enter John the Baptist
Things to check out:
- "Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
- prophecy about him.
- His clothes were like Elijah's(?)
- Calling the pharisees and sadducees a brood of vipers. Does it say in other gospels he called all the people that?
- Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
It's interesting that John installed himself out in the wilderness where no people were. They all went out to him. He didn't make it easy for them to repent. Perhaps easy repentance can sometimes be no repentance.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the prophecy in Isaiah 40:2 could be about the Messiah. Of course there is some commentary that says that the Hebrew O.T. says, " voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God’”, which would make it more a prophecy about the return from exile.
But, at least I can see the connection this time.
John dressed the same as Elijah, and had a similar ministry. In Matthew 11:13, Jesus said John was the Elijah who was to come. Luke 1:17 says he will be a man who will come in the spirit and power of Elijah.
ReplyDeleteYet John himself claims he is not the Elijah in John 1:21, but is the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
There are some prophecies about John, who was to come before the Christ, and some about Elijah, who is to come before Christ comes again at the last day.
One note of speculation: It doesn't say anywhere that John did miracles. But if he didn't why was he so popular? John 10:41 says that John did no miracles.
More on John: http://www.gbcsa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65:question-why-does-jes..
Luke 3:7 says that John called the people who were coming out to be baptized a brood of vipers. Matthew says he only said it to the Pharisees. I don't know which it is. Some have made sermons about John telling the people their state and that they need to repent (which is true for us all). But in Matthew it's directed at the Pharisees.
ReplyDeleteI baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
ReplyDeleteIs this talking about the Holy Spirit that is given to us as a deposit when we accept Jesus in? Or is there another baptism after salvation that saved people undergo?
Certainly, the Holy Spirit is given to us as a deposit when we are saved. This could be the baptism by the Holy Spirit that John was talking about.
Here is an excellent article: http://carm.org/what-baptism-holy-spirit
It basically says that we are baptized into one spirit at salvation - 1 Cor. 12:13. However, there are many Christians who claim to have had this "secondary" experience of the Spirit. Some scripture (not listing the four gospel accounts of what John said):
Acts 1:5, "for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
Acts 2:4 - "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
Acts 4:31 - "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."
Acts 11:16, "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
There is additional scripture I didn't mention.
The article goes on to conclude that there is not a clear teaching about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but that it does seem that it occurs after salvation (according to several examples in the Bible).
The article concludes that thinking wrongly about this concept could lead to division in the church (those who are baptized vs those who are not) and goes on to describe some Christians getting soaked in a torrential rain vs some who get just as soaked over a longer period of time in a mist.
I'm not sure if I did the article justice. Feel free to follow the link.