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.
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.
1 G1161 In G1722 those G1565 days G2250 came G3854 John G2491 the Baptist, G910 preaching G2784 in G1722 the wilderness G2048 of Judaea, G2449
2 And G2532 saying, G3004 Repent ye: G3340 for G1063 the kingdom G932 of heaven G3772 is at hand. G1448
3 For G1063 this G3778 is he G2076 that was spoken G4483 of by G5259 the prophet G4396 Esaias, G2268 saying, G3004 The voice G5456 of one crying G994 in G1722 the wilderness, G2048 Prepare ye G2090 the way G3598 of the Lord, G2962 make G4160 his G846 paths G5147 straight. G2117
4 And G1161 the same G846 John G2491 had G2192 his G846 raiment G1742 of G575 camel's G2574 hair, G2359 and G2532 a leathern G1193 girdle G2223 about G4012 his G846 loins; G3751 and G1161 his G846 meat G5160 was G2258 locusts G200 and G2532 wild G66 honey. G3192
5 Then G5119 went out G1607 to G4314 him G846 Jerusalem, G2414 and G2532 all G3956 Judaea, G2449 and G2532 all G3956 the region round about G4066 Jordan, G2446
6 And G2532 were baptized G907 of G5259 him G846 in G1722 Jordan, G2446 confessing G1843 their G846 sins. G266
7 But G1161 when he saw G1492 many G4183 of the Pharisees G5330 and G2532 Sadducees G4523 come G2064 to G1909 his G846 baptism, G908 he said G2036 unto them, G846 O generation G1081 of vipers, G2191 who G5101 hath warned G5263 you G5213 to flee G5343 from G575 the wrath G3709 to come? G3195
8 Bring forth G4160 therefore G3767 fruits G2590 meet G514 for repentance: G3341
9 And G2532 think G1380 not G3361 to say G3004 within G1722 yourselves, G1438 We have G2192 Abraham G11 to our father: G3962 for G1063 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 that G3754 God G2316 is able G1410 of G1537 these G5130 stones G3037 to raise up G1453 children G5043 unto Abraham. G11
10 And G1161 now G2235 also G2532 the axe G513 is laid G2749 unto G4314 the root G4491 of the trees: G1186 therefore G3767 every G3956 tree G1186 which bringeth G4160 not G3361 forth G4160 good G2570 fruit G2590 is hewn down, G1581 and G2532 cast G906 into G1519 the fire. G4442
11 I G1473 indeed G3303 baptize G907 you G5209 with G1722 water G5204 unto G1519 repentance: G3341 but G1161 he that cometh G2064 after G3694 me G3450 is G2076 mightier than G2478 I, G3450 whose G3739 shoes G5266 I am G1510 not G3756 worthy G2425 to bear: G941 he G846 shall baptize G907 you G5209 with G1722 the Holy G40 Ghost, G4151 and G2532 with fire: G4442
12 Whose G3739 fan G4425 is in G1722 his G846 hand, G5495 and G2532 he will throughly purge G1245 his G846 floor, G257 and G2532 gather G4863 his G846 wheat G4621 into G1519 the garner; G596 but G1161 he will burn up G2618 the chaff G892 with unquenchable G762 fire. G4442
13 Then G5119 cometh G3854 Jesus G2424 from G575 Galilee G1056 to G1909 Jordan G2446 unto G4314 John, G2491 to be baptized G907 of G5259 him. G846
14 But G1161 John G2491 forbad G1254 him, saying, G3004 I G1473 have G2192 need G5532 to be baptized G907 of G5259 thee, G4675 and G2532 comest G2064 thou G4771 to G4314 me? G3165
15 And G1161 Jesus G2424 answering G611 said G2036 unto G4314 him, G846 Suffer G863 it to be so now: G737 for G1063 thus G3779 it becometh G4241 G2076 us G2254 to fulfil G4137 all G3956 righteousness. G1343 Then G5119 he suffered G863 him. G846
16 And G2532 Jesus, G2424 when he was baptized, G907 went up G305 straightway G2117 out of G575 the water: G5204 and, G2532 lo, G2400 the heavens G3772 were opened G455 unto him, G846 and G2532 he saw G1492 the Spirit G4151 of God G2316 descending G2597 like G5616 a dove, G4058 and G2532 lighting G2064 upon G1909 him: G846
17 And G2532 lo G2400 a voice G5456 from G1537 heaven, G3772 saying, G3004 This G3778 is G2076 my G3450 beloved G27 Son, G5207 in G1722 whom G3739 I am well pleased. G2106
1 And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying,
2 Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight.
4 Now John himself had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan;
6 and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of 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 even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
11 I indeed baptize you in 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 in the Holy Spirit and `in' fire:
12 whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John would have hindered him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15 But Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer `it' now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffereth him.
16 And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him;
17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
1 And in those days cometh John the Baptist, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea,
2 and saying, `Reform, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens,'
3 for this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, `A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye His paths.'
4 And this John had his clothing of camel's hair, and a girdle of skin round his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and honey of the field.
5 Then were going forth unto him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about the Jordan,
6 and they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing their sins.
7 And having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming about his baptism, he said to them, `Brood of vipers! who did shew you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 bear, therefore, fruits worthy of the reformation,
9 and do not think to say in yourselves, A father we have -- Abraham, for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise children to Abraham,
10 and now also, the axe unto the root of the trees is laid, every tree therefore not bearing good fruit is hewn down, and to fire is cast.
11 `I indeed do baptize you with water to reformation, but he who after me is coming is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to bear the sandals, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,
12 whose fan `is' in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather his wheat to the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.'
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee upon the Jordan, unto John to be baptized by him,
14 but John was forbidding him, saying, `I have need by thee to be baptized -- and thou dost come unto me!'
15 But Jesus answering said to him, `Suffer now, for thus it is becoming to us to fulfill all righteousness,' then he doth suffer him.
16 And having been baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water, and lo, opened to him were the heavens, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him,
17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, `This is My Son -- the Beloved, in whom I did delight.'
1 Now in those days comes John the baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2 and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.
3 For this is he who has been spoken of through Esaias the prophet, saying, Voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: prepare ye the way of [the] Lord, make straight his paths.
4 And John himself had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his nourishment was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the country round the Jordan,
6 and were baptised by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Produce therefore fruit worthy of repentance.
9 And do not think to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for [our] father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
10 And already the axe is applied to the root of the trees; every tree therefore not producing good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.
11 *I* indeed baptise you with water to repentance, but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not fit to bear; *he* shall baptise you with [the] Holy Spirit and fire;
12 whose winnowing fan [is] in his hand, and he shall thoroughly purge his threshing-floor, and shall gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
13 Then comes Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised of him;
14 but John urgently forbad him, saying, *I* have need to be baptised of thee; and comest *thou* to me?
15 But Jesus answering said to him, Suffer [it] now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffers him.
16 And Jesus, having been baptised, went up straightway from the water, and lo, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him:
17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight.
1 In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
2 "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"
3 For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight."
4 Now John himself wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him.
6 They were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bring forth fruit worthy of repentance!
9 Don't think to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
10 "Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn't bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
11 I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.{TR and NU add "and with fire"}
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire."
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
14 But John would have hindered him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?"
15 But Jesus, answering, said to him, "Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed him.
16 Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.
17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
1 And in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the waste land of Judaea,
2 Saying, Let your hearts be turned from sin; for the kingdom of heaven is near.
3 For this is he of whom Isaiah the prophet said, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight.
4 Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey.
5 Then Jerusalem and all Judaea went out to him, and all the people from near Jordan;
6 And they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying openly that they had done wrong.
7 But when he saw a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come?
8 Let your change of heart be seen in your works:
9 And say not to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father; because I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children for Abraham.
10 And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire.
11 Truly, I give baptism with water to those of you whose hearts are changed; but he who comes after me is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to take up: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire:
12 In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned up in the fire which will never be put out.
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be given baptism by him.
14 But John would have kept him back, saying, It is I who have need of baptism from you, and do you come to me?
15 But Jesus made answer, saying to him, Let it be so now: because so it is right for us to make righteousness complete. Then he gave him baptism.
16 And Jesus, having been given baptism, straight away went up from the water; and, the heavens opening, he saw the Spirit of God coming down on him as a dove;
17 And a voice came out of heaven, saying, This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Matthew 3
Commentary on Matthew 3 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 3
Mt 3:1-12. Preaching and Ministry of John. ( = Mr 1:1-8; Lu 3:1-18).
For the proper introduction to this section, we must go to Lu 3:1, 2. Here, as Bengel well observes, the curtain of the New Testament is, as it were, drawn up, and the greatest of all epochs of the Church commences. Even our Lord's own age is determined by it (Lu 3:23). No such elaborate chronological precision is to be found elsewhere in the New Testament, and it comes fitly from him who claims it as the peculiar recommendation of his Gospel, that "he had traced down all things with precision from the very first" (Mt 1:3). Here evidently commences his proper narrative.
Lu 3:1:
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar—not the fifteenth from his full accession on the death of Augustus, but from the period when he was associated with him in the government of the empire, three years earlier, about the end of the year of Rome 779, or about four years before the usual reckoning.
Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea—His proper title was procurator, but with more than the usual powers of that office. After holding it for about ten years, he was summoned to Rome to answer to charges brought against him; but ere he arrived, Tiberius died (A.D. 35), and soon after miserable Pilate committed suicide.
And Herod being tetrarch of Galilee—(See on Mr 6:14).
and his brother Philip—a very different and very superior Philip to the one whose name was Herod Philip, and whose wife, Herodias, went to live with Herod Antipas (see on Mr 6:17).
tetrarch of Ituræa—lying to the northeast of Palestine, and so called from Itur or Jetur, Ishmael's son (1Ch 1:31), and anciently belonging to the half-tribe of Manasseh.
and of the region of Trachonitis—lying farther to the northeast, between Iturea and Damascus; a rocky district infested by robbers, and committed by Augustus to Herod the Great to keep in order.
and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene—still more to the northeast; so called, says Robinson, from Abila, eighteen miles from Damascus.
Lu 3:2:
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests—The former, though deposed, retained much of his influence, and, probably, as sagan or deputy, exercised much of the power of the high priesthood along with Caiaphas, his son-in-law (Joh 18:13; Ac 4:6). In David's time both Zadok and Abiathar acted as high priests (2Sa 15:35), and it seems to have been the fixed practice to have two (2Ki 25:18).
the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness—Such a way of speaking is never once used when speaking of Jesus, because He was Himself The Living Word; whereas to all merely creature-messengers of God, the word they spoke was a foreign element. See on Joh 3:31. We are now prepared for the opening words of Matthew.
1. In those days—of Christ's secluded life at Nazareth, where the last chapter left Him.
came John the Baptist, preaching—about six months before his Master.
in the wilderness of Judea—the desert valley of the Jordan, thinly peopled and bare in pasture, a little north of Jerusalem.
2. And saying, Repent ye—Though the word strictly denotes a change of mind, it has respect here (and wherever it is used in connection with salvation) primarily to that sense of sin which leads the sinner to flee from the wrath to come, to look for relief only from above, and eagerly to fall in with the provided remedy.
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand—This sublime phrase, used in none of the other Gospels, occurs in this peculiarly Jewish Gospel nearly thirty times; and being suggested by Daniel's grand vision of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days, to receive His investiture in a world-wide kingdom (Da 7:13, 14), it was fitted at once both to meet the national expectations and to turn them into the right channel. A kingdom for which repentance was the proper preparation behooved to be essentially spiritual. Deliverance from sin, the great blessing of Christ's kingdom (Mt 1:21), can be valued by those only to whom sin is a burden (Mt 9:12). John's great work, accordingly, was to awaken this feeling and hold out the hope of a speedy and precious remedy.
3. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying—(Mt 11:3).
The voice of one crying in the wilderness—(See on Lu 3:2); the scene of his ministry corresponding to its rough nature.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight—This prediction is quoted in all the four Gospels, showing that it was regarded as a great outstanding one, and the predicted forerunner as the connecting link between the old and the new economies. Like the great ones of the earth, the Prince of peace was to have His immediate approach proclaimed and His way prepared; and the call here—taking it generally—is a call to put out of the way whatever would obstruct His progress and hinder His complete triumph, whether those hindrances were public or personal, outward or inward. In Luke (Lu 3:5, 6) the quotation is thus continued: "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; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." Levelling and smoothing are here the obvious figures whose sense is conveyed in the first words of the proclamation—"Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The idea is that every obstruction shall be so removed as to reveal to the whole world the salvation of God in Him whose name is the "Saviour." (Compare Ps 98:3; Isa 11:10; 49:6; 52:10; Lu 2:31, 32; Ac 13:47).
4. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair—woven of it.
and a leathern girdle about his loins—the prophetic dress of Elijah (2Ki 1:8; and see Zec 13:4).
and his meat was locusts—the great, well-known Eastern locust, a food of the poor (Le 11:22).
and wild honey—made by wild bees (1Sa 14:25, 26). This dress and diet, with the shrill cry in the wilderness, would recall the stern days of Elijah.
5. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan—From the metropolitan center to the extremities of the Judean province the cry of this great preacher of repentance and herald of the approaching Messiah brought trooping penitents and eager expectants.
6. And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins—probably confessing aloud. This baptism was at once a public seal of their felt need of deliverance from sin, of their expectation of the coming Deliverer, and of their readiness to welcome Him when He appeared. The baptism itself startled, and was intended to startle, them. They were familiar enough with the baptism of proselytes from heathenism; but this baptism of Jews themselves was quite new and strange to them.
7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them—astonished at such a spectacle.
O generation of vipers—"Viper brood," expressing the deadly influence of both sects alike upon the community. Mutually and entirely antagonistic as were their religious principles and spirit, the stern prophet charges both alike with being the poisoners of the nation's religious principles. In Mt 12:34; 23:33, this strong language of the Baptist is anew applied by the faithful and true Witness to the Pharisees specifically—the only party that had zeal enough actively to diffuse this poison.
who hath warned you—given you the hint, as the idea is.
to flee from the wrath to come?—"What can have brought you hither?" John more than suspected it was not so much their own spiritual anxieties as the popularity of his movement that had drawn them thither. What an expression is this, "The wrath to come!" God's "wrath," in Scripture, is His righteous displeasure against sin, and consequently against all in whose skirts sin is found, arising out of the essential and eternal opposition of His nature to all moral evil. This is called "the coming wrath," not as being wholly future—for as a merited sentence it lies on the sinner already, and its effects, both inward and outward, are to some extent experienced even now—but because the impenitent sinner will not, until "the judgment of the great day," be concluded under it, will not have sentence publicly and irrevocably passed upon him, will not have it discharged upon him and experience its effects without mixture and without hope. In this view of it, it is a wrath wholly to come, as is implied in the noticeably different form of the expression employed by the apostle in 1Th 1:10. Not that even true penitents came to John's baptism with all these views of "the wrath to come." But what he says is that this was the real import of the step itself. In this view of it, how striking is the word he employs to express that step—fleeing from it—as of one who, beholding a tide of fiery wrath rolling rapidly towards him, sees in instant flight his only escape!
8. Bring forth therefore fruits—the true reading clearly is "fruit";
meet for repentance—that is, such fruit as befits a true penitent. John now being gifted with a knowledge of the human heart, like a true minister of righteousness and lover of souls here directs them how to evidence and carry out their repentance, supposing it genuine; and in the following verses warns them of their danger in case it were not.
9. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father—that pillow on which the nation so fatally reposed, that rock on which at length it split.
for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham—that is, "Flatter not yourselves with the fond delusion that God stands in need of you, to make good His promise of a seed to Abraham; for I tell you that, though you were all to perish, God is as able to raise up a seed to Abraham out of those stones as He was to take Abraham himself out of the rock whence he was hewn, out of the hole of the pit whence he was digged" (Isa 51:1). Though the stern speaker may have pointed as he spoke to the pebbles of the bare clay hills that lay around (so Stanley's Sinai and Palestine), it was clearly the calling of the Gentiles—at that time stone-dead in their sins, and quite as unconscious of it—into the room of unbelieving and disinherited Israel that he meant thus to indicate (see Mt 21:43; Ro 11:20, 30).
10. And now also—And even already.
the axe is laid unto—"lieth at."
the root of the trees—as it were ready to strike: an expressive figure of impending judgment, only to be averted in the way next described.
therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire—Language so personal and individual as this can scarcely be understood of any national judgment like the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, with the breaking up of the Jewish polity and the extrusion of the chosen people from their peculiar privileges which followed it; though this would serve as the dark shadow, cast before, of a more terrible retribution to come. The "fire," which in another verse is called "unquenchable," can be no other than that future "torment" of the impenitent whose "smoke ascendeth up for ever and ever," and which by the Judge Himself is styled "everlasting punishment" (Mt 25:46). What a strength, too, of just indignation is in that word "cast" or "flung into the fire!"
The third Gospel here adds the following important particulars in Lu 3:10-16.
Lu 3:10:
And the people—the multitudes.
asked him, saying, What shall we do then?—that is, to show the sincerity of our repentance.
Lu 3:11:
He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat—provisions, victuals.
let him do likewise—This is directed against the reigning avarice and selfishness. (Compare the corresponding precepts of the Sermon on the Mount, Mt 5:40-42).
Lu 3:12:
Then came also the publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master—Teacher.
what shall we do?—In what special way is the genuineness of our repentance to be manifested?
Lu 3:13:
And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you—This is directed against that extortion which made the publicans a byword. (See on Mt 5:46; Lu 15:1).
Lu 3:14:
And the soldiers—rather, "And soldiers"—the word means "soldiers on active duty."
likewise demanded—asked.
of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man—Intimidate. The word signifies to "shake thoroughly," and refers probably to the extorting of money or other property.
neither accuse any falsely—by acting as informers vexatiously on frivolous or false pretexts.
and be content with your wages—or "rations." We may take this, say Webster and Wilkinson, as a warning against mutiny, which the officers attempted to suppress by largesses and donations. And thus the "fruits" which would evidence their repentance were just resistance to the reigning sins—particularly of the class to which the penitent belonged—and the manifestation of an opposite spirit.
Lu 3:15:
And as the people were in expectation—in a state of excitement, looking for something new
and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not—rather, "whether he himself might be the Christ." The structure of this clause implies that they could hardly think it, but yet could not help asking themselves whether it might not be; showing both how successful he had been in awakening the expectation of Messiah's immediate appearing, and the high estimation and even reverence, which his own character commanded.
Lu 3:16:
John answered—either to that deputation from Jerusalem, of which we read in Joh 1:19, &c., or on some other occasion, to remove impressions derogatory to his blessed Master, which he knew to be taking hold of the popular mind.
saying unto them all—in solemn protestation.
(We now return to the first Gospel.)
11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance—(See on Mt 3:6);
but he that cometh after me is mightier than I—In Mark and Luke this is more emphatic—"But there cometh the Mightier than I" (Mr 1:7; Lu 3:16).
whose shoes—sandals.
I am not worthy to bear—The sandals were tied and untied, and borne about by the meanest servants.
he shall baptize you—the emphatic "He": "He it is," to the exclusion of all others, "that shall baptize you."
with the Holy Ghost—"So far from entertaining such a thought as laying claim to the honors of Messiahship, the meanest services I can render to that 'Mightier than I that is coming after me' are too high an honor for me; I am but the servant, but the Master is coming; I administer but the outward symbol of purification; His it is, as His sole prerogative, to dispense the inward reality." Beautiful spirit, distinguishing this servant of Christ throughout!
and with fire—To take this as a distinct baptism from that of the Spirit—a baptism of the impenitent with hell-fire—is exceedingly unnatural. Yet this was the view of Origen among the Fathers; and among moderns, of Neander, Meyer, De Wette, and Lange. Nor is it much better to refer it to the fire of the great day, by which the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Clearly, as we think, it is but the fiery character of the Spirit's operations upon the soul—searching, consuming, refining, sublimating—as nearly all good interpreters understand the words. And thus, in two successive clauses, the two most familiar emblems—water and fire—are employed to set forth the same purifying operations of the Holy Ghost upon the soul.
12. Whose fan—winnowing fan.
is in his hand—ready for use. This is no other than the preaching of the Gospel, even now beginning, the effect of which would be to separate the solid from the spiritually worthless, as wheat, by the winnowing fan, from the chaff. (Compare the similar representation in Mal 3:1-3).
and he will throughly purge his floor—threshing-floor; that is, the visible Church.
and gather his wheat—His true-hearted saints; so called for their solid worth (compare Am 9:9; Lu 22:31).
into the garner—"the kingdom of their Father," as this "garner" or "barn" is beautifully explained by our Lord in the parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt 13:30, 43).
but he will burn up the chaff—empty, worthless professors of religion, void of all solid religious principle and character (see Ps 1:4).
with unquenchable fire—Singular is the strength of this apparent contradiction of figures:—to be burnt up, but with a fire that is unquenchable; the one expressing the utter destruction of all that constitutes one's true life, the other the continued consciousness of existence in that awful condition.
Luke adds the following important particulars (Lu 3:18-20):
Lu 3:18:
And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people—showing that we have here but an abstract of his teaching. Besides what we read in Joh 1:29, 33, 34; 3:27-36, the incidental allusion to his having taught his disciples to pray (Lu 11:1)—of which not a word is said elsewhere—shows how varied his teaching was.
Lu 3:19:
But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done—In this last clause we have an important fact, here only mentioned, showing how thoroughgoing was the fidelity of the Baptist to his royal hearer, and how strong must have been the workings of conscience in that slave of passion when, notwithstanding such plainness, he "did many things, and heard John gladly" (Mr 6:20).
Lu 3:20:
Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison—This imprisonment of John, however, did not take place for some time after this; and it is here recorded merely because the Evangelist did not intend to recur to his history till he had occasion to relate the message which he sent to Christ from his prison at Machærus (Lu 7:18, &c.).
Mt 3:13-17. Baptism of Christ and Descent of the Spirit upon Him Immediately Thereafter. ( = Mr 1:9-11; Lu 3:21, 22; Joh 1:31-34).
Baptism of Christ (Mt 3:13-15).
13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him—Moses rashly anticipated the divine call to deliver his people, and for this was fain to flee the house of bondage, and wait in obscurity for forty years more (Ex 2:11, &c.). Not so this greater than Moses. All but thirty years had He now spent in privacy at Nazareth, gradually ripening for His public work, and calmly awaiting the time appointed of the Father. Now it had arrived; and this movement from Galilee to Jordan is the step, doubtless, of deepest interest to all heaven since that first one which brought Him into the world. Luke (Lu 3:21) has this important addition—"Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus being baptized," &c.—implying that Jesus waited till all other applicants for baptism that day had been disposed of, ere He stepped forward, that He might not seem to be merely one of the crowd. Thus, as He rode into Jerusalem upon an ass "whereon yet never man sat" (Lu 19:30), and lay in a sepulchre "wherein was never man yet laid" (Joh 19:41), so in His baptism, too. He would be "separate from sinners."
14. But John forbade him—rather, "was (in the act of) hindering him," or "attempting to hinder him."
saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?—(How John came to recognize Him, when he says he knew Him not, see on John 1. 31-34.) The emphasis of this most remarkable speech lies all in the pronouns: "What! Shall the Master come for baptism to the servant—the sinless Saviour to a sinner?" That thus much is in the Baptist's words will be clearly seen if it be observed that he evidently regarded Jesus as Himself needing no purification but rather qualified to impart it to those who did. And do not all his other testimonies to Christ fully bear out this sense of the words? But it were a pity if, in the glory of this testimony to Christ, we should miss the beautiful spirit in which it was borne—"Lord, must I baptize Thee? Can I bring myself to do such a thing?"—reminding us of Peter's exclamation at the supper table, "Lord, dost Thou wash my feet?" while it has nothing of the false humility and presumption which dictated Peter's next speech. "Thou shalt never wash my feet" (Joh 13:6, 8).
15. And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now—"Let it pass for the present"; that is, "Thou recoilest, and no wonder, for the seeming incongruity is startling; but in the present case do as thou art bidden."
for thus it becometh us—"us," not in the sense of "me and thee," or "men in general," but as in Joh 3:11.
to fulfil all righteousness—If this be rendered, with Scrivener, "every ordinance," or, with Campbell, "every institution," the meaning is obvious enough; and the same sense is brought out by "all righteousness," or compliance with everything enjoined, baptism included. Indeed, if this be the meaning, our version perhaps best brings out the force of the opening word "Thus." But we incline to think that our Lord meant more than this. The import of circumcision and of baptism seems to be radically the same. And if our remarks on the circumcision of our Lord (see on Lu 2:21-24) are well founded, He would seem to have said, "Thus do I impledge Myself to the whole righteousness of the Law—thus symbolically do enter on and engage to fulfil it all." Let the thoughtful reader weigh this.
Then he suffered him—with true humility, yielding to higher authority than his own impressions of propriety.
Descent of the Spirit upon the Baptized Redeemer (Mt 3:16, 17).
16. And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water—rather, "from the water." Mark has "out of the water" (Mr 1:10). "and"—adds Luke (Lu 3:21), "while He was praying"; a grand piece of information. Can there be a doubt about the burden of that prayer; a prayer sent up, probably, while yet in the water—His blessed head suffused with the baptismal element; a prayer continued likely as He stepped out of the stream, and again stood upon the dry ground; the work before Him, the needed and expected Spirit to rest upon Him for it, and the glory He would then put upon the Father that sent Him—would not these fill His breast, and find silent vent in such form as this?—"Lo, I come; I delight to do Thy will, O God. Father, glorify Thy name. Show Me a token for good. Let the Spirit of the Lord God come upon Me, and I will preach the Gospel to the poor, and heal the broken-hearted, and send forth judgment unto victory." While He was yet speaking—
lo, the heavens were opened—Mark says, sublimely, "He saw the heavens cleaving" (Mr 1:10).
and he saw the Spirit of God descending—that is, He only, with the exception of His honored servant, as he tells us himself (Joh 1:32-34); the by-standers apparently seeing nothing.
like a dove, and lighting upon him—Luke says, "in a bodily shape" (Lu 3:22); that is, the blessed Spirit, assuming the corporeal form of a dove, descended thus upon His sacred head. But why in this form? The Scripture use of this emblem will be our best guide here. "My dove, my undefiled is one," says the Song of Solomon (So 6:9). This is chaste purity. Again, "Be ye harmless as doves," says Christ Himself (Mt 10:16). This is the same thing, in the form of inoffensiveness towards men. "A conscience void of offense toward God and toward men" (Ac 24:16) expresses both. Further, when we read in the Song of Solomon (So 2:14), "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rocks, in the secret places of the stairs (see Isa 60:8), let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely"—it is shrinking modesty, meekness, gentleness, that is thus charmingly depicted. In a word—not to allude to the historical emblem of the dove that flew back to the ark, bearing in its mouth the olive leaf of peace (Ge 8:11)—when we read (Ps 68:13), "Ye shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold," it is beauteousness that is thus held forth. And was not such that "holy, harmless, undefiled One," the "separate from sinners?" "Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy lips; therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever!" But the fourth Gospel gives us one more piece of information here, on the authority of one who saw and testified of it: "John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and IT ABODE UPON Him." And lest we should think that this was an accidental thing, he adds that this last particular was expressly given him as part of the sign by which he was to recognize and identify Him as the Son of God: "And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending AND REMAINING ON Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God" (Joh 1:32-34). And when with this we compare the predicted descent of the Spirit upon Messiah (Isa 11:2), "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him," we cannot doubt that it was this permanent and perfect resting of the Holy Ghost upon the Son of God—now and henceforward in His official capacity—that was here visibly manifested.
17. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is—Mark and Luke give it in the direct form, "Thou art." (Mr 1:11; Lu 3:22).
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased—The verb is put in the aorist to express absolute complacency, once and for ever felt towards Him. The English here, at least to modern ears, is scarcely strong enough. "I delight" comes the nearest, perhaps, to that ineffable complacency which is manifestly intended; and this is the rather to be preferred, as it would immediately carry the thoughts back to that august Messianic prophecy to which the voice from heaven plainly alluded (Isa 42:1), "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; Mine Elect, IN WHOM My soul delighteth." Nor are the words which follow to be overlooked, "I have put My Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." (The Septuagint perverts this, as it does most of the Messianic predictions, interpolating the word "Jacob," and applying it to the Jews). Was this voice heard by the by-standers? From Matthew's form of it, one might suppose it so designed; but it would appear that it was not, and probably John only heard and saw anything peculiar about that great baptism. Accordingly, the words, "Hear ye Him," are not added, as at the Transfiguration.