CHAPTER 3

(A.D. 26)

JOHN THE BAPTIST

¹Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (the stepson of the Emperor Augustus, whom he succeeded; he reigned from 14 B.C. to A.D. 37, consequently covering the entire span of Jesus Life and Ministry), Pontius Pilate being Governor of Judaea, and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee (he was known as Antipas; he was a son of Herod the Great, and reigned for more than forty years), and his brother Philip Tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis (the area northeast of the Sea of Galilee, which included Caesarea Philippi, which was actually built by him), and Lysa nias the Tetrarch of Abilene (referred to the district now known as southern Lebanon; the title Tetrarch meant ruler of a fourth part, but actually came to be used of all Governors).

²Annas and Caiaphas being the High Priests (the High Priests were supposed to be descendants of Aaron; however, the office was now controlled by Rome, with both men now serving somewhat in this capacity), the Word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness (it was now time for John to begin his Ministry).

³And he came into all the country about Jordan (the location of his Ministry centered around the Jordan River), preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (he was preaching personal Repentance which guaranteed remission of sins, which was to be followed by Water Baptism);

⁴As it is written in the Book of the words of Isaiah the Prophet (Isa. 40:3-5), saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (Johns Ministry was predicted by Isaiah some 800 years before), Prepare you the Way of the Lord, make His paths straight (Israel must come in line with the Word of God, inasmuch as the Messiah is about to be introduced).

⁵Every 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 (concerns a proper interpretation of the Word of God, which produces proper lives);

⁶And all flesh shall see the Salvation of God (all Israel would see the Lord Jesus Christ, their Messiah, Who is the Salvation of God).

⁷Then said he to the multitude who came forth to be baptized of him (Water Baptism in this fashion, was new to Israel), O generation of vipers (this is what the Holy Spirit through John said of the Israel of that time), who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Wrath is guaranteed to come on all Christ rejecters; this means that one can flee that wrath only by accepting Christ.)

⁸Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance (in effect, says that Water Baptism would do them no good unless there had first been Repentance, and if there was true Repentance, fruits would be evident), and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father (there is no such thing as a national salvation): for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham (proclaims John striking boldly at the very root of Jewish pride).

⁹And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees (the trees spoke of Israel, and the axe spoke of the Judgment of God; it did not say that the axe was then severing the roots, but that it was poised to do so, that is if Repentance was not forthcoming): every tree therefore which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (this is a Law of God that applies to every individual person).

¹⁰And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? (We come again, as will be obvious, to the Fruits of Repentance.)

¹¹He answered and said unto them, He who has two coats, let him impart to him who has none; and he who has meat, let him do likewise (Johns answer has no reference to the doing of these things as the cause of Salvation, but rather the result).

¹²Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? (Publicans were tax-collectors, in a sense employees of Rome and, thereby, looked at as traitors by Israel as a whole; most didnt even believe that publicans could be saved.)

¹³And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you (we find here that John treated the publicans no different than he did the Pharisees, who claimed to be so religious; the message was the same to all).

¹⁴And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? (Israel had no army, so these could very well have been Gentiles.) And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages (these men, both publicans and soldiers, are not bidden by the inspired Prophet of the Highest to change their way of life, but only its manner).

JOHNS PREDICTION OF JESUS

¹⁵And as the people were in expectation (proclaims the fact that all of Israel at that time were looking for the Messiah), and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not (had they known the Word, they would have known better);

¹⁶John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water (the best that mortal man can do, even one as holy as John the Baptist); but One mightier than I comes (only the Almighty can set men free), the latchet of Whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose (presents the humility of John, and the humility demanded of all): He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (this was made possible by the Cross, and was fulfilled according to Acts 2:4, with untold millions having received this experience):

¹⁷Whose fan is in His hand (the fan used to blow the chaff away from the wheat), and He will thoroughly purge His floor (will separate the chaff from the wheat, which is a violent process), and will gather the wheat into His garner (the wheat alone is accepted); but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable (all thats not of God will be consigned to Hell).

¹⁸And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people (preaching was Gods Way then, and preaching is Gods Way now).

¹⁹But Herod the Tetrarch, being reproved by him (by John the Baptist) for Herodias his brother Philips wife (Herod had taken Philips wife for himself), and for all the evils which Herod had done (an evil depraved man),

²⁰Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison (the Holy Spirit says that this was the worst thing Herod did; he put his hand on the Lords anointed).

JOHN BAPTIZES JESUS

²¹Now when all the people were baptized (were being baptized), it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized (this was to testify of His Death, Burial, and Resurrection, of which Water Baptism is a Type), and praying (as He came up out of the water, He came up praying), the Heaven was opened (Heaven had been closed to man since the Fall; through Jesus it would now open),

²²And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a Dove upon Him (the Holy Spirit is a Person, the Third Person of the Godhead, separate from the Father and the Son), and a Voice came from Heaven, which said (the Voice of God the Father), You are My Beloved Son (literally, as for You, in contradistinction to all others); in You I am well pleased (God is pleased with us, only as long as we are in Christ).

THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS

²³And Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age (at this age a Priest entered into his Office [Num. 4:3]; Jesus is our Great High Priest), being (as was supposed) (should have been translated, being by legal adoption) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli (Joseph was the son of Jacob [Mat. 1:16] by birth and the son of Heli by marriage; it was ordained in Num., Chpt. 36 that the man who married the daughter of a father having no son became the son of that father and inherited his property),

²⁴Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,

²⁵Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge,

²⁶Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda,

²⁷Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,

²⁸Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er,

²⁹Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,

³⁰Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim,

³¹Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,

³²Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz (Boaz), which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,

³³Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,

³⁴Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor,

³⁵Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala,

³⁶Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem (Shem), which was the son of Noe (Noah), which was the son of Lamech,

³⁷Which was the son of Mathusala (Methuselah), which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,

³⁸Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the Son of God (was a son of God by creation, and not by the Born-Again experience; it was the intention of God that humanity bring sons and daughters of God into the world, which they could do by procreation; however, due to the Fall, children cannot be born in the likeness of God, but rather in the likeness of Adam, i.e., the sinful nature; as wonderful as being in the genealogy of Christ was, some, if not many, of these individuals were not saved; and, in fact, some of them were ungodly; this proves that Salvation does not come by inheritance or genealogy; it comes only by accepting Christ as ones Saviour [Jn. 3:16]).