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John and the Long Arm of the Law
Soldiers also asked John, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” (Luke 3:14) This third group of people who come to John the Baptist asking, what then should we do? gets an answer that I want…
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Evangelical Pastor John
And the crowds asked John, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him,“Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no…
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I Must Decrease…Or Must I? (Part 3 of 3)
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized—John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison. Now a discussion about…
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I Must Decrease…Or Must I? (Part 2 of 3)
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized—John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison. Now a discussion about…
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I Must Decrease…Or Must I? (Part 1 of 3)
Finally moving on from Matthew 3! Here’s a story about John the Baptist from the book written by another dude whose name was also John: After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because…
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Fire Baptism
I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his…
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Making Good Fruit
Make fruit worthy of repentance…already the ax is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not make good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. -John the Baptist (Matthew 3:8,10) When I think of a truly repentant person (myself or others), I tend to think of someone who feels…
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Brood of Vipers (Part 2 of 2)
But when John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7). (Same verse as yesterday, new thought.) It must not have been very fun to be called a brood of vipers―the offspring of a venomous…
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Unsatisfying Apologies
And they were baptized by John in the Jordan river, confessing their sins. (Matthew 3:7) Confession can be a vague thing. It might sound like someone is confessing to a crime, or confessing their love. It might conjure up images of a confessional booth in a Catholic church, where a priest listens through a little…