"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? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 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. 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. 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: 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."
In order to better understand what this lesson means, we should first define what is meant by the phrase, "the baptism of John".
It's obvious that John performed water baptisms, however, when a scriptural reference is made to "John's baptism", it is not always in explicit regard to the water baptisms John performed.
In many applications, such as the one mentioned in today's lesson, "his baptism", defines the entire divine mission of John. Water baptism is included, but the message John taught is the primary intent of the expression. It would be unreasonable to assume that those Jews all came out simply to watch John put people into the water, they obviously came to hear what John had to say.
The message John taught, (his baptism, in part) told the Jews to repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand.
In today's lesson, it is clear that the Pharisees, and Sadducees had come to to listen to what John was saying so that they could better plan against his doctrine and the doctrine of coming savior.
John challenged their presence, knowing their intentions, and told them that by simply being a Jew, they no longer held a special place in the eyes of God, "for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
John went on to make it clear that the water baptisms he performed were of a much lesser importance than the baptism that Jesus would bring to those who would believe in Him, "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:".
John's water baptism was "unto repentance" or toward a change of heart, or mind. The baptism Jesus brought had nothing to do with water and would lead to eternal life for all who would place their faith in Him.~
No comments:
Post a Comment