Matthew E-Book

Brian Simmons

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: The Passion Translation
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 260

Beschreibung

Four hundred years of silence. Where was the promised Messiah?  The Jewish people were waiting for word of the prophets to come true, for they prophesied that he would come. Then the angel Gabriel announced his birth.  Wise men sought him. Herod wanted to kill him. John the Baptist presented him to Israel. God anointed him. Satan cruelly tempted him. Then the King came into the Jewish meeting house and announced:  "I am here! I have come to set you free and to wash away sins, And liberate those who love and follow me."  It is believed that Matthew was the first apostle to write a gospel, possibly as early as 50 AD. He was a wealthy tax collector who profited greatly from his duty of representing Rome. And then one day, the Man from Galilee stood in front of him and said, "Come follow me."  

Leseprobe

Matthew: Our Loving King, The Passion Translation®

Translated directly from the original Greek and Aramaic texts by Dr. Brian Simmons

Published by BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC

Racine, Wisconsin, USA

www.broadstreetpublishing.com

© 2014 The Passion Translation®

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-4971-9 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-4972-6 (e-book)

The text of Matthew: Our Loving King, The Passion Translation®, may be quoted up to and including thirty (30) verses without written permission from the publisher. When Matthew: Our Loving King, The Passion Translation®, is quoted, one of the following credit lines must appear on the copyright page of the work:

Scripture quotations marked TPT are taken from Matthew: Our Loving King, The Passion Translation®, copyright © 2014. Used by permission of BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC, Racine, Wisconsin, USA. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from Matthew: Our Loving King, The Passion Translation®, copyright © 2014. Used by permission of BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC, Racine, Wisconsin, USA. All rights reserved.

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Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

Twenty-one

Twenty-two

Twenty-three

Twenty-four

Twenty-five

Twenty-six

Twenty-seven

Twenty-eight

About the Translator

Translator’s Introduction to Matthew

AT A GLANCE

Author: Matthew, the former Jewish tax collector and disciple of Jesus

Audience: Originally, the Jewish Christian church and the Jewish people

Date: AD 55–80

Type of Literature: Ancient historical biography

Major Themes: Gospel-telling, Old Testament fulfillment, heaven’s kingdom realm, kingdom-realm living

Outline:

Jesus’ Birth and Ministry Preparation — 1:1–4:11

Jesus Teaches His Kingdom Realm — 4:12–7:29

Jesus Demonstrates His Kingdom Realm — 8:1–11:1

Jesus Is Opposed — 11:2–13:53

Jesus Disciples His Disciples — 13:54–18:35

Jesus Marches to the Cross — 19:1–25:46

Jesus Dies, Rises, and Sends — 26:1–28:20

ABOUT MATTHEW

Four centuries of silence. Where was the promised Messiah? The Jewish people were waiting for the word of the prophets to come true, for they had prophesied that he would come. Then suddenly, the angel Gabriel made an appearance to a teenage girl to announce his birth. Shepherds saw a brilliant angelic light show on the hillside.

Wise men went out in search of him.

The light of the star shined over his manger.

Insecure Herod wanted to kill him.

Satan cruelly tested him.

The prophet John presented him to Israel.

God anointed him with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then one day the King came into the Jewish meeting house and announced: “I’m here! I’ve come to set you free and to wash away sins, and liberate those who love and follow me.”

We can thank God for Matthew, for in his gospel he presents our eternal King. Matthew means “gift of Yahweh,” and he lives up to his name. Thank you, Matthew, for the gift of your life and for what you have left for us in your gospel!

PURPOSE

Matthew is a natural bridge between the Old Testament and the New because it has the most Jewish character. From the first verse to the last, Matthew establishes Jesus as a direct descendant of King David, preserving and fulfilling his royal line as the rightful heir as well as a descendant of Abraham, the father of Israel.

Furthermore, Matthew portrays Jesus as the new and greater Moses, who not only upholds the Jewish Torah but intensifies it—not in a legalistic way, but in a spiritual way, because following his teachings is the way into his heavenly kingdom realm.

It would be a mistake, however, to say there is only one purpose for this book. While one primary purpose is to communicate the Jesus story to the Jewish people, Matthew also means to communicate Jesus’ story to us. One particular aspect of the Jesus story that Matthew wants to share is that Jesus is King of a heavenly kingdom realm. Mark and Luke also speak of God’s kingdom realm, but Matthew focuses on how people behave as citizens of that realm, with Jesus as their loving King.

AUTHOR AND AUDIENCE

It is believed that Matthew may have been the first apostle to write a gospel, and he possibly wrote it in Hebrew (Aramaic). Though some maintain that Matthew wrote his gospel after the destruction of the temple in AD 70, it’s possible he wrote it anywhere between AD 55 to the mid-60s. He was a wealthy tax collector who profited greatly from his duty of representing Rome. And then one day, the Man from Galilee stood in front of him and said, “Come, follow me.”

There continues to be debate over the original language of Matthew’s account. In AD 170 Eusebius quoted Irenaeus as saying, “Matthew published his gospel among the Hebrews in their own language, while Peter and Paul in Rome were preaching and founding the church.”a This, along with numerous other quotations from church fathers (Origen, Jerome, Augustine) would mean that the original manuscript of Matthew’s gospel was written in Hebrew. Regardless, it is without dispute that Matthew was a Jewish man who presents a Jewish King who now sits on the throne of glory for all people.

Perhaps an unbiased look at the Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts would yield further nuances of our Jewish heritage as believers in Yeshua and would strengthen our understanding of the inspired Scriptures. You will find ample footnotes throughout this translation to assist you in your study.

MAJOR THEMES

Gospel-Telling. The word gospel doesn’t simply mean “good news.” It is derived from the Greek verb euangelizomai, which means “to preach the good news.” In other words, Matthew is writing to tell us heaven’s truths embedded in the earthly events of the Man Jesus. Matthew isn’t giving us dry theology, but sharing stories and teachings designed in such a way as to unfold the majestic, magisterial person of Jesus, who embodies all of our theologies!

Old Testament. As the first book of the New Testament, Matthew connects the past with the present and with the future. He quotes sixty times from the Old Testament, showing us that the New was enfolded in the Old, while the New Testament is the Old Testament unfolded and explained. The Old Testament is more central in Matthew than in any other gospel, both in frequency and in emphasis. If the Jewish story is always pointing forward, Matthew’s gospel is its final act. It brings resolution to the Old Testament by presenting King Jesus and His kingdom realm and community as fulfilling their prophetic expectations.

Parables. There are unique components to Matthew’s gospel. For example, he records extensively the allegorical teachings of Jesus known as parables. Twelve are detailed by Matthew, and nine of them are unique to this account. He gives us two miracles of Jesus that are found nowhere else: the healing of two blind men and the miracle coin found in the fish’s mouth. It is through these simple stories that the nature of both our King and his kingdom really come to life!

Heavenly Kingdom Realm. Matthew brings us the realm of the heavenly kingdom and sets its virtue and reality before us. The phrase “kingdom realm” is used nearly forty times as Jesus offers it to you and me. And Jesus is described as the King fourteen times. This is the gospel of the King and his kingdom, but a different kingdom than even his followers expected. For the kingdom realm that Jesus ushered in would not liberate the Jewish people from oppression from the Roman government as they expected—we can define neither the King nor his kingdom ourselves. Instead, he offers not only Jews but every person access to an eternal, heavenly realm free from the consequences of sin and an oasis to refresh our lives!

Kingdom-Realm Living. Matthew’s gospel isn’t only about our loving King and his kingdom, it’s also about his subjects who act and live within that kingdom. The church is the community of Christ’s heavenly kingdom realm, and Jesus’ sermon on the hillside is the final Torah of the kingdom realm. For Matthew, a godly lover (the “righteous”) is someone who has chosen to submit to Jesus as King and whose life is lived in accordance with his ethics.

A WORD ABOUT THE PASSION TRANSLATION

The message of God’s story is timeless; the Word of God doesn’t change. But the methods by which that story is communicated should be timely; the vessels that steward God’s Word can and should change.

One of those timely methods and vessels is Bible translation. Bible translations are both a gift and a problem. They give us the words God spoke through his servants, but words can be very poor containers for revelation because they leak! The meanings of words change from one generation to the next. Meaning is influenced by culture, background, and a thousand other details. You can imagine how differently the Hebrew authors of the Old Testament saw the world three thousand years ago.

There is no such thing as a truly literal translation of the Bible, for there is not an equivalent language that perfectly conveys the meaning of the biblical text except as it is understood in its original cultural and linguistic setting. Therefore, a translation can be a problem. The problem, however, is solved when we seek to transfer meaning, not merely words, from the original text to the receptor language.

The Passion Translation is a groundbreaking attempt to reintroduce the passion and fire of the Bible to the English reader. It doesn’t merely convey the original, literal meaning of words. It expresses God’s passion for people and his world by translating the original, life-changing message of God’s Word for modern readers.

God longs to have his Word expressed in every language in a way that would unlock the “passion” of his heart. Our goal is to trigger inside every English speaker an overwhelming response to the truth of the Bible, unfiltered by religious jargon. This is a heart-level translation, from the passion of God’s heart to the passion of your heart.

We pray and trust that this version of God’s Word will kindle in you a burning, passionate desire for him and his heart, while impacting the church for years to come!

—Dr. Brian Simmons

a   Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica III. 24.5–6 and V. 8, 2.

One

From Abraham to Christ

1This is the scroll of the lineage and birtha of Jesus,b the Anointed One, the descendant of both David and Abraham.

2Abraham had a son named Isaac, who had a son named Jacob, who had a son named Judah (he and his brothers became the tribes of Israel)c.

3Judah and Tamard had twin sons, Perez and Hezron. Perez had a son named Hezron, who had a son named Ram, 4who had a son named Ammi-nadab, who had a son named Nashon, 5who had a son named Salmon, who, along with Rahab, had a son named Boaz. Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, who was the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse had a son named David, who became the king.e

7Then David and Bathshebaf had a son named Solomon, who had a son named Rehoboam, who had a son named Abijah, who had a son named Asa, 8who had a son named Jehoshaphat, who had a son named Joram, who had a son named Uzziah, 9who had a son named Jotham, who had a son named Ahaz, who had a son named Hezekiah, 10who had a son named Manasseh, who had a son named Amos,g who had a son named Josiah, 11who was the father of Jeconiah.h

It was during the days of Jeconiah and his brothers that Israel was taken captive and deported to Babylon. 12About the time of their captivity in Babylon, Jeconiah had a son named Shealtiel, who had a son named Zerubbabel, 13who had a son named Abiud, who had a son named Eliakim, 14who had a son named Azor, who had a son named Zadok, who had a son named Achim, who had a son named Eliud, 15who had a son named Eleazar, who had a son named Matthan, who had a son named Jacob, 16who was the father of Joseph, the husbandi of Mary the mother of Jesus, who is called “the Anointed One.”

17So from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the Babylonian captivity, fourteen generation, and from the Babylonian captivity to Christ, fourteen generations.j

An Angel Comes to Joseph

18This was how Jesus, God’s Anointed One, was born.

His mother, Mary, had promised Joseph to be his wife,k but while she was still a virginl she became pregnant through the powerm of the Holy Spirit.n19Her fiancé, Joseph, was a good man full of integrity and he didn’t want to disgrace her, but when he learned of her pregnancy he secretly planned to break the engagement. 20While he was still debating with himself about what to do,o he fell asleep and had a supernatural dream. An angel from the Lord appeared to him in clear light and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t hesitate to take Mary into your home as your wife, because the power of the Holy Spirit has conceived a child in her womb. 21She will give birth to a son and you are to name Him ‘Savior,’p for He is destined to give His lifeq to save His people from their sins.”

22This happened so that what the Lord spoke through his prophet would come true:

23Listen! A virginr will be pregnant,

She will give birth to a Son,

And he will be known as “Emmanuel,”

Which means in Hebrew,

“God became one of us.”s

24When Joseph awoke from his dream, he did all that the angel of the Lord instructed him to do. He took Mary to be his wife, 25but they refrained from having sex until she gave birth to her son, whom they named “Jesus.”

a   1:1 Or “the book of the origin (genesis) of Jesus Christ.” The Son of God is eternal and had no beginning (John 1:1; 1 John 1:1). The entire book of Matthew presents the beginning of the glorious story of Jesus, God’s Anointed One. The genealogy given by Matthew presents the legal claim of Jesus to be King through the lineage of David from Joseph all the way back to the promises given to Abraham. Luke’s account gives the genealogy of Jesus from Mary’s lineage through David all the way back to Adam.

b   1:1 The Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua (or Y’hoshua) and means “Yahweh is salvation.”

c   1:2 Implied in the text.

d   1:3 Matthew includes four women in this genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba.

e   1:6 Implied in the text.

f   1:7 Or “the wife of Uriah.”

g   1:10 Or “Amon.”

h   1:11 In Jeremiah 22:24–30 God pronounced a curse on Jeconiah’s family line, declaring that they were ineligible to sit on the throne as kings. However, Luke’s genealogy goes through David to Mary via Nathan, not Solomon, thus bypassing the curse of Jeconiah’s lineage. Matthew’s genealogy is meant to establish the legal right of Jesus Christ to be king. So Joseph, as Jesus’ adoptive father, passes the right of David’s throne legally to Jesus and avoids the curse of Jeconiah through Mary’s ancestry. Jesus is the Son of God paternally, and the Son of David maternally through Heli, Mary’s father. From the beginning God said that the coming Savior would be the “seed of the woman.” See Genesis 3:15 and Galatians 4:4.

i   1:16 Notice that Joseph is named the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus.

j   1:17 This would make a total of forty-two generations from Abraham to Christ. However, when the names are counted, there are only forty-one. There is a missing generation. What could this mean? Jesus gave birth to the forty-second generation when he died on the cross, for out of his side blood and water flowed. Blood and water come forth at birth. The first Adam “birthed” his wife out of his side, and so Jesus gave birth to his bride from his wounded side. Jesus wants to reproduce himself in us. His last name is not Christ. Christ is the title that explains who he is. He is the Anointed One. “Christ” is also now a corporate body, the body of Christ. We, as the body of Christ, are also anointed ones (Christians). See 1 Corinthians 12:12.

k   1:18 In the Jewish culture the engagement was a prenuptial contract (ketubah), which was entered into before witnesses, that gave legal rights over the girl to the bridegroom. This agreement could only be nullified by going through the formal divorce process. Since the girl still lived with her family, sexual relations were prohibited until after the second event of the public marriage ceremony. This engagement period was usually entered into when the girl turned thirteen. Mary was just a teenager when she gave birth to Jesus.

l   1:18 Or “without them being united (sexually).”

m   1:18 Implied in the text. Although it is the genitive of source, not agency, the power of the Holy Spirit is supplied for clarity. See Deuteronomy 20:7 and 22:23–28.

n   1:18 The Holy Spirit can also be translated “the Sacred Breath (Spirit-wind)” or “the Spirit of Holiness.”

o   1:20 Or “during his inward passion about these things.”

p   1:21 Or “Jesus.” The Hebrew name for Jesus is Yeshua (or Y’hoshua) and means “Yahweh is salvation, restoration, and deliverance.” Implied in the text is that Hebrew (Aramaic) speakers would obviously understand how the name Yeshua and salvation were linked, reinforcing the theory that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew. This is lost in the Greek word Iesous (Jesus).

q   1:21 As translated from the Aramaic.

r   1:23 See also v. 25, which clarifies that Mary was indeed a virgin.

s   1:23 Or “God with us” or “God among us”; that is, God incarnated. See Isaiah 7:14, 8:8, and 8:10 (LXX).

Two

The Wise Men Visit

1Jesus was born in Bethlehema near Jerusalemb during the reign of King Herod.c After Jesus’ birth a group of spiritual priestsd from the East came to Jerusalem 2and inquired of the people, “Where is the child who is born king of the Jewish people? We observed his star rising in the skye and we’ve come to bow before him in worship.”

3King Herod was shaken to the core when he heard this, and not only him, but all of Jerusalem was disturbed when they heard this news. 4So he called a meeting of the Jewish ruling priests and religious scholars, demanding that they tell him where the promised Messiah was prophesied to be born.

5“He will be born in Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,” they told him. “Because the prophecy states:

6And you, little Bethlehem, are not insignificant

Among the clans of Judah, for out of you will emerge

The Shepherd-Kingf of My people Israel!”g

7Then Herod secretly summoned the spiritual priests from the East to ascertain the exact time the star first appeared. 8And he told them, “Now go to Bethlehem and carefully look there for the child, and when you’ve found him, report to me so that I can go and bow down and worship him too.”

9And so they left, and on their way to Bethlehem, suddenly the same star they had seen in the East reappeared! Amazed, they watched as it went ahead of them and stopped directly over the place where the child was. 10And when they saw the star, they were so ecstatic that they shouted and celebrated with unrestrained joy.h11When they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary, his mother, they were overcome. Falling to the ground at his feet they worshipped him.i Then they opened their treasure boxesj full of gifts and presented him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12Afterward they returned to their own country by another route because God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.

They Escape to Egypt

13After they had gone, Joseph had another dream. An angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Get up now and flee to Egypt. Take Mary and the little child and stay there until I tell you to leave, for Herod intends to search for the child to kill him.”

14So that very night he got up and took Jesus and his mother and made their escape to Egypt 15and remained there until Herod died. All of this fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through his prophet:

I summon my Son out of Egypt.k

16When Herod realized that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated. So he sent soldiers with orders to slaughter every baby boy two years old and younger in Bethlehem and throughout the surrounding countryside, based on the time frame he was given from interrogating the wise men. 17This fulfilled the words of the prophet Jeremiah:

18I hear the screams of anguish,

Weeping, and wailing in Ramah.

Rachel is weeping uncontrollably for her children.l

And she refuses to be comforted,

Because they are dead and gone.m

They Return to Nazareth

19After Herod died, the angel of the Lord appeared again to Joseph in a dream while he was still in Egypt, 20saying, “Go back to the land of Israel and take the child and his mother with you, for those who sought to kill the child are dead.”

21So he awoke and took Jesus and Mary and returned to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus, Herod’s son, had succeeded him as ruler over all of the territory of Judah, he was afraid to go back. Then he had another dream from God, warning him to avoid that region and instructing him instead to go to the province of Galilee. 23So he settled his family in the village of Nazareth, fulfilling the prophecy that he would be known as the “Branch.”n

a   2:1 Bethlehem, or Byt-lehem, means “house of bread,” the prophesied birthplace of Messiah. However, the Hebrew word lehem can also mean “fighters.” Jesus was born in “the House of Fighters!” This is the city of David, one of the greatest fighters in the entire Bible. Perhaps this is why the people of Jesus’ day expected him to fight the Romans and free their land from foreign occupation. Jesus fulfilled both aspects of the meaning of Bethlehem in Gethsemane and on the cross, where he fought the “Goliath” of our souls and won, becoming Bread for the world. God controls all events, proven by the prophecy that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem even though his parents were living in Nazareth. See Micah 5:2 and Luke 2:1–19.

b   2:1 Or “in the land of Judea.” The Hebrew gospel of Matthew is “the land of Judah.”

c   2:1 Herod died in 4 BC, which helps in dating the birth of Christ.

d   2:1 Or “astrologers,” known as dream interpreters. These wealthy priests would have traveled with an entourage for protection as officials from the East. The Greek word magos is taken from the Mede language and means “spiritual advisors” or simply “priests.” They were appointed by Darius over the state religion as priests of Persia, which is modern-day Iran, and served as official advisors to the king. By the time of Jesus’ birth, Persia had been conquered and was being governed by successors to Alexander the Great. It is possible these Magos came from the Mesopotamian region of Seleucia. See also Daniel 2 and 5:11, where the prophet Daniel is given the title of “Chief of the Magio.” It is probable that these Magos were descendants of those who had been taught by Daniel, and because of his prophecy of the Messiah being “cut off,” they may have been able to decipher the date of his birth along with the interpretation of his star rising.

e   2:2 Or “his star in the east” or “shooting star” or possibly “comet.” Note that it is also called “his star,” not the star of Bethlehem.

f   2:6 As translated from the Aramaic. The Greek is “the Leader who will shepherd my people Israel.”

g   2:6 See Micah 5:2. Both the Septuagint and the Shem-Tob (Hebrew Matthew) have “out of you will come to me a Ruler who will be King of Israel.” The Septuagint adds, “He will shepherd my people in the strength of the Lord.”

h   2:10 The Greek is hard to translate since it contains so many redundant words for joy in this one verse. It is literally, “They rejoiced with a great joy exceedingly.” They were ecstatic!

i   2:11 Turning their backs on human wisdom, these “wise men” bowed low before the true Wisdom of God. See 1 Corinthians 1:24.

j   2:11 These “wise men” were extremely wealthy. They presented gifts that totaled a great sum of money—not tiny presents wrapped with bows, but treasure chests full of financial wealth. Although we are not given the monetary value of each type of gift, we know that frankincense and myrrh were extremely costly. These gifts would have financed Joseph and Mary and Jesus’ exodus to Egypt and supplied their living expenses for a number of years, even after returning to Israel. Gold is an often-used symbol of the deity of Christ. Frankincense points to His perfect life of holiness, excellence, and devotion. Myrrh, an embalming spice, speaks to us of the suffering love that would lead him to the death of the cross.

k   2:15 See Hosea 11:1. Both Jesus and the nation of Israel came up out of Egypt.

l   2:18 As translated from the Septuagint. Rachel becomes a metaphor for all of Israel.

m   2:18 See Jeremiah 31:14–15.

n   2:23 Or “a Nazarene.” The Hebrew Scriptures give us a wonderful truth about the Branch (Sprout) of the Lord that would come and establish righteousness. The word for “branch” or sprout is netzer, the root word from which Nazareth, Nazarene, and Nazarite come. The teaching of the Branch of the Lord is a concept taught throughout the Bible, from the Tree of Life, to the seven branches of the Lampstand, to Jesus the Vine calling us his branches. Jesus is a Scion, a Branch that can be transplanted and grafted into a human life. Another variant form of this amazing word netzer can be translated “keeper, watchman, one who keeps secrets, guardian, one who keeps watch.” All of these words are true of Jesus, the Branch who was raised in the village of the Branch (Nazareth). Additionally, the Aramaic word for Nazareth means “heir of a powerful family” or “victorious one.” So it is entirely possible to translate this “He will be called the Victorious Branch (of Nazareth).” See Daniel 11:7, Isaiah 11:1 and 60:21. See also Isaiah 4:2, Jeremiah 23:5, and Zechariah 6:12, which uses a Hebrew synonym for Branch, tsemach.

Three

John the Baptizer

1It was at this time that John the Baptizera began to preach in the desert of Judah.b His message was this: 2“The reign of heaven’s kingdomc is about to appear—so you’d better keep turning away from evil and turn back to God!”d

3Isaiah was referring to John when he prophesied:

A thunderous voice! One will be crying out in the wilderness

“Prepare yourself for the Lord’s coming

And level a straight path inside your hearts for him.”e

4Now, John wore clothing made from camel’s hair, tied at his waist with a leather strap, and his food consisted of dried locustsf and wild honey. 5A steady stream of people from Jerusalem, all the surrounding countryside,g and the region near the Jordan came out to the wilderness to be baptized by him. 6And while they were publicly confessing their sins, he would immerse them in the Jordan River.

7But when he saw many coming from among the wealthy elite of Jewish societyh and many of the religious leaders known as “separated ones”i coming to witness the baptism, he began to denounce them, saying, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to slither away like snakes from the fire of God’s judgment?j8You must prove your repentance by a changed life. 9And don’t presume you can get away with merely saying to yourselves, ‘But we’re Abraham’s descendants!’ For I tell you, God can awaken these stones to become sons of Abraham!k10The axel is now ready to cut down the trees at their very roots. Every fruitless, rotten tree will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. 11Those who repent I baptize with water, but there is coming a Man after me who is more powerful than I am. In fact, I’m not even worthy enough to pick up his sandals. He will submerge you into union with the Spirit of Holiness and with a raging fire!m12He comes with a winnowing forkn in his hands and comes to his threshing floor to sift what is worthless from what is pure. And he is ready to sweep out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his granary,o but the straw he will burn up with a fire that can’t be extinguished!”

13Then Jesus left Galilee to come to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But when he waded into the water, John resisted him, saying, “Why are you doing this? I’m the one who needs to be baptized by you, and yet you come to be baptized by me?”

15Jesus replied, “It is only right to do all that God requires.“p Then John baptized Jesus.q16And asr Jesus rose up out of the water, the heavenly realm opened up over hims and he saw the Holy Spirit descend out of the heavens and rest upon him in the form of a dove.t17Then suddenly the voice of the Father shouted from the sky, saying, “This is the Son I love, and my greatest delight is in him.”u

a   3:1 Or “John the Immerser.” The name John means “Yahweh has graced him.”

b