Bible for the Busy Woman Matthew 3:1-12

Today’s video is about Matthew 3:1-12. It introduces John the Baptist, a relative and forerunner to Jesus. You’ll hear the importance of his message of repentance in preparing people for Jesus.

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Here’s some interesting background material that I had to cut from the video because it was too long:

Baptisms and Washings

The John’s baptism is not the same as we think of baptism today. At the time, there was a community of religious people, the Qumran, who thought the religious teachers were impure, and so they avoided the temple and practiced their own cleansing “washings.” It’s possible that John was formerly part of this group or at least influenced by them, as he was in the same area.

The Pharisees practiced washings, too. John’s baptism was different from the Pharisees’ washings in that the focus was on inward repentance and cleansing, instead of just the outer cleansing.

The Pharisees and Sadducees

The Pharisees

• Held to Torah, but also highly valued scribal interpretation of it. The interpretation usually had many specific rules and rituals to follow.
• Obeyed oral traditions, too.
• Believed in angels and spiritual beings.
• Were expecting a Messiah to overthrow Gentile rulers and restore the nation of Israel.
• Believed in the resurrection of the righteous.

The Sadducees

• Believed only the Torah was authoritative
• Denied spiritual beings/ life
• Denied resurrection from the dead
• Did not expect a Messiah
• Were more open to Hellenism
• Were more aristocratic than the pharisees

***these two groups of teachers will play an important role throughout Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection.

In today’s text, John calls them vipers because, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, they are leading others astray with half truths about God’s Word.

Winnowing

Wheat on the threshing floor would be tossed with a winnowing fork, and the wind would blow away the lighter, impure “chaff” that they wouldn’t want to be in the flour. It was scattered by the wind because it was unfit and useless, and the heavier, good parts of the wheat would fall to the ground.

In today’s passage, John is saying you want to be the good wheat (repentant) and not the chaff (unrepentant).

Also, here’s a bad joke:

Q: Why did the other teachers of the law run away and refuse to talk to the Pharisees?

A: Because they were “sad,” u see?

Sources:
Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, Vol. 1: Matthew, Mark, Luke. Edited by Clinton E. Arnold. 2002.

IVP Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Editors Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, I. Howard Marshall. 1992.