Mar 21, 2012 | Matthew
Around here, at Calvary Baptist Church, we think that baptism is important. I would like to think that we believe that it is as important as Jesus did, but I’m not sure that we do. The Lord Jesus walked – He didn’t drive his Hyundai – He...
Mar 20, 2012 | Matthew
John the Baptist was a few months older than his cousin Jesus. This isn’t significant, but adds just a little to the question about the length of John’s ministry. How long had he been a “voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepared ye the way of...
Mar 19, 2012 | Matthew
I know that two weeks ago, we looked that this statement through the eyes of Asaph and Psalm 50. Tonight I’d like to consider it once again, but this time through the eyes of John the Baptist. This comment reveals things, perhaps conceals things, and also might...
Mar 18, 2012 | Matthew
I was surprised to find how complicated some Bible commentators want to make these verses. I don’t want to confuse you with all their jabbering, so I won’t go into their words very far. Considering the elements that we find here, for the most part this...
Mar 17, 2012 | Matthew
It is very likely that verses 5-12 are not one of John’s sermons but a summary of several sermons. When we compare this with the other gospels, the same information is sometimes set in different contexts, like diamonds in different settings. I think that...
Mar 16, 2012 | Matthew
We have been looking at this chapter for about a month now. As I was re-reading it for the umteenth time, it occurred to me that I have misquoted this verse many times. I’ve gotten it correct, but probably just as many times I’ve made a slight mistake...
Mar 15, 2012 | Matthew
Early in the week I knew that I wanted to preach on John’s statement about Christ – “He that cometh after me is mightier than I.” But I wasn’t exactly sure how to develop the idea – partly because it is so obvious and overpowering....
Mar 14, 2012 | Matthew
Here is something to keep in mind in regard to John the Baptist – despite the way that he might have appeared to these Pharisees and Sadducees, he really did have their best interests in mind. But unlike the Sadducean priests of the 21st century, he...
Mar 13, 2012 | Matthew
As I was thinking about these Pharisees and Sadducees coming to John, I noticed that their approach was different from the way that they later came to the Lord Jesus. With Christ, it was always adversarial – they came attacking – with arguments and...
Mar 12, 2012 | Matthew
I know that it would have been a little early, but what might have been the likelihood that Saul of Tarsus came to John down there in the valley of the Jordan? I can just picture the great scholar Gamaliel taking his little band of disciples down to hear the radical...
