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Matthew 3

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Quick answer

John the Baptist prepares the way, and Jesus is baptized as the Father speaks and the Spirit descends.

John the Baptist is the prophesied voice calling for repentance. At Jesus' baptism the whole Trinity appears — Son in the water, Spirit as a dove, Father's voice — publicly inaugurating his ministry.

Part of John the Baptist and the Baptism📖 Matthew introduction

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1Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ✦ 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ✦ 3For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one calling out in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’ ” ✦ 4Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. ✦ 5At that time Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan; ✦ 6and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. ✦ 7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ✦ 8Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance; ✦ 9and do not assume that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you that God is able, from these stones, to raise up children for Abraham. ✦ 10And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire. ✦ 11“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ✦ 12His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ✦ 13Then Jesus *arrived from Galilee at the Jordan, coming to John to be baptized by him. ✦ 14But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have the need to be baptized by You, and yet You are coming to me?” ✦ 15But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he *allowed Him. ✦ 16After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, ✦ 17and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

In this chapter

Person / place John the BaptistPerson / place The Jordan RiverConcept Baptism

Where this chapter connects

Luke 3 ·15Mark 1 ·14John 1 ·13Matt 13 ·11Luke 1 ·8Matt 11 ·7John 3 ·7Matt 21 ·6

Christ at the center

Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'

How Matthew 3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical

    A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.

  • ★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical

    Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.

  • ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical

    A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

  • SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed

    Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)

  • DocumentaryThat the World May KnowRay Vander Laan · Paid · evangelical

    Ray Vander Laan's on-location series immersing you in the Bible's historical and cultural world. (Mostly paid via Focus on the Family; some free clips.)

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

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