-
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was,
-
The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’”
-
John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey.
-
People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John.
-
The Baptism of Jesus
Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John.
-
But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”
-
But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.
-
The Ministry of Jesus Begins
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
-
A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.
-
A Discussion about Fasting
One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?”
-
Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (also called Peter), then Andrew (Peter’s brother), James (son of Zebedee), John (James’s brother),
-
Jesus and John the Baptist
When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and preach in towns throughout the region.
-
John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus,
-
Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—
-
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind?
-
John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’
-
“I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!
-
And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.
-
For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time.
-
For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’
-
The Death of John the Baptist
When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus,
-
he said to his advisers, “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead! That is why he can do such miracles.”
-
For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip).
-
John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her.”
-
Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot, because all the people believed John was a prophet.
