Matthew 3:6

And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. AND WERE BAPTIZED OF HIM IN JORDAN, CONFESSING [PROBABLY CONFESSING ALOUD exomologoumenoi (G1843 )] THEIR SINS. This baptism was at once a public seal of their felt need of deliverance from sin, of their expectation of the coming Deliverer, and of their readiness to welcome Him when He appeared. The baptism itself startled, and was intended to startle them. They were familiar enough with the baptism of proselytes from paganism; but this baptism of Jews themselves was quite new and strange to them....

Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5._And were baptized, confessing their sins _This _confession _was a testimony of _repentance: _for, as the Lord, in the sacraments, brings himself under obligation to us, as if he had given his own hand-writing, so it is our duty, on the other hand, to reply to him. In _Baptism, _he declares that our sins are forgiven, and calls us to repentance. That men may come forward, in a right manner, to be baptized, _confession of sins _is demanded from them: otherwise the whole performance would be nothing but an idle mockery (254) Let it be observed, that we are here speaking of adults, who ought not, we. are aware, to be admitted indiscriminately into the Church, or introduced by Baptism into the body of Christ,...

1-6 After Malachi there was no prophet until John the Baptist came. He appeared first in the wilderness of Judea. This was not an uninhabited desert, but a part of the country not thickly peopled, nor much enclosed. No place is so remote as to shut us out from the visits of Divine grace. The doctrine he preached was repentance; "Repent ye." The word here used, implies a total alteration in the mind, a change in the judgment, disposition, and affections, another and a better bias of the soul. Consider your ways, change your minds: you have thought amiss; think again, and think aright. True penitents have other thoughts of God and Christ, sin and holiness, of this world and the other, than they had. The change of the mind produces a change of the way. That is gospel repentance, which flows from a sight of Christ, from a sense of his love, and from hopes of pardon and forgiveness through h...

Verse Matthew 3:6. _WERE BAPTIZED_] In what form baptism was originally administered, has been deemed a subject worthy of serious dispute. Were the people _dipped_ or _sprinkled_? for it is certain βαπτω and βαπτιζω mean both. They were all _dipped_, say some. Can any man suppose that it was possible for John to dip _all the inhabitants of_ _Jerusalem and Judea, and of all the country round about the_ _Jordan_? Were both men and women dipped, for certainly _both_ came to his baptism? This could never have comported either with safety or with _decency_. Were they dipped in their _clothes_? This would have endangered their lives, if they had not with them _change_ of raiment: and as such a baptism as John's (however administered) was, in several respects, a _new_ thing in Judea, it is not at all likely that the people would come thus...

WERE BAPTIZED - The word “baptize” βαπτίζω baptizo signifies originally to tinge, to dye, to stain, as those who dye clothes. It here means to cleanse or wash anything by the application of water. See the notes at Mark 7:4. Washing, or ablution, was much in use among the Jews, as one of the rites of their religion, Numbers 19:7; Hebrews 9:10. It was not customary, however, among them to baptize those who were converted to the Jewish religion until after the Babylonian captivity. At the time of John, and for some time previous, they had been accustomed to administer a rite of baptism, or washing, to those who became proselytes to their religion; that i

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 3:1 THE HERALD. His public appearance and proclamation (Matthew 3:1, Matthew 3:2), as foretold by Scripture (Matthew 3:3). His Elijah-like dress (Matthew 3:4). He is listened to by multitudes (Matthew 3:5, Matthew 3:6). His faithful warning to typical Jews, and his pointing not to himself, but to the Coming One ...

AND WERE BAPTIZED OF HIM,.... The place where they were baptized of him was, "in Jordan"; some copies read, "in the river Jordan", as in Mark 1:5. As to the name of this river, and the etymology of it, the Jews say l it was so called, שיורד מדן "because it descended" from Dan, i.e. Leshem Dan, or Pamias, which they say is a cave at the head of it. It was in John's time and long after a considerable river, a river to swim in; we m read that "Resh Lakish הוה סחי בירדנא was swimming in Jordan." And elsewhere n, that one day "R. Jochanan was swimming in Jordan." Also it was a river for boats and ships to pass in, so that it was a navigable river; hence we read o of עריבת הירדן "the boat of Jordan", and of ships in it, and of such and such things being forbidden to be carried over Jordan in a ship p; particularly, "a man might not take the water of the sin offering, and the ashes of the sin...

We are going to read three passages relating to John the Baptist's testimony concerning Christ. Matthew 3:1. _In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey._ Everything connected with John the Baptist was in harmony with his message. He was the preacher of repentance, so the place where he preached was most suitable; it was in the wilderness, where there was nothing to distract his hearers' attention, as there would have been in crowded cities. His dress was striking, and everything about hi

SINS SIN (_ See Scofield) - (Romans 3:23). _...

3. THE HERALD OF THE KING; THE ENTRANCE UPON HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY. __ 1. The Herald of the King. (Matthew 3:1 .) 2. His Message and His Baptism. (Matthew 3:7 .) 3. The King in Jordan's Waters. (Matthew 3:13 .) CHAPTER 3 The third chapter relates the ministry of the herald of the King, who announces that the kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh, and the presence of the King Himself, who is to come after him; the baptism of the King, who comes from Galilee to the Jordan to John, and the events connected with it, are given in the second half of the chapter. “Now in those days comes John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heaven