John the Baptist's message of trouble
John's message of trouble!
John said that the Messiah would come soon. This was a joyful message. But John would not have been a popular preacher today. He warned some people about the way that they lived. He wanted to help people. People should have the right kind of fear of God. God‘s kingdom has some essential things. John knew these things. God‘s kingdom is a kingdom of righteousness. God‘s kingdom can have nothing evil in it God must destroy anything that is evil.
John warned the Pharisees and Sadducees
God would judge the people of Israel. John knew this. They would have to repent. The Pharisees and Sadducees came to John. They asked for baptism. They probably did this because John was very popular. John‘s message was hard. But people liked him. The Pharisees and the Sadducees controlled the people. They did not want to lose control. John spoke hard words to these leaders of the Jewish religion.
7 Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to John. They wanted John to baptize them. He said to them, ‘You are like dangerous snakes. God is angry. You are trying to run away from him. But he will soon punish people like you.
Matthew 3:7 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
Later (Matthew 3:10) John said this: God will destroy many people. Some people will not obey him. He will destroy those people. John continued:
11 I baptize you with water. This shows that you want to change the way that you live. But another person will come soon. He is greater than I am. I am not good enough even to carry his shoes for him. This other person will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’
3:11Jesus is the important person who is coming. John is using a story to teach the people about the work that Jesus will do.
Matthew 3:11-12 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
God will judge the world
God will judge the world. That is what John was saying. God is good. And he will judge everyone. We know that nobody is good by nature. The only way to avoid God‘s anger is to repent. John spoke often about this when he preached. He told the people to repent. Then they would change. They would live in a different way. They would think in a different way (Luke 3).
People who pretend to repent
John was not sure about the Pharisees and Sadducees. That is clear. They only wanted people to admire them. This can happen today. Some people do not repent completely. You may pretend to repent. Perhaps you think that you have repented. Other people, and even yourself, think that you have repented. But it is not true. God gives us good things. You will not have all these good things. He gives us these things when we trust Jesus.
