Read Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptist - some background (from Frances Briscoe)

• Born to elderly parents - Zechariah a high priest and his wife Elisabeth, also of a priestly family.
• Grew to manhood in the Judaean desert where he received his call.
• He appeared suddenly out of the desert like Elijah to preach a message of judgement, He called on people to repent and be baptized as a preparation fro the Kingdom of God which was imminent. Crowds flocked to hear him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
• He denounced the Pharisees and Sadducees as a brood of vipers and denied that there was any value in the bare fact of their descent from Abraham, (see also Luke 3:10-14).
• He saw himself merely as the one who had come to prepare the way for the Messiah.
• Jesus, whom he recognized as the 'coming one', was baptized by him.
• In Jesus's estimation John was the promised Elijah of Malachi 4:5-6.

Questions

1. John fearlessly denounced evil wherever he found it…in church, state and society. What evils do you think he would be denouncing in our world today? Try to suggest what we should or could be doing to tackle them.

2. Are there evils in our locality which we should be working to eradicate ? If so how as a Christian community might we set about doing so?

3 John pointed beyond himself to Jesus. How might we do this both individually and corporately?

Extra questions

1 How would you like to have John the Baptist as your pastor? How would his dress code be accepted in our church?

2 What angered John so much about the Sadducees and Pharisees?

3 What do the images of judgement mean: The coming wrath? The axe? The fire? His winnowing fork?