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There are a few interesting things to me in this chapter. First in verse 11 where John the Baptist talks about Jesus baptizing with fire, ““I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” In my notes it makes mention that he is prophesying about the Holy Spirit’s baptism at Pentecost which we will see in Acts 2.
The second interesting thing is in verse 12 where he talks about the winnowing fork, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” A winnowing fork is used to separate wheat from the chaff (I had to read this in the notes… a farm boy I am not). Chaff is the outer part of the plant that is useless and is usually burned. The chaff is a picture of our sin. When we repent, the chaff is removed (like from a winnowing fork) and burned away. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has heard this explanation before, but I do find it interesting.
Finally, verse 17 where it says, “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”” made me think about how much I hope God will say the same thing about me when I get to heaven. All it requires of me is obedience because He has already done the rest.
Daily Devotion 
The part of this chapter that always threw me was that John and Jesus were supposedly cousins and they acted like they didn’t know each other. In my study guide I realize this may be true but only Luke mentions the relation not Matthew. So it’s not really known for sure. Either way we see how Jesus comes to him and recognizes the need for Baptism to fulfill the prophecy.
I also like the thought of verse 2; “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” my guide states that to “repent calls for a change of heart and conduct, turning one’s life from rebellion to obedience toward God” would that we all face each day with a call toward obedience.
I really like the last part of what you said… “would that we all face each day with a call toward obedience.” Amen!
A couple of thoughts for me today. The first is pretty simple. In verse 5, it says, “many people where flocking to him,” in reference to John. It’s great to see that John knew his place in history, that he didn’t let pride get the best of him and fulfilled his role.
Second, I also spent some time thinking about verses 10-12. What I get from that is that we must be productive with our lives as followers of Christ. He seemed to insinuate that the Pharisees and Sadducees lead useless lives. I think the chaff also referest to those people who don’t make the most of their lives here and what God gives them. God has no use for those who become disconnected and don’t produce fruit.
Ok, maybe I’m forgetting something, but I don’t remember baptism being part of the law. So if it wasn’t, why was it necessary for John to baptize Christ? When was it that baptism even started? Isn’t this the 1st time we see it? I wasn’t able to find a reference for baptism in the OT… So I guess my curiosity has the best of me here about it’s start.
I also love that God spoke his approval. It’s not like Jesus didn’t know the Father approved, but He spoke it anyway.
Heather, that is a great question. I took the liberty of doing some quick research and found a blog post that explains baptism being represented in the Old Testament by typologies. For example, in the time of Noah when God destroys the earth with water, He is washing away sin. Or in Exodus 19:10-11 where Moses sprinkles the Israelites with blood and water to wash away their sins in preparation for when God would come down on Mt. Sinai. The post is a pretty good read if you are interested and can be found here… http://studiesinscripture.com/water-baptism-%E2%80%93-old-testament-typology/
Please pardon my ignorance, I’m confused about why Jesus even needs to be baptized in the first place, and apparently John the Baptist was stumped too. When John objected to baptizing Him, Jesus replied, “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” Ever since I was a little girl, I was taught that baptism is a symbol of the washing away of our sins. But here in this situation, Jesus had no sins to wash away. I wonder what the secondary purpose of baptism is? I think it’s interesting that the Holy Spirit shows up right after His baptism…that must have something to do with it. This act marks the official beginning of Jesus’ ministry. I wonder if Jesus was waiting on the Holy Spirit to join Him before stepping into His calling. I wonder if baptism could also be the symbol of the Holy Spirit joining a person or His blessing upon their new life.
In Scriptures when the disciples led people to the Lord, they IMMEDIATELY baptized them right after. It was almost as if baptism was Part 2 of the process of gaining salvation (Part 1 being the confession of their mouths that Jesus is Lord). Today we don’t necessarily baptize immediately after…I wonder if we should change that? Anyway, there ‘s a lot here for me to think about.