Mat 3:13-17, 14:1-13 | Family

Matthew 3:13-17

I have need to be baptized of thee; John, being a sinner, needed that spiritual renovation, the necessity and practicability of which were taught by baptism; but Jesus Christ being perfectly holy, did not need it. John therefore did not know why he should come to him to be baptized. But Christ showed him that under the circumstances in which they were placed, it was proper. Then John baptized him. To fulfil all righteousness; all the requirements of God. Since Christ had taken upon himself the nature of sinful men, and put himself in their stead, it was proper that he should submit himself to every ordinance of God's appointment. Lighting upon him; in token of his being endowed with the Holy Spirit for his work. Compare Joh 3:34. vs 16, 17. At the opening of the Saviour's ministry we have a manifestation of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, all cooperating in the great work of man's salvation. A voice; the voice of God the father, acknowledging Christ as his beloved Son, and expressing his approbation of his character, office, and work.

Matthew 14:1-13

Herod the tetrarch; this was Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great who slew the children at Bethlehem. Chap Mt 2:16. Tetrarch means the ruler of a fourth part, and was applied to him because he governed a part of his father's kingdom. Not lawful; Herodias was the wife of Philip, Herod's brother, by whom she had a daughter named Salome. Herod had put away his own wife, the daughter of Aretas king of Arabia Petraea, and had taken Herodias, though her husband was still living. Feared the multitude; he was afraid, should he put John to death, that they would rebel, and make him trouble; he therefore did not kill him, but put him in prison. Men are often disposed to commit crimes, from which they are restrained only by the fear of man, and other selfish considerations. This shows that their hearts are worse than their lives, and that they fear man more than God. Seasons of feasting and revelry are seasons of great danger; and when attended with dancing and profaneness, render persons peculiarly liable to be overcome by temptation, and to fall under the power of the destroyer. Instructed; her mother had told her what to ask.

Charger; a large dish or platter. Continuance in known sin blunts, and finally obliterates the delicate perceptions, the tender sensibilities, and all the finer emotions of the human heart. It renders not only men, but women also, monsters of iniquity. Sorry; he knew it was wrong, and was afraid it would make him trouble.

Them which sat with him; he was more afraid of them than of God. No oath can lay a man under obligations to do wrong. It is a sin to take such an oath, and it is an additional sin to fulfil it. The wicked, while they often lay claim to great courage, and sometimes show what in some respects resembles it, are at heart great cowards. They are afraid even of being called cowards by those whose praise would be a blot; and to avoid it, they will commit murder, and expose themselves to the endless wrath of God. Indulgence in one sin opens the way for and strongly tempts to the commission of others; and when men begin a course of iniquity, none but God knows where they will stop.