45 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In those days came John the Baptist,.... The Evangelist having given an account of the genealogy and birth of Christ; of the coming of the wise men from the east to him; of his preservation from Herod's bloody design against him, when all the infants at Bethlehem were slain; of the flight of Joseph with Mary and Jesus into Egypt, and of their...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
At the start of this chapter, concerning the baptism of John, begins the gospel (Mark i. 1); what went before is but preface or introduction; this is "the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ." And Peter observes the same date, Acts i. 22, beginning from the baptism of John, for then Christ began first to appear in him, and then to appear to...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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. His was a preparatory ministry; his work was to prepare men’s minds for Christ; and never is the heart of man so ready to receive Christ as when it is in a state of repentance. When it is weary of sin, then is it...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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. There is no entering the kingdom of heaven without leaving the kingdom of darkness. We must repent of sin, or we cannot receive the blessings of salvation. Of every man, whoever he may be, whether outwardly moral...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And saying, repent ye,.... The doctrine which John preached was the doctrine of repentance; which may be understood either of amendment of life and manners; for the state of the Jews was then very corrupt, all sorts of men were grown very wicked; and though there was a generation among them, who were righteous in their own eyes, and needed no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For this is he that was spoken of,.... These are not the words of the Baptist himself, as in John 1:23 but of the Evangelist, who cites and applies to John a passage in the Prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 40:3 and that very pertinently, since that "chapter" is a prophecy of the Messiah. The consolations spoken of in Isaiah 40:3, were to be in the days of...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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 path 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 about him was impressive, and everything...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
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 girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts end wild honey. His raiment and his food were like his doctrine, rough and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The same John had his raiment,.... The Evangelist goes on to describe this excellent person, the forerunner of our Lord, by his raiment; the same John of whom Isaiah prophesied, and who came preaching the doctrine in the place and manner before expressed, had his raiment of camel's hair; not of camel's hair softened and dressed, which the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then went out to him Jerusalem,.... The uncommon appearance of this person, the oddness of his dress, the austerity of his life, together with the awfulness and importance of his doctrine, and the novelty of the ordinance of baptism he administered, and the Jews having had no prophet for some hundreds of years, and imagining he might be the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, There seems to have been, about that time, a widespread anticipation of the coming of the Messiah; so, no sooner did the news come that a prophet was preaching in the desert, than great multitudes went out to hear him.
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins That was his baptism, — a baptism of repentance, and of confession, preparatory to the coming of the Master. See what power there was in John because God was with him. I do not know that he had any...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Then went out to him Jerusalem, and at Judaea, and out the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come These were the influential people of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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 Mr 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....
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: Did he not speak after the style of the prophet Elijah? Yet those bold...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But when he saw many of the Pharisees,.... This being the first place in which mention is made of the Pharisees and Sadducees, it may not be amiss to give some account of them once for all, and to begin with the Pharisees, and first with their name. Some derive this word from פרץ pharatz to "divide", to "make a breach", from whence Phares had his...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath, to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet of repentance: Answerable to your repentance, congruous therewith, arising out of it, and truly proving its reality.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Bring forth therefore fruits,.... That is, if you are truly penitent, if you have a proper sense of sin, and true repentance for it, do such works as are suitable to it, and will show the genuineness of it; for fruits meet for repentance are the same as "works meet for repentance", Acts 26:20 and as a tree is known by its fruit, so repentance is...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within ourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham Pointing to the stones in the River Jordan, and all along the banks, he said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “There is nothing, after all, in...