Matthew 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness ¹  of Judea proclaiming,

Matthew 11:7

11:7 While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness ²  to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ³ 

Mark 1:3-4

1:3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ⁴  his paths straight.’” ⁵ 

1:4 In the wilderness ⁶  John the baptizer ⁷  began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁸ 

[3:1]  ¹ tn Or “desert.”

[11:7]  ² tn Or “desert.”

[11:7]  ³ tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?… No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.

[1:3]  ⁴ sn This call to “make his paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[1:3]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[1:4]  ⁶ tn Or “desert.”

[1:4]  ⁷ tn While Matthew and Luke consistently use the noun βαπτίστης (baptisths, “[the] Baptist”) to refer to John, as a kind of a title, Mark prefers the substantival participle ὁ βαπτίζων (Jo baptizwn, “the one who baptizes, the baptizer”) to describe him (only twice does he use the noun [Mark 6:25; 8:28]).

[1:4]  ⁸ sn A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a call for preparation for the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. To participate in this baptism was a recognition of the need for God’s forgiveness with a sense that one needed to live differently as a response to it.