M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The preaching of John the Baptist

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee; his brother Philip was tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene. ² Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests.

At that time, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ He went through all the region of the Jordan, announcing a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ This is what is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

⁷ “You brood of vipers,” John used to say to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him. “Who told you to escape from the coming anger? ⁸ You’d better prove your repentance by bearing the proper fruit! Don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; let me tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁹ The axe is already standing by the roots of the tree—so every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

John the Baptist confronts the crowds

¹⁰ “What shall we do?” asked the crowds.

¹¹ “Anyone who has two cloaks,” replied John, “should give one to someone who hasn’t got one. The same applies to anyone who has plenty of food.”

¹² Some toll-collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they said, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect more than what is laid down,” he replied.

¹⁴ Some soldiers, too, asked John, “What about us? What should we do?”

“No extortion,” replied John, “and no blackmail. Be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ The people were very excited, and everyone was questioning in their hearts whether John might not be the Messiah. ¹⁶ To all of them John responded: “I am baptizing you with water. But someone is coming who is stronger than I am. I don’t deserve to untie his sandal-strap. He will baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire. ¹⁷ He will have his winnowing-fork to hand, ready to sort out the mess on his threshing floor and gather the corn into his barn. Any rubbish he will burn with a fire that will never go out.”

¹⁸ John urged his news on the people with many other words. ¹⁹ But Herod the Tetrarch—whom John had accused in the matter of his brother’s wife Herodias, and for all the evil things which Herod had done— ²⁰ added this to his list of crimes: he shut John up in prison.

Jesus’ baptism and genealogy

²¹ So it happened that, as all the people were being baptized, Jesus too was baptized, and was praying. The heaven was opened, ²² and the holy spirit descended in a bodily form, like a dove, upon him. There came a voice from heaven: “You are my son, my dear son! I’m delighted with you.”

²³ Jesus was about thirty years old at the start of his work. He was, as people thought, the son of Joseph, from whom his ancestry proceeds back in the following line: Heli, ²⁴ Matthat, Levi, Melchi, Jannai, Joseph, ²⁵ Mattathias, Amos, Nahum, Esli, Naggai, ²⁶ Maath, Mattathias, Semein, Josech, Joda, ²⁷ Johanan, Rhesa, Zerubbabel, Shealtiel, Neri, ²⁸ Melchi, Addi, Kosam, Elmadam, Er, ²⁹ Joshua, Eliezer, Jorim, Matthat, Levi, ³⁰ Simeon, Judah, Joseph, Jonam, Eliakim, ³¹ Melea, Menna, Mattatha, Nathan, David, ³² Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Sala, Nahshon, ³³ Amminadab, Admin, Arni, Hezron, Perez, Judah, ³⁴ Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah, Nahor, ³⁵ Serug, Reu, Peleg, Eber, Shela, ³⁶ Kainan, Arphachsad, Shem, Noah, Lamech, ³⁷ Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalaleel, Kainan, ³⁸ Enosh, Seth, Adam, and God.

Judgment then rather than now

4 This is how we should be thought of: as servants of the Messiah, and household managers for God’s mysteries. ² And this is what follows: the main requirement for a manager is to be trustworthy. ³ Having said that, I regard it as a matter of minimal concern to think that I should be interrogated by you, or indeed by any human court. I don’t even interrogate myself. ⁴ I don’t actually know of anything that stands against me, but that isn’t what vindicates me; it’s the Lord who interrogates me.

⁵ So don’t pass judgment on anything before the time when the Lord comes! He will bring to light the secrets of darkness, and will lay bare the intentions of the heart. Then everyone will receive praise—from God.

Apostles on display

⁶ I have applied all this to myself and Apollos because of you, my dear family, so that you may learn from us, as the saying goes, not to go beyond what the Bible says—so that nobody gets puffed up in favor of one person and against another.

⁷ Who is going to concede that you are special, after all? What have you got that you didn’t receive? Well then, if you received it, why boast as if you didn’t? ⁸ Do you really suppose you’ve already had all the food you need? Do you think you’ve already become rich? Do you think you’ve already been crowned as royalty, leaving us behind? I wish you really were already reigning, so that we could reign alongside you!

⁹ This is how I look at it, you see: God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like people sentenced to death. We have become a public show for the world, for angels and humans alike. ¹⁰ We are fools because of the Messiah, but you are wise in the Messiah! We are weak, but you are strong! You are celebrated, we are nobodies! ¹¹ Yes, right up to the present moment we go hungry and thirsty; we are badly clothed, roughly treated, with no home to call our own. ¹² What’s more, we work hard, doing manual labor. When we are insulted, we give back blessings. When we are persecuted, we put up with it. ¹³ When we are slandered, we speak gently in return. To this day we have become like the rubbish of the world, fit only to be scraped off the plate and thrown away with everything else.

Puffed up or powerful?

¹⁴ I’m not writing this to make you ashamed! I am simply treating you as dear children, and putting you straight. ¹⁵ You’ve got a thousand babysitters in Christ, I know, but you haven’t got many fathers—because I became your father in the Messiah, Jesus, through the gospel.

¹⁶ So let me appeal to you: copy me! ¹⁷ That’s why I have sent Timothy to you; he’s my child in the Lord, and I love him and trust him. He will remind you how I conduct myself in the Messiah Jesus, just as I teach everywhere, in every assembly.

¹⁸ Some people are getting puffed up, as though I wasn’t going to come to you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you quickly, if the Lord wants it that way; and then I’ll find out, not what these puffed-up people are saying, but how powerful they are. ²⁰ The kingdom of God, you see, isn’t about talk—it’s about power. ²¹ What d’you want, then? Shall I come to you with a big stick, or with love, and in a gentle spirit?