圣 经 探 险 者 第 十九 课

洗者约翰的工作
19. THE WORK OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

Reading: Matthew 3 第19课 阅读马太福音3

John the Baptist was sent as the one to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:16-17). His work had been prophetically foretold by two of the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah (40:1-8), and Malachi (3:1), as is shown in Mark 1:1-5 and Matthew 3:1-7. When John was asked why he was baptising he replied that he was the one spoken of in Isaiah 40:3 (cp John 1:22-23). God had sent him to baptise (John 1:33).洗者约翰为主预备道路（路加福音1：16-17），旧约中有两位先知预言了他的工作，以赛亚和玛拉基，当人们问约翰为何他要给人民付洗时，他回答说他是以赛亚书40：3中预言的人，神召他给人付洗（约翰1：33）。

The Message of John Foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah 40)
以塞亚对约翰的预言（以赛亚书40）

Isaiah foretold the message that John was to preach. John was spoken of as "the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness" (v3), and we are given the message that this "voice" was to proclaim in verses 6-8. 以赛亚预言约翰将传道。第3节中说道：“在旷野中，有人声喊”，他所“声喊”的在第6至第8节中提到。

• All flesh is grass - it withers and dies. Thus he proclaimed the mortality of man.凡有血气的尽都如草——草必枯干、花必凋谢，因此，在此显示了人类将面对死亡。
• The Word of God shall stand for ever. (This principle is explained in 1 Peter 1:23-25).神的话必永远立足（祜得前书1：23-25中对此作出解释）。

John Preaches Baptism (Matthew 3:1-6)
约翰给人付洗（马太福音3：1-6）

John was teaching that man must acknowledge that he was a sinner and mortal, and therefore worthy of death (Romans 5:12,21; 6:23). However he also taught that those who acknowledged that God’s ways were right and endeavored to live after the teaching of the Word of God would live for ever (1 John 2:15-17; 1 Peter 1:22-25). 约翰教人们得知自身是一罪人，死要临到人头上，（罗马书5：12、21；6：23），然而，认识到神的道，并遵循神的话生活的人，必将获得永生（约翰前书2：15-17；彼得前书1：22-25）。

Thus when people came to hear John and understood his message we are told that:所以当人们来到约翰那里，叫他传道时：

1 they confessed their sins. They acknowledged that they were sinners and that God’s way was right. 他们承认罪，他们意识到自己是罪人，神的道是正确的。

2 they repented. This means that they had a change of heart and acted upon it by ceasing to do their own will and endeavoring to do the will of God. 他们悔悟，这表明他们的心有了改变，开始按照神的旨意，而不是自己的意志去做事。

3 they were baptised. In so doing they acknowledged that as sinners they were worthy of death. They symbolically died to the old ways of sin and now committed their lives in service to God. 他们受洗，由于认识到自己是罪人，也就意识到死亡要临到头上，受洗后，旧的生活死亡了，开始了一种服事神的新生。

The Pharisees Come to John (Matthew 3:8-12)
法利赛人到约翰那里（马太福音3：8-12）

The Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day, many of whom were self-righteous. From their attitude we get the word "Pharisaical", meaning "self righteous". Jesus condemned their attitude (Matthew 23:13-33). When they came to John to examine what he was doing, he called them a "generation of vipers", by which he indicated that they were part of the "seed of the serpent" of Genesis 3:15 and were motivated by sinful thinking. It is interesting to note that three years later Jesus also called the same people "serpents" and "a generation of vipers" (Matthew 23:33). 法利赛人是那时的宗教领袖，许多法利赛人都自以为正直，“似法利赛人的”这一词就是由此而来，意思是“自以为正直的”，基督遣责他们的态度（马太福音23：13-33），当他们来到约翰那里，想瞧一下他所作的时，约翰称他们为“毒蛇的种类”，即指他们定创世纪3：15中提及的“蛇的后裔”，只会按靠人的思维考虑，有意思的是，三年后，主耶稣基督也称他们为“蛇”，“毒蛇的种类”。

John told these people that it was necessary for them to bring forth "fruits meet for repentance" if they were to be accepted of God (Matthew 3:8). So it is today. When one is baptised he must first acknowledge his past waywardness by repenting, and then seek to walk in God’s ways (Romans 6:3-8). 约翰告诉他们要“结出果子来，与悔改的心相称”（马太福音3：8），现今也一样，一个受洗后，必须对过去所行的罪作出悔改，接着才能行神的道（罗马书6：3-8）。

Jesus Comes to John to be Baptised (Matthew 3:13-17)
耶稣受洗（马太福音3：13-17）

When people came to John to be baptised they were asked to confess their sins and repent. It was upon this confession that John would then baptise them. However, when Jesus came to John he had no sins to confess or to repent of. Upon hearing this John said: "I have need to be baptised of thee and comest thou to me?" The answer of Jesus "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness" caused John to baptise him. 人们来到约翰那里，他让他们悔罪，基于这点，约翰才给他们付洗，然而，耶稣无罪可认，约翰就说：“我当受你的洗，你反到上我这里来吗？”耶稣回答说：“因为我们理当这样尽诸般的义”，因此，耶稣就受了洗。

We need to ponder why this statement of Jesus caused John to baptise him. It was because Jesus acknowledged that what John was teaching was right. The impulses of the flesh are sinful and must be put to death; however a belief in the Word of God is that which will strengthen us to obey Him and lead to eternal life. Baptism was a public witness to this belief. 我们需要思考一下为什么主耶稣说，约翰就给他付洗，因为约翰所传的道是正确的，有血气的人是有罪的，要面临死，而神的话是使我们遵循他，引导我们永生的力量，受洗是对这个信仰公众的兄证。

Jesus, who bore the same nature as all mankind with its inherent weakness to sin and mortality, daily put to death temptation (Hebrews 4:15; 2:18). Jesus was "the Word made flesh" (John 1:14). He always did the will of his Father, upholding His Word in his life and by it overcoming the ways of the flesh. That which Jesus indicated in his baptism was a foreshadowing of what he would accomplish in his life and finally in his crucifixion, the condemnation of sin by his perfect obedience to God, even unto death (Romans 8:3; 1 Peter 1:21-25). It was upon Jesus’ public confession and baptism when he acknowledged God’s ways to be right that God declared: "This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". 主耶稣说，由于沾袭人类对罪与死的软弱，凡事也受过试探（希伯来书4：15；2：18），主是“道成肉身”（约翰福音1：14），他总是从父的意志行事，以此超越了常人，基督的受洗预示了他一生中的补赎工作及最后的受难，凭着无限的忠诚，他超越了罪与死（罗马书8：3；彼得前书1：21-2 5），这是由于基督的受洗与苦解，他告诉了人们神的道是正确的，虫是神说：“这是我的爱子，我所喜悦的。”

John, Imprisoned and Killed
约翰被囚禁，被杀
Not long after the baptism of Jesus, John was put into prison by Herod because he condemned the wicked ways of the King in taking Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. When Herodias saw an opportunity to have John killed she grasped at it and John was executed about one year before the crucifixion of Jesus (Mark 6:17-29).基督受洗后不久，约翰被希律王投入监狱，因为他指责王娶他兄弟的妻子希罗底里不义的行为，希罗底怀恨约翰，就找了一个机会处斩了约翰，这是基督受难前一年的事（马可福音6：17-29）。

You may now go to the questions form. Once again fill in the questions and your e-mail address and "submit" the form. Again you will receive the password to lesson twenty.

第19课——问题

1、以赛亚预言约翰的工作，说：“凡有血气的尽都如草”和“神和话必永远立足”，这是什么意思？

2、信约翰传道的人，怎样分三步走示，他们的遵循？

3、约翰称法利赛人“蛇的种类”这在对经中有何出处？

4、神怎样表示他对基督忠诚的喜悦？

基督时期重要的几个地方

（图略）

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