Matius 3:11

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ¹  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ² 

Matius 8:8-9

8:8 But the centurion replied, ³  “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed. 8:9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. ⁴  I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, ⁵  and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ⁶  ‘Do this’ and he does it.” ⁷ 

Matius 11:23

11:23 And you, Capernaum, ⁸  will you be exalted to heaven? ⁹  No, you will be thrown down to Hades! ¹⁰  For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day.

Matius 11:25

Jesus’ Invitation

11:25 At that time Jesus said, ¹¹  “I praise ¹²  you, Father, Lord ¹³  of heaven and earth, because ¹⁴  you have hidden these things from the wise ¹⁵  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

Matius 13:23

13:23 But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” ¹⁶ 

Matius 17:25

17:25 He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, ¹⁷  “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes – from their sons ¹⁸  or from foreigners?”

Matius 21:32

21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although ¹⁹  you saw this, you did not later change your minds ²⁰  and believe him.

Matius 26:39

26:39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, ²¹  “My Father, if possible, ²²  let this cup ²³  pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Matius 27:24

Jesus is Condemned and Mocked

27:24 When ²⁴  Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves!” ²⁵ 

[3:11]  ¹ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.

[3:11]  ² sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[8:8]  ³ tn Grk “But answering, the centurion replied.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “having soldiers under me.”

[8:9]  ⁵ sn I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes. The illustrations highlight the view of authority the soldier sees in the word of one who has authority. Since the centurion was a commander of a hundred soldiers, he understood what it was both to command others and to be obeyed.

[8:9]  ⁶ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. 1). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος) in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[8:9]  ⁷ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[11:23]  ⁸ sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[11:23]  map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[11:23]  ⁹ tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.

[11:23]  ¹⁰ sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Luke 10:15; 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).

[11:25]  ¹¹ tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[11:25]  ¹² tn Or “thank.”

[11:25]  ¹³ sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

[11:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “that.”

[11:25]  ¹⁵ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

[13:23]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek is difficult to translate because it switches from a generic “he” to three people within this generic class (thus, something like: “Who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one instance a hundred times, in another, sixty times, in another, thirty times”).

[17:25]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “spoke first to him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[17:25]  ¹⁸ sn The phrase their sons may mean “their citizens,” but the term “sons” has been retained here in order to preserve the implicit comparison between the Father and his Son, Jesus.

[21:32]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:32]  ²⁰ sn The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.

[26:39]  ²¹ tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[26:39]  ²² tn Grk “if it is possible.”

[26:39]  ²³ sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.

[27:24]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:24]  ²⁵ sn You take care of it yourselves! Compare the response of the chief priests and elders to Judas in 27:4. The expression is identical except that in 27:4 it is singular and here it is plural.