Matius 2:22

2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus ¹  was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, ²  he was afraid to go there. After being warned in a dream, he went to the regions of Galilee.

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 ³  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁴ 

Matius 8:4

8:4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you do not speak to anyone, ⁵  but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering ⁶  that Moses commanded, ⁷  as a testimony to them.” ⁸ 

Matius 24:30

24:30 Then ⁹  the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, ¹⁰  and ¹¹  all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They ¹²  will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven ¹³  with power and great glory.

[2:22]  ¹ sn Archelaus took after his father Herod the Great in terms of cruelty and ruthlessness, so Joseph was afraid to go there. After further direction in a dream, he went instead to Galilee.

[2:22]  ² sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[3:11]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[8:4]  ⁵ sn The command for silence was probably meant to last only until the cleansing took place with the priests and sought to prevent Jesus’ healings from becoming the central focus of the people’s reaction to him. See also 9:30, 12:16, 16:20, and 17:9 for other cases where Jesus asks for silence concerning him and his ministry.

[8:4]  ⁶ tn Grk “gift.”

[8:4]  ⁷ sn On the phrase bring the offering that Moses commanded see Lev 14:1-32.

[8:4]  ⁸ tn Or “as an indictment against them.” The pronoun αὐτοῖς (autoi") may be a dative of disadvantage.

[24:30]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ¹⁰ tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[24:30]  ¹¹ tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.

[24:30]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ¹³ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.