The Regular Guys Bible Study
The Regular Guys Bible Study (or BS) podcast is a podcast for regular guys by regular guys (not theologians) studying the Bible together. It's brought to you by a couple of goofy -- sometime irreverent -- guys who just want to study the Bible together and show you that anyone can read and study the Bible. In fact, you SHOULD read and study the Bible yourself. We're here to show you how we do it, and, hopefully, we can have some fun along the way.
The Regular Guys Bible Study
Matthew 3
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Matthew 3 finds Ken and Steve wading through John the Baptist's fiery wilderness preaching — and getting derailed almost immediately by tech glitches, a meowing cat, and a debate over what a "brood of vipers" actually means. Along the way they dig into some genuinely good cross-references before wrapping up with Jesus's baptism and God's first public declaration of who He is.
- Covered Matthew 3:1–17 (John the Baptist through Jesus's baptism)
- Traced John's camel-hair-and-locusts look back to Elijah (2 Kings 1:8) and Malachi 4:5-6
- Unpacked "make his paths straight" as preparing hearts, not literal roads
- Learned "brood of vipers" means offspring of snakes, not a fun collective noun (both had it wrong for years)
- Compared ESV vs. NLT wording on "bear fruit in keeping with repentance"
- Connected the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) to living out repentance
- Traced the voice from heaven at Jesus's baptism to Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1-4
- Landed on the baptism as God's first public introduction of Jesus
you are listening to the regular guys bible study podcast the bible study for regular guys by regular guys we are your host ken and steve and we are just regular guys studying the bible together
Steve:Not theologians.
Ken:You're so funny. I am funny. You were clapping during the thing. I could not hear anything, Steve.
Steve:Because I didn't actually clap. I was just making it look like I was clapping.
Ken:You were pretending to clap. Why would you do that?
Steve:Well, because there's always a lag. And I figured if I did it, it wouldn't line up with the sound. That's true.
Ken:Right now, there's a pretty big video lag, actually, for you. So, I don't know if there's much of a sound lag, though. No. Let's see. What does that prove? I didn't prove anything. I just snapped into the mic.
Steve:Does everyone see the snap?
Ken:What was that? Ay-yi-yi. Okay. All right, Steve. We're on Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3. And guys, as always, we're not here to read the Bible for you. We're here to be your partners in reading the Bible. And so as a partner in reading the Bible together, you must read your Bible as well. So if you haven't read Matthew chapter 3, pause this stupid thing and go read Matthew chapter 3 before you come back. Speaking of partners, Ken. Yes. Have you posted your app yet? I have not posted the app yet. I've been extremely busy. And I heard my...
Steve:It took you an hour and a half to respond to my text this afternoon.
Ken:That's because I was on my way home. And it takes me a long time to get home when I leave that late. You know, I've got a self-driving car. I'm not going to stare at my phone while my car is driving.
Steve:Don't you get notifications of like a text came in? I was listening to a book.
Ken:I don't want to, I don't care if I got a message from you. No, honestly, I think it was still on work mode. I have my focus set to work. And since I don't work with you, Steve, I'm not going to get a notification from you.
Steve:I see how you are
Ken:yep that's how I am because I think you actually texted right before I left and I didn't notice that's because it didn't take me an hour
Steve:you weren't actually driving and you weren't actually working you were just ignoring me um yeah yeah
Ken:but to be fair though I told my phone to ignore you first
Steve:just for that I think you should read the entire chapter today
Ken:just for that I think you're wrong alright do you really want me to read alright that's going to put a lot of burden on you for the analysis and I'm okay with that alright here we go John chapter 3 the whole stinking thing In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this, oh, for this is, gosh. Woo! Can you hear the clapping now? Yes. Can you, okay, I have a distraction. I have a cat who just suddenly came up to me and starts on, meow, meow. Meow, meow, meow. Okay, go away, cat. All right. I'm sorry about that. All right, for this, all right, I'm going to start over. In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. Now John wore... What are you doing? I'm a voice in the wilderness. Gosh.
Steve:All right.
Ken:Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, And they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham, even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. For every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance, that he who is coming after me is mightier than me, than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented, and when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Great job, Ken.
Steve:Thanks for reading that. Okay. All right. You're supposed to be driving this thing, Steve.
Ken:Go. I know. Did you have a lot of notes this week? I have some. I don't have a ton, but I have some.
Steve:I have some. So verse one. He starts with, in those days. But we just talked about the return to Nazareth, like when he was still a boy, I'm assuming. And it feels like we've skipped a lot of time. It doesn't feel like it's still in those days. Know what I mean?
Ken:That's a really good point. I didn't even think about that. In those days, from the last sentence that was listed, they went to live in Nazareth. But the thing is, he lived there. The very last thing is he lived in a city called Nazareth, not they went there. So what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled that he would be called a Nazarene. So I guess from the time they went there, however old he was, maybe five when they moved back, he grew up as a Nazarene, I guess. But yeah, you're right. That's an interesting way to put that. Maybe that was a common saying back then. Yeah, I guess. I don't know. And when was Matthew written? Yeah, it was written. When? Uh-huh. Okay. Well, at any rate, it's much, I think it's, I think it's, ah, shoot. Okay, I should look at this. Why didn't we look at this at the very beginning?
Steve:Did we not?
Ken:We normally do, but we did not ask that question in the very beginning. Let's see.
Steve:It says, probably wrote his gospel in the 50s or 60s A.D.
Ken:Okay, so, you know, when you are, let's say it was 55 AD. It was 55 AD. So it's like 23 years, 22 years later, right? Okay. 22 to, let's say 20 to 30 years later. So if you're writing something about something that happened 20 years ago, it's around the same time. in those days. Yeah, that's true. Back then. Yeah. Yeah, it's kind of like saying back then. Yeah. Okay. All right. I have something for verse two. All right. He says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What does it mean that the kingdom of heaven is at hand?
Steve:Well, let's see. We know that John was sent to clear the way for Jesus and that Jesus is ushering in the kingdom of heaven. So I'm going to say it's because Jesus is almost about to start his ministry.
Ken:Yeah, yeah, I think that's right. the kingdom of God is at hand meaning Jesus is here I think that's kind of like saying the Christ is here so I agree and then I've got I have several things my notes get more sparse as we go but at the very beginning there were some descriptions so actually do you have anything for verse 3 because I'm going to
Steve:verse 4 I have something for 3 okay what does it mean to make the way of the Lord's path straight
Ken:ah the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight. He's talking about making... Isn't this about making our own paths straight?
Steve:So, you might think that, but A.I. had a very interesting response to this question, and I'm going to read it to you. All right. The picture Isaiah is painting. Imagine a king traveling through rough wilderness. Before the king arrived, workers would prepare the route. They would fill in valleys, level hills and mountains, remove obstacles, straighten a crooked or difficult route, make a smooth, passable road. So make his path straight means figurative, remove whatever stands in the way of the king's arrival. John isn't literally telling people to go out and build a highway, he's calling Israel to repair. The road that needs preparation is essentially the hearts and lives of God's people. There is also a fascinating detail in the Hebrew-Greek wording. The, quote, straight, quote, path isn't merely the shortest route. It carries the idea of making something level, direct, and unobstructed, which makes John's emphasis on repentance particularly appropriate. All right. I probably should be citing the references that it used. But you're not. I'm not. I didn't. All right. I thought that was interesting. That is. But it is kind of going with what you were saying. Preparing our hearts.
Ken:Yes. Yes, it's about repentance. I mean, that's his message, right? Repent. don't I have to pent first before I can repent? I think the assumption here is that you have already pented once. And so now you will repent. Yes. All right. I feel like we're not very funny right now, Steve. And not very good at right now either. All right.
Steve:Because you're so tired.
Ken:I am not. I'm doing great. All right. So then in four, he talks about what he's wearing. John wore a garment of camel's hair, a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. What is the significance around his clothing and what he ate? Why does it matter?
Steve:So I kind of looked this one up too, and it resembles Elijah. In 2 Kings 1.8, it says he wore a garment of hair with a belt of leather about it.
Ken:Ah. Ah. man alright hey your voice keeps cutting out a little bit I think you should turn off your video just it just clipped a little bit
Steve:you're so ugly turn off the screen
Ken:I didn't say that out loud but I was trying to be nice I no longer feel sick at least looking at the screen okay That's a good call, Steve. So he had the appearance and dress and food of Elijah. Elijah or Elisha? Elijah.
Steve:So that was interesting. When I turned off the video, you cut out for like 30 seconds.
Ken:Really?
Steve:Yeah.
Ken:Uh-oh. Hmm.
Steve:Okay. So I didn't, if you asked a question, I did not catch it.
Ken:Well, I didn't ask a question, but I said some really good stuff. It was.
Steve:I did hear you say Elijah or Elijah.
Ken:Yeah.
Steve:It's the J-A-H one.
Ken:It's the, yeah, it's the first one. Elijah. Elisha came after Elijah. Correct. And Elijah did not die. Right. Or was he the one that went? I believe he is the one that God took up.
Steve:So you asked about the clothes, but why the strange diet? Why is that significant?
Ken:I don't know. Why, Steve? Steve?
Steve:That kind of represents someone living in wilderness, maybe? living off the land.
Ken:Okay, I think it, well, I was going to say that it kind of supports that, you know, he was a voice calling from the wilderness.
Steve:Did you know where that prophecy comes from?
Ken:Let me see here. I went away, so I got to go back. I think I do.
Steve:You want me to just tell you?
Ken:Yeah, go ahead, Steve.
Steve:Malachi 4, 5 through 6. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.
Ken:Yeah, you're still clipping, Steve. What's going on? Hmm. All right, so we are back, and hopefully we have technical problems under control, but we'll see. So, sorry about that.
Steve:One more thing about Malachi before we move on.
Ken:Yes.
Steve:Do you know what's right after that verse?
Ken:Is it Matthew chapter 1?
Steve:It is Matthew chapter 1.
Ken:Okay, but they're not really related. So, I mean, they were written, what, 400 years apart, I think? Is that right?
Steve:Something like that. It was a really long time.
Ken:Yeah.
Steve:That's interesting.
Ken:All right. Okay, you're leading this thing. Next thing I have is on verse 7. Go away. I mean, go ahead. Go away. All right, so... Oh, one thing... All right, so one thing that I noticed was this whole section where he's talking to the Pharisees. I think it's much easier to understand in the NLT. so I'm going to read it there real quick alright so this is when the Pharisees come up but when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize he denounced them you brood of snakes he exclaimed who warned you to flee the coming wrath prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God don't just say to each other safe for we are descendants of Abraham. That means nothing for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the acts of God's judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. I just thought it was a little, there was one section in there that was just a little confusing to me in the ESV right in the middle. And that's where he says, prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other, we're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham. And so, because what he's saying there is really important to me and you, Steve. As non-Jews. We're the stones. We are these very stones that God made children of Abraham. So, praise God. Thank you, God, for that. Mm-hmm.
Steve:so yeah i had more notes here from this morning and i'm looking at my notes on the laptop and the ones for my ipad have not synced over so i'm going to try to go from memory okay for the
Ken:rest of my notes um do you have anything before 12 well yeah i was gonna say um all right so um I have a question in eight. And it says, prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. And ESV, you know, I said that was one. The ESV says, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. All right, so that's one of the things that I said is easier to understand in the NLT. Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. All right, what still, what does that mean? Prove by the way you live that you have repented and turned to God. If I were to ask you that, Steve, to do that, are you doing that?
Steve:Well, I'd have to say based on the ESV, I think it's very dangerous to collect bear fruit, which I'm not exactly sure what fruit bears have.
Ken:It's berries. It's saying the bears own the berries in the forest.
Steve:Oh, okay. Jokes aside, even if they're not funny. Let's put them aside because that's where they belong. You know, they talk about the fruits of the spirit in Romans.
Ken:No. Come on, Steve. Is it, I think it's 1 Corinthians, isn't it?
Steve:Oh, I think you might be right. Anyway, that's not important right now. Peace, patience, kindness, goodness. Or is that the, there's two things. Fruit of the Spirit and there's the, there's another thing. What are they, what are they? Gosh. This is a terrible episode. This is... What the heck? Thank you for coming to join us today.
Ken:Oh, my goodness. Okay, it's the fruit of the Spirit is actually Galatians 5, 22 to 23. That's what I said, Galatians. And I was wrong, too. that's why that's one reason you should read your Bible so you'll actually know these things alright and the fruit of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self control
Steve:got it? so I would say if you are demonstrating those things and you are demonstrating a, well, maybe not a life in repentance specifically,
Ken:but you are showing that you're trying to follow Christ. No, I think that works. I mean, when you repent, you turn from, you know, repentance is turning away from your wicked ways. and going the other direction. And so I think that works. I mean, if you were not loving other people, then you will love people. If you are not self-controlled, then you will be self-controlled. So I think that works, Steve. All right. All right. Where did you have one?
Steve:Your next note? It was at, did you say 12? Seven and a half. What? Okay. Not true.
Ken:Seven and a half. You said, I was just saying something about eight.
Steve:Yeah, I don't know where I got disconnected. All right. So it says, you brood of vipers. So I'm a product of the public school system, And I always thought, and I never actually looked it up before, I always thought a brood of vipers was what you called like a bunch of snakes and like a flock of geese, a brood of vipers. That's not what it means at all. What? Really? No. It's like offspring. It's the being born of vipers.
Ken:No way. Way? Oh, my goodness. Let's see. I'm going to see if you're right.
Steve:I'm looking at the Strong's definition of it right now. Brood implies offspring.
Ken:Oh, my goodness. So you thought the same thing I did? Yes, I've always thought it was talking about like a pot of wells, a flock of geese, and a brood of vipers. Both idiots. Okay, now I've got to think we're not the only ones that have thought that. I'm going to have to ask my wife if she knows what that means. All right, you're also going to ask my wife. Okay, why don't you ask your wife so we can get two answers?
Steve:Oh, that's a good idea.
Ken:Okay, but, okay, that actually has some significance here, Steve, that I did not think of. Because we were just talking about the children of Abraham. Right? Yep, we were. And now he's calling them a children of vipers. Oh my goodness. Wow. Okay. Now I know why. Spoiler alert. John's, they had John arrested and his head was eventually cut off. Man. Okay. Wow.
Steve:He's not making any friends here, that's for sure.
Ken:No, not at all. All right. Thanks for clarifying that, Steve. The whole thing takes on a new meaning to me now.
Steve:It does, and I really wish I had the rest of my notes, because I feel like I did think of some other stuff with this, but I don't have anything else.
Ken:Yeah, I'm sure you didn't, Steve, but we'll pretend you did. Okay. All right. Now what? What you got?
Steve:so he's being pretty graphic with the axes laid to the root of the trees that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire i mean these are pretty strong words not only are you born of a viper you can't count on your relationship to Abraham. And because you're basically not following God, we're going to throw you in the fire.
Ken:But isn't that what happens to everyone who doesn't follow Christ? It is.
Steve:But these are people that think they're holier than thou.
Ken:Yeah, yeah. But if you think about it, they should know better. They know the scripture, right? Yeah.
Steve:Honestly, I've read the entire Bible several times. Without the New Testament, reading the Old Testament by itself, would I have come to the conclusions that Matthew has come to about these prophecies? I don't think I would
Ken:I don't know that's a tough one yeah that's a hard one I don't know good point Steve
Steve:alright what else you got
Ken:you know I mean I think it talks about Jesus coming right he's the whole purpose of his baptism is not just about repentance. It's about saying the kingdom of heaven is come. Saying that Christ is here. So the whole point of his baptism is to declare that Jesus is here. And then he talks about how he's coming and he's so awesome that he's not even worthy to be a slave. to carry his sandals, which is what a slave would do, carry his sandals. I think it says that NLT, a slave, yeah. But I don't really have anything to say around that except that that's what he's saying. Jesus is coming. And then I've just got one note in this other section just right at the beginning. Do you have anything else before 13?
Steve:Like I said, all my other notes are on my iPad. So go ahead. Maybe I'll remember what they were.
Ken:Well, okay. So I don't have a lot here because, okay, this is where Jesus shows up. at John's baptismal thing. And John tries, says, you know, oh my goodness, I shouldn't be baptizing you. You should be baptizing me. And he says, let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. And, you know, if you look at NLT on that, you know, he says, but Jesus says, It should be done for we must carry out all that God requires. And the truth is, I don't understand it. Why does Jesus need to be baptized by John? He did not sin. So it's not a baptism of repentance. What is this a baptism of?
Steve:Ooh.
Ken:That is a good question. I'm much better at asking questions than giving answers.
Steve:So, John is baptizing you with water for repentance. He who is coming after me is mightier than I. He will baptize with fire and fire. You know, I vaguely recall hearing a sermon on this once years ago, and I wish I knew what the guy said, because I think there is an Old Testament reference to baptism by water or a prophecy or something related to this.
Ken:Yeah, I don't know. I'm not smart enough to know.
Steve:And I'm not seeing any links.
Ken:I thought I had a note, though, and I don't see my note. I swear I had a pasted note from a commentary. And I don't have your excuse. If I did, it would be right here.
Steve:So Psalm 2-7, I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. So break them with a rod of iron and stash them into pieces like potter's vessel. But it is talking about what, how heaven opened up.
Ken:So you're saying that this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased? Are you saying that's from a reference to Psalms?
Steve:I think so. There's also one for Isaiah 42, 1-4. Behold my servant whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my full delight. I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice. or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed he will not break and a faintly burning wick he will not clench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the close land of the way.
Ken:Alright, you broke up a little bit again. Darn it. Stupid technology. yeah alright so yeah I think it is more about showing who Jesus is because when this happens you know it says the spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him and a voice from heaven said, this is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy. So I think it's about, you know, the person being baptized kind of has an audience, you know, because there's only one John the Baptist baptizing, so people are waiting.
Steve:And this is introducing Jesus.
Ken:So it's introducing Jesus to everyone there, and God introduces him as my dear, my beloved son who brings me great joy. So I think this is just the first public declaration by God of who Jesus is.
Steve:I can go with that
Ken:yeah that's all I got
Steve:well cool that was a short chapter probably good since it wasn't a great episode
Ken:Steve quit down in our episode you know God can do great things regardless of us God does great things
Steve:well actually he The past kind of uses people like us and other failures to bring forth great revelation in others so that we can't claim any credit for it.
Ken:That's true. And I think that's a good thing. If we were great at something and we did it, then we would not, you know, we would be very tempted to say, ah, look how great I am. But the truth is, we don't have that temptation at all. So, because we're not that great. We don't know what we're doing. But, all right, guys. At any rate, thanks for joining. Next week is Matthew chapter four. Read it. See ya. The regular guy's Bible study is a Chasm LLC production. All rights reserved.
