The baptism of Jesus was the climax to John the Baptist’s life. Step into the dramatic world of John the Baptist—his bold sermons, fiery warnings, and the unforgettable moment he baptises Jesus!
Discover how John prepared the way for the Messiah, faced King Herod, and remained faithful to God.
A powerful, Bible-based story for all ages!
POLO: At times, John was very abrupt, and he would say to the crowds.
MAURICE: You are like poisonous snakes, biting and hurting other people. By coming to see me, are you trying to avoid God’s anger? Your lives should be good and be like lovely, tasty fruit on a plant. But if your lives are like a plant with rotten fruit, it should be dug up and thrown into a fire.
POLO: And the crowd asked him.
PRISCILLA: What shall we do?
MAURICE: Share and help others who have less than you.
POLO: The crowds could see that God was with John and that he was saying what God wanted them to hear. So, the crowds asked John.
PRISCILLA: Are you the Messiah, the Christ, the one promised from long ago?
MAURICE: I baptise you, washing you with water, which is a symbol of being clean in God’s sight. But the Messiah, God’s Son, who is greater than I, is coming, and I am not worthy to even touch his shoes. He, the Messiah, will wash you with God’s Holy Spirit. He will shake your lives so that all the people who produce good fruit will be like the good harvested wheat grains that are safely stored away. But the bad grains of wheat and the straw will be thrown out and burnt.
PRISCILLA: Wow, when will he appear?
POLO: Then shortly after that, a man, who is unknown to most in the crowd, walked close to John.
MAURICE: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin and wrongs of the world. This is he of whom I said, “After me is one who is much superior to me.” I came baptising with water, so that he, the Messiah, may be revealed to Israel.
POLO: This man was Jesus, and Jesus said to John, “Baptise me, John.”
MAURICE: I need to be baptised by you. And do you come to me? You have no need to turn to God because you are with God.
POLO: But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so, because it is the right thing to do.” So John agreed, and he baptised Jesus. As he came up from the water, suddenly the sky opened, and the Spirit of God descended like a dove and rested on Jesus, and a voice from heaven said:
GOD: This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.”
PRISCILLA: Wow, amazing!
MAURICE: I have seen this and I bear witness that this man Jesus is the Son of God.
POLO: Jesus went on from there to teach the crowds and do miracles, healing many people. John the Baptist continued to point people to Jesus and he told them to turn to God. Then one day, King Herod took his brother’s wife, and John the Baptist spoke out against Herod for that evil thing and for all the other bad things he had done. So, Herod put John in prison. There, in the dark, cold dungeon, John started to doubt whether Jesus was really the Messiah. So, he sent some of his friends to Jesus, and they said:
PRISCILLA: Are you the Messiah? Or shall we look for another?
POLO: Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight and the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who does not fall away from me.”
MAURICE: I know that Jesus is doing all these marvellous things, and I also know that these things are the sign that the Messiah has come. I will keep on trusting in God.
POLO: King Herod was evil, and he eventually had John the Baptist executed, and John went to heaven to be with his God.
Well, that is the story of John the Baptist’s life and Jesus’s baptism.
Link to PodBean Podcast.