"Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord"
January 23-29
FAIR Faithful Resources for Come, Follow Me 2023 January 12-29. Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3 “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord” Find answers to difficult questions to help you in your learning and teaching. Here is a collection of reliable resources to supplement your study of Matthew 3, Mark 1 and Luke 3. FAIR Resources link to relevant questions which have been answered on the FAIR website. Under Church Resources you’ll find links to the different Come, Follow Me manuals, as well as other helpful links as applicable. Other Resources link to resources outside of FAIR that are trustworthy and helpful.
Main points to ponder
Mark’s identity: among the authors of the Gospels, we know the least about Mark. We know that he was a missionary companion of Paul, Peter, and several other missionaries. Many biblical scholars believe that Peter directed Mark to record the events of the Savior’s life. Mark’s Gospel was likely written before the other three. See the Bible Dictionary, “Mark.”
Pharisees and Sadducees: the Pharisees were members of a Jewish religious party who prided themselves on strict observance of the law of Moses and its rituals. The Sadducees were a wealthy Jewish class with great religious and political influence; they did not believe in the doctrine of resurrection. Both groups had strayed from the original intent of God’s laws. Matthew 23:23–28; Bible Dictionary, “Pharisees,” “Sadducees.”
Repentance is a mighty change of mind and heart. Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:2–18 (Matthew 3:2). (see Luke 3:9, 17 . What other images do you find in the accounts of John the Baptist’s ministry? (see Matthew 3:1–12; Mark 1:1–8; Luke 3:2–18). See Luke 3:7–14, especially Luke 3:8.
Jesus Christ was baptized to “fulfil all righteousness.” Matthew 3:11, 13–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:15–16, 21–22 See also 2 Nephi 31; Mosiah 18:8–11; Doctrine and Covenants 20:37, 68–74; “The Baptism of Jesus” (video), ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The members of the Godhead are three separate beings. Matthew 3:16–17; Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22 The Bible contains numerous evidences that the members of the Godhead are three separate beings. The accounts of the Savior’s baptism are one example. See also Genesis 1:26; Matthew 17:1–5; John 17:1–3; Acts 7:55–56; Doctrine and Covenants 130:22.
Faithful Resources on the FAIR website:
- Question: Does the definition of the Trinity predate the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds?
- Question: What were early Christian beliefs on the nature of God?
- Question: Does the Bible contain also the necessary elements for Trinitarianism?
- Question: How is Mormon belief compatible with Isaiah’s statement that beside the Lord “there is no God?”
- Question: Can the Holy Ghost not be fully God, because he does not have a physical body?
- Question: Will the Holy Ghost ever receive a physical body?
- Question: What scriptures explain the Mormon view of Jesus’ divine Sonship?
- Question: How did Christ achieve deification before mortality?
- Question: Is Mormon insistence on baptism as an essential ordinance of salvation “unChristian” or “unbiblical”?
Resources on the Church website:
Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families
Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School
- Russell M. Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2019, 67–69
- Dallin H. Oaks, “Cleansed by Repentance,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2019, 91–94.
Faithful Resources from other reliable websites:
The Interpreter Foundation
- Come, Follow Me Study and Teaching Helps — Lesson 5: January 23–29, Jonn Claybaugh
The New Testament in Context: Come, Follow Me Lesson 5- Audio Roundtable: Come, Follow Me New Testament Lesson 5
Who were the Pharisees and Sadducees?, Hales Swift- The Gospel of Mark with Julie Smith
- Scripture Roundtable: New Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 4, “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”
- Scripture Roundtable: New Testament Gospel Doctrine Lesson 7, “[He] Took Our Infirmities, and Bare Our Sicknesses”
BYU Studies/RSC
- John the Baptist: The Miracle and the Mission, RoseAnn Benson
- Baptism, Terry B. Ball
- The Doctrine of Baptism: Immersions at Qumran and the Baptisms of John, the Earliest Christians, and Book of Mormon Peoples, Daniel L. Belnap
- Simon Peter in Capernaum: An Archaeological Survey of the First-Century Village, Frank F. Judd Jr.
- Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3, BYU Studies
- Our Savior in the Gospels: Matthew 3-4 & John 1-2: The Baptism of Jesus
Other Helpful Sources
- Come Follow Me – Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3, Book of Mormon Central Archive
- “Lori Denning on Luke and Matthew 1 and real families,” The Scriptures are Real
- FollowHim Part 1, Part 2, Show Notes, Youth
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