Gospel Sparks Get the app

To Fulfil All Righteousness

John called ordinary people to change in ordinary ways, and the sinless Savior walked into the Jordan to show us the path

  • 📖 Adult Sunday School
  • Week 4
  • 📅 Sunday, January 24, 2027
💡 The big idea

Repentance is practical change we can see in how we work, share and treat people, and baptism is its covenant doorway; Jesus, who had nothing to repent of, was baptized to show us the way, and the heavens opened over Him.

I can let my repentance show in one concrete way this week, and come to the sacrament remembering the covenant I made at the water’s edge.

Study it yourself firstRead Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3 in Gospel LibraryCome, Follow Me manualOpen this week (Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3)
Know the chapters

Matthew 3, Mark 1 and Luke 3 all open the Savior’s ministry with John the Baptist. In Luke 3:1–2, Luke dates the moment like a historian. He names Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, and the high priests Annas and Caiaphas. John preaches near the Jordan River. In Matthew 3:4 he wears camel’s hair and a leather girdle and eats locusts and wild honey. That look recalls Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8. All three Gospels apply Isaiah 40:3 to him. He’s the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord.

Luke 3:10–14 is the practical heart of this lesson. Three groups ask John, “What shall we do?” He sends none of them to the desert. The crowd should share coats and food. The publicans were tax collectors who could easily pad what they collected. They should take no more than was set. The soldiers shouldn’t extort by force or false accusation. They should be content with their wages. For John, repentance looks like honest work and open hands. In Luke 3:8 he calls it “fruits worthy of repentance.”

Then Jesus comes from Galilee to be baptized. John protests that he needs to be baptized by Jesus. In Matthew 3:15 the Savior answers, “thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Nephi saw this six centuries earlier and explained why in 2 Nephi 31:5–10. Though holy, the Savior humbled Himself before the Father. He witnessed that He’d keep His commandments. He showed us the gate and the narrow path. In Matthew 3:16–17 He comes up out of the water. The Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father’s voice speaks from heaven. All three members of the Godhead are distinct in one scene. Luke 3:21 adds a small detail worth pointing out. The heaven opened while Jesus was praying.

John also matters to the Restoration. On May 15, 1829, he came back as a resurrected messenger. He gave the Aaronic Priesthood, which holds the keys of baptism, to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. See Doctrine and Covenants 13:1 and Joseph Smith—History 1:68–72. Twenty-five minutes is enough to walk through Luke 3 in four short readings. Use verses 2–6, 7–9, 10–14 and 15–17, then Matthew 3:13–17. Bridge the gaps in a sentence. Mark 1 is ready as a bonus step. Fishermen leave their nets “straightway,” and the Savior rises before dawn to pray.

Only have 5 minutes?

Walk through Luke 3 in four short readings: 3:2–6, 7–9, 10–14 and 15–17. Then read Matthew 3:13–17. Bridge the gaps, and ask one question after each. Open by asking what convinces you someone’s change is real. Study Matthew 3:15 with 2 Nephi 31:5–9. Spend the discussion on John’s question, “What shall we do?” Close with Luke 3:21–22 and one visible “fruit” this week.

What to bring2 items

Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.

Before class

  1. Read Luke 3 and Matthew 3:13–17 out loud once. Then read 2 Nephi 31:5–9 so you can explain why the sinless Savior was baptized.
  2. Think of a time someone’s change convinced you it was real. Have one honest answer to “What shall I do?” If the room is quiet, you’ll go first.

Discussion tips

  • Quiet class? Wait a little longer than feels comfortable, then share your own answer first. People open up after the teacher does.
  • One question catches fire? Stay with it. A great discussion doesn’t cover every question. Let the rest go.
  • One voice filling every pause? Thank them warmly, then say, “Let’s hear from someone who hasn’t had a chance yet.”
  • Keep repentance hopeful and general. Talk about patterns and principles. Never ask anyone to share a specific sin. If someone opens up after class, listen kindly. Point them to the Savior and, when it fits, their bishop.
  • Some class members were baptized decades ago and some last year. Some visitors haven’t been baptized at all. Speak of baptism as an invitation, not a line between insiders and outsiders. Never ask anyone to read aloud without checking first.
  • A sincere question like “If Jesus was sinless, why was He baptized?” is a gift. Nephi answers it directly in 2 Nephi 31:5–9.

The 25-minute plan25 min + bonus

Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Each “On the screen” line is what the class sees on a shared screen in Teach Mode in the Gospel Sparks app; on paper, read it aloud or write it on the board.

1. Hook

Fruit You Can See

3 min

Opens with a real-life question about what real change looks like, before anyone opens the scriptures.

  1. SAY“Think of a time someone apologized to you, or changed a habit. You could tell it was real. What convinced you?”
  2. Give them about 20 seconds of quiet. Then take two or three answers without comment. Follow-through, time and changed behavior often come up.
  3. SAY“A man in camel’s hair stood by the Jordan River and asked for exactly that kind of evidence. He called it fruit.”

On the screen: 🍎 When someone really changes, how can you tell?

2. Story

Luke 3 in Five Short Readings

10 min

Walks through Luke 3 and the Savior’s baptism a few verses at a time, from John’s bold call to the opened heavens, with one question at each stop.

  1. SAY“We’ll walk through Luke 3 in four short readings, then see the baptism in Matthew. Listen for what John asks people to actually do.”
  2. Show one scene at a time. You or a volunteer reads. You read the last one, where the Son and the Father speak.
  3. Before each reading, give the one-line bridge on the screen. Afterward, ask the scene’s question and take two or three answers.
  4. After the last reading, sum up Luke 3:23–38 in a sentence. Luke traces Jesus’s line back to “Adam, which was the son of God.”

On the screen: 🌊 A voice in the wilderness, three honest questions, and the heavens opened · Five short readings: Luke 3:2–6 · 7–9 · 10–14 · 15–17 · Matthew 3:13–17

No supplies? Do this instead

Instead of: The shared screen (TV or device) with Teach Mode open

  1. SAY“We’ll walk through Luke 3 in four short readings, then see the baptism in Matthew. Listen for what John asks people to actually do.”
  2. Read Luke 3:2–6, 7–9, 10–14 and 15–17, then Matthew 3:13–17. Give each bridge in your own words first. A volunteer can help. You read Matthew 3.
  3. After each reading, ask the scene’s question aloud and take two or three answers. Keep each stop about two minutes.
3. Scripture

Why Would the Sinless Be Baptized?

4 min

Studies Matthew 3:15 closely with Nephi’s explanation so class members discover the reasons for themselves.

  1. SAY“Jesus had nothing to repent of. So why was He baptized?”
  2. Read Matthew 3:15 from the screen. Take one or two first guesses.
  3. SAY“Nephi saw this six hundred years earlier. He answered that exact question.”
  4. Read 2 Nephi 31:5–9. Have the class call out each reason. He humbled Himself, showed His obedience, showed the gate and path, and went first.
  5. Ask, “Which of those reasons means the most to you right now?”

On the screen: 🚪 “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Why was the sinless Savior baptized? · Matthew 3:15 · 2 Nephi 31:5–9

4. Talk it over

What Shall We Do?

5 min

Helps adults see repentance as practical, daily change in their own work and relationships, renewed at the sacrament.

  1. SAY“Three groups asked John, ‘What shall we do?’ Each got an answer they could live on Monday. Let’s ask it of ourselves.”
  2. Pick two or three questions. Ask one, wait, then ask its follow-up before you move on.
  3. Before the sacrament question, share Sister Emily Belle Freeman’s words from “From general conference” below. Count to seven before you rescue any question.
💬 Ask the class
  • Imagine asking John, “What shall I do?” about your own job or stage of life. What would he say? Follow-up: Which part would be hardest to hear?
  • When have you seen “fruits” in someone’s life that told you their repentance was real? Follow-up: How did it change the way you treated them?
  • John told soldiers to “be content with your wages.” Why might contentment be a spiritual matter and not only a financial one? Follow-up: What helps you practice it?
  • Repentance can sound heavy. When has changing something actually felt like relief? Follow-up: What would you tell someone who is afraid to start?
  • The sacrament lets us renew our baptismal covenant every week. What helps you come to it as if you were standing at the water again? Follow-up: What gets in the way?

On the screen: 🧥 “What shall we do?” What might John tell us about our work, money and relationships? · Luke 3:8, 10–14

5. Testimony

The Heaven Was Opened

3 min

Ends with testimony of Jesus Christ as the One who showed us the way, and one concrete invitation for the week.

  1. SAY“Luke says the heaven opened while Jesus was praying. That’s Luke 3, verses 21 and 22.”
  2. SAY“Would one or two of you share what your baptism has come to mean to you?”
  3. Bear a short testimony. Jesus Christ walked the path first. The Father loves His children. The Savior will help us walk it.
  4. Invite: “This week, choose one fruit of repentance that someone else could notice. Then come to next Sunday’s sacrament ready to remember your covenant.”

On the screen: 🌤️ Jesus was praying, and the heaven was opened. · Luke 3:21–22 · This week: one fruit someone else could see.

6. Talk it over

Straightway: The First Days in Mark

4 minBONUS

A bonus look at Mark 1, where the Savior’s ministry begins at full speed and still makes room for prayer and compassion.

  1. SAY“Mark tells the story at a run. Watch for the word ‘straightway.’”
  2. Read Mark 1:16–20, then Mark 1:35.
  3. Ask one or two questions with follow-ups, then close on time.
💬 Ask the class
  • Simon, Andrew, James and John left their nets “straightway.” What makes it hard for us to respond that quickly? Follow-up: When have you?
  • In Mark 1, all the city gathers at His door. Then Jesus rises before dawn to pray. That’s verses 33 to 35. What does that teach about busy seasons? Follow-up: What helps you protect that time?
  • In verses 40 to 42, a leper says, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” Jesus touches him before healing him. Why might that touch have mattered? Follow-up: Who might need that kind of touch from us?

On the screen: 🎣 Nets left behind, prayer before dawn, and a leper touched with compassion · Mark 1:16–20, 35, 40–42

Read it together

At the Jordan

Luke 3:2–6; Luke 3:7–9; Luke 3:10–14; Luke 3:15–17; Matthew 3:13–17 ↗

Scenes

  1. 🏜️ The word of God came unto John

    In Luke 3, verses 1 and 2, Luke names the powerful. Tiberius Caesar. Pontius Pilate. Herod. Two high priests. Then the word of God passes them all. It comes to a man in the wilderness. Now read verses 2 to 6. Picture a road crew. Valleys filled. Crooked paths made straight.

    💬 Ask: Isaiah pictures a road rebuilt so the Lord can come. What has to be leveled or straightened in a life before He can come in?

  2. 🪓 An axe at the root of the trees

    Now verses 7 to 9. John is blunt. Pedigree saves no one. Only fruit counts. Notice where the axe is already lying.

    💬 Ask: The crowd could say, “We have Abraham to our father.” What might we lean on today in place of real change?

  3. 🧥 “What shall we do then?”

    Now verses 10 to 14. Three groups ask the same question. The crowd. Tax collectors. Soldiers. None of them is sent to the desert. Have two coats? Give one away.

    💬 Ask: Why do you think John’s answers were so ordinary? Follow-up: What does that say about where repentance happens?

  4. 🌾 One mightier than I cometh

    Now verses 15 to 17. People wonder if John is the Christ. He points away from himself. Picture the fan. Grain tossed in the wind. The wheat kept. The chaff blown away.

    💬 Ask: John was popular, and he stepped aside. What does pointing to the Savior, not ourselves, look like in our callings and homes?

  5. 🕊️ The heavens were opened

    In verses 18 to 20, John rebukes Herod and is shut up in prison. Matthew tells the baptism most fully. I’ll read Matthew 3, verses 13 to 17, since the Son and the Father speak. Luke adds that the heaven opened while Jesus prayed. That’s Luke 3, verses 21 and 22.

    💬 Ask: The Father spoke these words before Jesus had preached a sermon or worked a miracle. What might that teach us about how God sees His children?

Key verse

Matthew 3:15 ↗
“And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”
In plain words: Jesus had no sins to wash away, yet He chose baptism anyway, to obey His Father completely and to walk the path first so we could follow Him.

More verses

Luke 3:8 ↗
“Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
In plain words: Real repentance shows up in how we live. Our family, background or reputation can’t stand in for a changed heart.
Matthew 3:16–17 ↗
“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
In plain words: The Son in the water, the Spirit descending like a dove, and the Father’s voice from heaven: three distinct members of the Godhead at one moment.
2 Nephi 31:9 ↗
“And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.”
In plain words: Nephi explains that the Savior’s baptism marks the gate and the path for all of us. He went first.
Mark 1:35 ↗
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
In plain words: After a long, crowded day of healing, Jesus got up before dawn to be alone with His Father.

From general conference

“We call this walking the covenant path—a path that begins with the covenant of baptism and leads to deeper covenants we make in the temple.”

— Sister Emily Belle Freeman, “Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ,” October 2023

Share in What Shall We Do?, before the question about the sacrament and our baptismal covenant.

Read the talk ↗

Songs

  • Come, Follow Me Hymns, no. 116

    The Savior went into the water first so we could follow. A fitting opening hymn. Find it ↗

  • I Know That My Redeemer Lives Hymns, no. 136

    A hymn of testimony in the beloved Son the Father announced at the Jordan. A strong close. Find it ↗

This week’s invitation

One Fruit Someone Could See

Ask yourself John’s question, “What shall I do?” Think about your work, money or relationships. Pick one concrete change someone else could notice. On Saturday, read 2 Nephi 31:5–13. Come to the sacrament ready to remember your baptismal covenant.

Take it home

In Sunday School we read Luke 3 and Matthew 3. John the Baptist told ordinary people to show repentance in ordinary ways. In Matthew 3:15, Jesus was baptized “to fulfil all righteousness.” At dinner, read Luke 3:10–14. Ask, “If we asked John what we should do, what might he tell our family?”

📝 After class

What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.

Got extra time?

🪓 The Axe and the Fan · 4 min

  1. Read Matthew 3:10–12. There’s an axe at the root of the trees and a fan that separates wheat from chaff.
  2. Explain the winnowing fan. Farmers tossed grain into the wind. The light chaff blew away, and the heavier wheat fell back down.
  3. Ask, “John’s images are sharp. Where do you see mercy in them too?”

🔥 Baptized with Fire · 4 min

  1. Read Matthew 3:11. John promises that the One after him will baptize “with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
  2. Read 2 Nephi 31:17 and 3 Nephi 9:20. Some were baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost “and they knew it not.”
  3. Ask, “How has the Holy Ghost changed you slowly, in ways you only noticed looking back?”

🗝️ John Returns · 4 min

  1. Read Doctrine and Covenants 13:1. These are John the Baptist’s words as he gave the Aaronic Priesthood on May 15, 1829.
  2. Read Joseph Smith—History 1:68–72 for the story of that day by the Susquehanna River.
  3. Ask, “The man who baptized the Savior came back to restore the authority to baptize. What does that tell you about how the Lord connects His work?”

Sources

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.

All Adult Sunday School lessons