God sent John the Baptist to prepare people for the coming of their saviour by reminding them that they needed saving. John’s words seem harsh, but his harshness is like that of a doctor who tells us that we have a cancer that needs surgery. John was sent to help his people see that their hearts were deeply corrupted and beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9). He was sent to prepare them for ‘surgery’. If these people would not allow God to cut them open for surgery, they would be cut down by their sin. John immersed (the Greek word baptizo means ‘to immerse’) people in the Jordan river as a sign of what Jesus would do to save his people. The only cure for sin was in the forgiveness and cleansing that Jesus was bringing. John declared that Jesus would save people from sin by immersing (baptising) them in the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel had pictured a river of life symbolising the outpouring of God’s Spirit in these days (Ezekiel 47). Joel had spoken of a great outpouring of God’s Spirit, a time when “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:28-32). John was announcing this time. John warned the people that if they refused to be baptised in water and the Spirit, then they would be immersed instead in unquenchable fire. Many people heard this warning and rejected it because it sounded unreasonably harsh and unfair. People reject this warning today for the same reason. To respond like this is to deny that the problem is really that serious. John’s mission was to tell us that sin is that serious.
Pray for people you know and love, that they might know God and Christ.
Read Luke 3:1-20
