22.1 John the Baptist was Jesus' forerunner, or "herald". He announced that Jesus was coming immediately, and that the people needed to get ready.
And he, (John the Baptist), went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Luke 3:4-622.2 In this lesson we shall take a careful look at John's preaching. We shall observe what he said, and explain what it meant. All of John's preaching is summarized in Matthew 3:2 He said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
This message has two parts
1. Repent
2. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Now take a closer look at the first part of John's message... "Repent..." That means to "turn around". John was telling the people to change the direction of their lives completely. Listen to what he said...
22.3 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to him.
"Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Luke 3:7-9
22.4 John's powerful preaching caused the people to ask a question.
22.5 So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"
22.6 John's answer was simple and direct.
He answered and said to them,
"He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."
22.7 Then the tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said tohim, "Teacher, what shall we do?"
22.8 And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."
22.9 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, Wnd what shall we do?"
22.10 So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."
22.11 "Repent" means "turn around". John was telling the people to change the direction of their lives completely. He was calling for radical change in the way they lived their lives, how they treated other people, and even the way they thought about relationships. Those who had the basic necessities of food and clothing were expected to share with those who did not. All abusive relationships were to be stopped immediately. Tax collectors were not to collect any more than what was due, and soldiers were to be kind to people and content with their wages. John called this change of lifestyle, "bearing the fruit of repentance". He meant that the people needed to show that they had repented by changing the way treated other people.
22.12 It is interesting that the Biblical account lists two groups; the tax collectors and the soldiers. Both of these groups were despised and hated in the land of Palestine at the time of Christ. John made it clear that if they repented, they were to be accepted.
22.13 The other half of John's message was that the Messiah, Who was the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world, was coming.
Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not,
John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire."
And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.
22.14 John was humble. He did not let the people think of him as "Elijah" or "The Prophet", and he made it clear that he was not the Christ. (John 1:20) He said that the Christ was coming and that he, John, was not worthy to untie his shoes.
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