The Proclamation of John the Baptist

Matthew, chapter 3.

John the Baptist "...appeared in the wilderness of Judea" proclaiming:

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

The writer of Matthew says this is the sixth (of fourteen, remember) prophecies. In this case, the prophet Isaiah, who said:

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

The study Bible says this comes from Isaiah 40.3.
"A voice cries out: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'

People were going out of Jerusalem and all of Judea to be baptized by John in the waters of the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Not a happy and rosy affair, at least not completely.

John spies some fakers in the audience and has harsh words for them (not the last time we'll be forced to deal with uncomfortable concepts, bordering on the idea of a vengeful or wrathful type God who must be, quite literally, feared). John sees many Pharisees (from study Bible: an Israelite group trying to live by the exact letter of the law) and Sadduccees (also from study Bible: a rival group of powerful Jerusalem aristocrats, mainly priests, usually hostile to the Pharisees, but in Matthew sometimes linked with the Pharisees as Jesus' opponents) coming to be baptized, and he says these words (not something I'd usually link with a warm and cozy religion):

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor': for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

***

This whole idea makes me cringe, frankly. One likes to think (when one hasn't studied closely the words and deeds of Jesus, as I have not, which is the whole point of this blog) that Jesus came to save everyone he could find. He has something good for all, and he never gives up trying to help us. Think of the good shepherd, searching high and low for a lost sheep. Even to the point of leaving the rest of the flock untended, perhaps.

We'll get to that particular Biblical passage later, but my point is merely that here we see a precursor character to Jesus wishing that the 'bad guys' didn't find out how close they were to their own imminent destruction. John the Baptist is not trying to save one and all, regardless of expense; he is only interested in helping (through baptism) those who demonstrate a sufficiently valid 'repentance'.

Somehow John knows who the fakers are and isn't interested in converting them. He wishes they'd keep coasting to their doom. Or perhaps his harsh language is the attempt at conversion. Making them see the error of their ways.

But it seems to me a bit like he was hoping they'd remain blissfully ignorant until God dropped the hammer on them. Or the ax, I guess.

"Who warned you to flee...?" sounds harsh to my modern ear, and I am quite uncomfortable with the tone and implications of a wrathful God prepared to cast many (most?) into the fire.

Next stop: the main character arrives. Jesus comes to be baptized by John.