Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
make His paths straight. ‘Every ravine will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be brought low;
The crooked will become straight,
And the rough roads smooth; And all flesh will see the salvation of God.’"
So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? "Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages."
Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. "His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.
My thoughts -
Can you come to Jesus without repentance? John preached and baptized in repentance for the forgiveness of sins in order to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus. Not only did John preach repentance he also demanded, upon receiving forgiveness of sins, that the people live lives that bore the fruit of that repentance and to not just rest on their status as the chosen people and those who had received forgiveness.
Can we uncouple repentance from forgiveness? Can we uncouple living changed lives bearing the fruit of repentance from forgiveness? Can we ignore that John preached these things to prepare for the ministry of Jesus? Is there an easier path we can take to Jesus? Is there one that demands less, or better yet nothing at all? Can we receive Jesus without preparation in repentance?
I have often wondered these things. I was involved in a ministry once in which people were sent out to witness to others. A big part of this witness was an effort to convince those who we were witnessing to that they stood condemned in their sin. The idea was that if they were not aware of their sin they could not repent. If they didn't repent they couldn't receive Jesus. No Jesus no salvation. But everything started with the conviction. Everyone must know how wretched and awful they were in their sin and how badly they needed to turn.
As you could imagine this was not a popular message. No one likes to hear it. Especially not from a total stranger. This method of witnessing I found to be both ineffective and in a bad spirit. It was as if we had something that we were lording over those we wanted to save. That was a big turn off.
Also, I can not recall a time that I have been unaware of my own sin. I've never needed anyone to beat me over the head with it. I do that quite enough, thank you. But the more people I know, the more I observe, the more I talk to, the more I am convinced want to believe that everyone is a sinner but them. This is an issue. Whether it is a turn off or not it is very difficult to repent if you don't feel like you have any sin to turn from.
I wish there was a simple method for witnessing. I wish there was a simple formula for preparing people to receive Christ. Someone going up to you in the mall, asking you a few questions about your life, and then telling you that you're going to hell unless you repent right now is probably not going to convince you to receive whatever kind of salvation they claim to be offering. But then again, if you don't know that you need salvation how can you receive it? If you are unaware of your sin how can you turn from it? If you don't believe you have any sin in your life how can you be rescued from it?
So let's look again at John. Who is he talking to? Who is receiving his message?
The crowds have come to be baptized by him. They know they need something. Maybe they've heard there is a prophet and are curious. Maybe they know that their lives aren't working for them and they need a change. But they have come for him. They have come to hear his message. They are prepared to receive it.
And so they hear him. And then they ask. What should I do? So he tells them.
And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages."John didn't let them off the hook. He is preparing people for Jesus. There's no cheap grace here. They are to repent and they are to lead changed lives. They turn from their sin and lead lives that show the fruit of that change. All of their interactions, even their professional ones are to reflect that change.
That's no easy message. I'm sure that it, along with a lot of what Jesus preached (die to self, forgive always, turn the other cheek, be perfect as God is perfect) rubbed (and still rubs) people the wrong way. If we tell people they have to repent to receive Jesus some won't like that. If we say that their lives should (have to?) bear the fruit of that repentance some of them won't like that. It will seem judgemental. If we say that a big part if that is how they do their jobs and not just who they feel they are, you know, on the inside, they won't like that, either.
But if people want to know how to come to Jesus can we really honestly say that all you need to do is say this one little prayer, affirm these right beliefs, and it's all good? Can we honestly say that you don't need to prepare to receive Jesus? Can we look at John's ministry and say that it was unimportant? If people didn't need to prepare to receive Christ why did God call John? Why not just skip straight to Christ's redemption of us and be done with it?
I don't have all of the answers I'd like to. I don't know the "best" way to reach people. There are things that make me a bit squeamish about witnessing, quite frankly. But I am certain of a few things. One, Christ saves. And also, if we want to be set free from our sin we have to turn from it. I don't know how to convince people to do that. I don't think shouting at them in the mall works too well. Maybe I missed the times it did work. I don't know. But we are all sinners. And we all need Jesus. And we need to make ready the path of the Lord.
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