A Call to Repent

April 23, 2025 | Read and Think About Luke 3:1-18

The previous post (“God and the Unexpected”) described the mission of John the Baptist. In other words, what the RESULT of his work would be: “to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.” Here we are shown HOW.

We first learn that John did not set out based on his own ideas. In verse 2, the very first thing we read about the adult John is that the word of God came to him. I don’t even know how that happened, just that it did. Please leave a comment if anyone has looked into how this likely occurred.

We next learn John was in the wilderness. The Greek word literally means a desolate, solitary wilderness. Worldly power was in the city of Jerusalem. God’s power and wisdom came to a solitary place. I live in a city, and it’s not easy to imagine what solitary is! But that’s where the word of God intersected with John.

Then we learn that John stayed in the wilderness to do his work. He did not go into the city where the population was dense. Rather, the people came to him, near the Jordan River. And he baptized and preached the word of God to them, calling on the people to repent of their sins and be forgiven. That’s how John the Baptist prepared the people for the Lord to come.

John wore no fine clothing. He ate insects and wild honey. I picture him with an overgrown beard and wild hair. At least in appearance, was there ever a bigger difference from father to son than we see with Zechariah, of the priestly order, and John the Baptist? But appearances can fool us, and Jesus said there were none better than John the Baptist.

When I think about John’s strong call to repentance, and his baptism of forgiveness, I think of a T-intersection, where continuing straight is not a real option. This is why John spoke harshly to the religious leaders and others who came out to him just to make a show of it, but without sincerity. His baptism was a call to change the heart, and they wanted no part of that. They wanted to continue business as usual, and John saw through it.

This passage makes me think that T-intersections still happen today. We will come to them, or perhaps God places them in our path. And the question is whether we turn.