Lk.3:2,3 – the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,

John the Baptist brought quite a scene to Israel in those days just before the appearance of Jesus Christ. His appearance was strange, never had a hair cut or a shave and was dressed in camel skin like a prophet from hundreds of years previous. He lived in the wilderness and ate locusts and honey for his diet. As shocking as all of that was John’s message was even more shocking. John was calling everyone to repent and be baptized, this was unthinkable to the Jews who considered themselves God’s chosen people. Being told they needed to be baptized was quite a bit over the top. Here is how the Christ Centered Expository Commentary describes this.

“We’ve seen the man and the message, and now finally we turn to the method of John the Baptist. The picture of baptism that we see in Matthew 3 is particularly instructive here, both the baptism of Jews and of Jesus. Baptism was not common in Old Testament history leading up to the time of John the Baptist. In fact, the only people who were baptized were Gentiles who decided to become followers of Yahweh. Baptism was a way of saying, “I am an outsider, renouncing my former ways, and embracing faith in the one true God, the God of Israel.” Therefore, it is astonishing that people from Jerusalem and Judea—Jewish people—came to be baptized. They were admitting that their Jewishness did not guarantee them a right standing before God. They realized that they needed to personally confess their sins and profess faith in God. Here, for the first time in Scripture, we begin to see the significance of baptism.”

So maybe what our world needs right now is a good old call to repentance and finish that off we baptism. Now I know there is more to Christianity that a baptism of repentance but that is where it all starts. After that we can be immersed by the other Baptizer, Jesus of Nazareth. He will baptize you into another substance, He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. When that happens your life will truly begin, finding your satisfaction ands purpose in God alone.