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For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth
- Romans 1:16 -
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one
- Romans 3:10 -
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
- Romans 3:23 -
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
- Romans 5:8 -
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
- Romans 6:23 -
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
- Romans 10:13 -
The Bible records in Matthew 3:5 that John's message struck a chord in the peoples' hearts. Many in the surrounding region confessed their sins and submitted to the baptism of John. People everywhere were revitalized and anticipating what God would do next. A general excitement existed amongst the common people that eventually came to the attention of the religious authorities.
Imagine the religious leaders surprise when John looked them square in the eyes and asked "O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come"? John was very aware that the religious leaders' hearts were not right. They would submit to John's baptism as long as it met their selfish goals, but their lifestyles completely contradicted John's message. John told them in no uncertain terms that they needed to repent and that their supposed credentials as Abraham's children and religious authorities meant nothing.
At this point, it would do well for us to stop the narrative and consider our own experience with God. God loves all men and desires that they be saved. This does not mean that he lowers his standards of holiness to meet us in the middle. As a matter of fact, sin is so horrendous and contrary to God's nature that it requires a sacrifice, the death of the innocent for the guilty. This is where Jesus comes into the narrative.
John was operating in his role as the messenger of God, preparing God's way when he encountered Jesus Christ. John recognized the momentous occasion as the very pinnacle of his ministry. The promised messiah, the hope of Israel was in their midst. John made the following earth shattering proclamation when presenting Jesus: "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world".
I wish that I was there to witness the scene. I'll bet that you could have heard a pin drop. Can you picture the intense, religiously minded crowd catching their collective breath, audibly gasping and then falling into silence? In order to catch the implications of John's statement, we need to put ourselves in their perspective. They were living in an increasingly secular society that remembered times of old when God did miracles on a national scale, but they had no personal recollection or experience of them.
Their minds would have immediately jumped back to an event that was one of God's greatest acts when dealing with them as a nation. Their national identity was rooted to a unique past which involved a sacrificial lamb. This historical event profoundly affected them as a nation and they remembered it every year with a feast.
Imagine the religious leaders surprise when John looked them square in the eyes and asked "O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come"? John was very aware that the religious leaders' hearts were not right. They would submit to John's baptism as long as it met their selfish goals, but their lifestyles completely contradicted John's message. John told them in no uncertain terms that they needed to repent and that their supposed credentials as Abraham's children and religious authorities meant nothing.
At this point, it would do well for us to stop the narrative and consider our own experience with God. God loves all men and desires that they be saved. This does not mean that he lowers his standards of holiness to meet us in the middle. As a matter of fact, sin is so horrendous and contrary to God's nature that it requires a sacrifice, the death of the innocent for the guilty. This is where Jesus comes into the narrative.
John was operating in his role as the messenger of God, preparing God's way when he encountered Jesus Christ. John recognized the momentous occasion as the very pinnacle of his ministry. The promised messiah, the hope of Israel was in their midst. John made the following earth shattering proclamation when presenting Jesus: "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world".I wish that I was there to witness the scene. I'll bet that you could have heard a pin drop. Can you picture the intense, religiously minded crowd catching their collective breath, audibly gasping and then falling into silence? In order to catch the implications of John's statement, we need to put ourselves in their perspective. They were living in an increasingly secular society that remembered times of old when God did miracles on a national scale, but they had no personal recollection or experience of them.
Their minds would have immediately jumped back to an event that was one of God's greatest acts when dealing with them as a nation. Their national identity was rooted to a unique past which involved a sacrificial lamb. This historical event profoundly affected them as a nation and they remembered it every year with a feast.