Getting Back to the Beginning: The Message of John the Baptist and Jesus

Back to the Beginning

It's often good to go back to the beginning, where everything started. And that's what Matthew does when he takes us back to John the Baptist. Getting back to the beginning often gets you back to the most important things.

John the Baptist's message, according to Matthew, is: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And the fascinating thing is that in the next chapter, when Matthew summarizes the message of Jesus, it's in exactly the same words: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Now, it doesn't mean that heaven suddenly got closer to earth. What it means is heaven's kingdom is on the way. It's close. It's at hand. The other gospels don't say "heaven's kingdom" — they simply say "God's kingdom." The kingdom of God is at hand. The kingdom of God is near. So be ready for it. That's the message.

Kingdom, Empire, and Dangerous Words

It's really quite interesting because what it's saying is that God's kingdom is going to come and things are going to change. Things are going to get better. It's not going to be the way it is now.

We have the word "kingdom," and we also have the word "empire." They're two different things in English, although they're related. But in the language that Jesus spoke, and in the Greek of the New Testament, there's only one word — and it means both empire and kingdom.

Just imagine if people heard Jesus saying, "The empire of God is at hand." My goodness — the empire of God! What would the Romans think? You could get yourself killed going around talking like that. And that's actually what happened to John the Baptist. And it's what happened to Jesus. In fact, they put the accusation over the top of the cross saying "King of the Jews," making fun of him. The kingdom, the empire of Jesus has come to nothing — at least that's what the claim was.

What Repentance Really Means

So it's quite interesting that John the Baptist and Jesus start with the same message. It's a really important one. The language used in our church tradition is "repent," and we often think repent means really being sad and sorry. But the Greek word behind it — metanoia — really means change your mind. Turn. Turn to God. Turn away from other things. Turn yourself to God. And it includes turning to God for forgiveness.

John the Dipper

Sometimes life experiences need a symbol to represent them. Sometimes you want to say you love somebody and you give them a kiss or a hug. Well, what they used to do when you turned to God was use water. They would immerse themselves, bathe themselves in water as a way of saying, "This is what God does for me." Normally people would do that for themselves.

But John the Baptist was very inventive. He said, "Turn to God. Get ready for change. Come and be immersed in the Jordan River." And it was really quite strange, because normally you dipped yourself — you baptized yourself. But John did it to other people. In fact, he probably got a nickname out of it. We call him John the Baptist, but he wasn't a member of the Baptist Union or anything like that! That's our churchy word. It really means "immerse" or "dip." John the Dipper was probably a kind of nickname, because he did it to other people.

Why did he do it to other people and not just say, "Bathe yourself"? It was a way of saying, "It's God who does the forgiving. It's God's work." Immerse yourself in God's love, in God's kindness. Let yourself be cleansed. Let yourself be renewed.

Forgiveness Is First Base, Not Home Plate

This was fundamental for John the Baptist, and it was fundamental for Jesus. We find it occurring throughout Jesus' ministry — he offers forgiveness of sins, renewal. And of course, when the early Christians came to think about his death, they said, "It's actually like a sacrifice — a sacrifice for sins." And so they talked about Jesus dying for our sins. But all the way through, quite central to everything, is forgiveness of sins: that we can turn to God and God's kindness is there for us.

Now, this is quite interesting, because some people stop there. They think, "What is the Christian gospel? It's forgiveness of sins." But really, they haven't got past first base. First base is forgiveness of sins. Get ready, because the big thing is about to happen. The new thing — change — is about to happen. And that's what it's all about.

We continue to baptize as a kind of symbol of saying, "It's all about God's goodness and God's kindness" — even before we understand it, even when we're a baby. The love and the kindness is there for us.

Forgiveness of sins. God's embrace. God's love. God's generosity is right at the heart of the gospel. And if you want hope, get ready for hope — and get ready for hope by turning to God and opening yourself to God.

I find it's really important for me every day to think about this: I want to be turned to God, because God is the creator. That's where I belong. That's what it means for me to be healthy and to be whole.