Zechariah had prophesied of his son John that, "you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways" (see Luke 1:76). And now it was in fact coming to pass. John was calling all who would listen to acknowledge their sins and, to repent, and to bear good fruit as evidence. He was giving the people knowledge of salvation in the forgiveness of their sees (sins Luke 1:77). That forgiveness itself was not yet available. The baptism of John was a mere sign of one's intention and commitment. But the reason he made the proclamation was that the salvation mentioned by Zechariah was indeed at hand. The time to prepare the way was now because the Lord was indeed going to come to them, in a new and utterly unique way. The tender mercy of God was coming into the world and the dawn from on high was beginning to break through.
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
We know that the verse from Isaiah referred to the coming of the Lord, the coming of God himself. But interpreters must have assumed that this was meant as mere metaphor. But the dawn from on high of whom Zechariah prophesied, and for whom John the Baptist prepared, was not merely a metaphorical way of describing God's action in the world. It was in fact the person of Jesus Christ himself, the light of the world and the savior of humanity. The Lord for whom John prepared was present in the person of Jesus Christ in a way surpassing all others. It was therefore literally true to say that John prepared, not for a mere human, but for the Lord himself.
When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
It was not enough to merely going through the motions without sincerity. Choosing to be baptized because doing so was popular or even as a contingency plan, just in case John was right, seemed to be too insubstantial to motivate any real or lasting change. The baptism of John might not have had the power to forgive sins or bestow the Spirit but it was at least meant to be a choice that would change one's life going forward and definitively set a new direction.
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
We need not try to acquire salvation based on the accumulation of points or merit. Nothing we do is able to so impress God that he just can't help but give us salvation as a reward. We need to let ourselves be built as living stones, children of Abraham through faith. It is God who does the real work in us, rather than we who do it to prove ourselves to him. We, even we Gentiles, have access to it through faith. The transformation is a gift, given in the form of the Holy Spirit and fire. Practically speaking, this usually happens in the form of the baptism established by Jesus, which that of John only foreshadowed. When we emerge from the water of that fount of life the Spirit descends upon us and we hear the Father calling us beloved daughters and sons. It is then that we have the power to bear good fruit as evidence of our repentance, because we receive all the gifts of the Spirit of which Isaiah spoke.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
a spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Songs In His Presence - His Name Shall Be Called
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