Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.  Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,  And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Matthew 3: 1-10)

What does "In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord" mean? It is John the Baptist that the spirit of Elijah was born as a human. So, John the Baptist does it. In Luke 1:17『 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 』 Here, the Father is God. Child means Israel. Israel is against God. So, in order for those who have left God to return to God, the people (John the Baptist) are prepared.

John the Baptist came and cried to the Israelites to repent. He said to bring forth the proper fruits of repentance. The law and the Prophet until the time of John apply here. The point of John the Baptist's cry is to repent because God's judgment is imminent, to realize that he is a sinner in the law, and to discover Christ. The proper fruit of repentance is the discovery of Christ.

This is "to bring back the heart of the father to the child, and the one who is against God, to the wiseness of the righteous." This is to smooth the road and prepare the road. The purpose of John the Baptist's birth in this world was to do this. Israelis believe that if they keep the law well, they will be righteous, but he is asking the people to repent. In the law, they realize that they are the ones who cannot escape from sin and turn around. It is to find Christ and to turn to Christ. Then the message is that Christ will come to them and give them the way back to God.

John the Baptist came to the world before Jesus and said (repent) the road ahead, but the Pharisees and scribes, the Jewish leaders, did not realize.“The Son of Man will suffer from them as well.” The Bible said that Jesus, like John the Baptist, would not only be treated by them, but also suffer. In Isaiah 40: 3『 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 』 Where are the wilderness and desert? The wilderness and desert that John the Baptist shouts means Israel, and it is the sound of crying to the world.

All who do not meet Jesus Christ are those whose masters they are. People who believe that they can achieve righteousness by their own strength. God gave the Israelites a law, and if they keep it well, they will bless them, and if they fail to do it, they will judge them. However, the people did not realize that they were sinners who could not keep the law, and they tried to keep the law as if they could be righteous.

The Bible says that the Law and the Prophet were until John's time. The law is over, and they can only be saved when they meet Jesus. "The Big and Fearful Day" is the day God judges Israel for the law. Jesus died of the law. So "the one in Christ" also died of the law. However, for those who adhere to the law, Jesus' coming is a great and terrifying day for them. Instead of discovering Christ, they crucified Christ and killed him.

Even today, Jesus Christ died on the cross for the repentant, and if you still think legally and live in the church, you will have the result of denying what Jesus accomplished. Trees that cannot bear fruit will be stamped on the ax and thrown into the fire. The food eaten by John the Baptist (in the last days of the Law) was locusts and limes. These foods, like the words of Psalm 119: 103, symbolize the words of repentance (cyan) and judgment on the ones in the law (locusts).

 

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