You open Sunday’s door on the Advent calendar and peek inside, expecting to find a chocolate or at least an illustration of some holly. You discover, instead, a winnowing fork and an unquenchable fire.
John the Baptist bursts into this season as a startling, chastening presence. His strange clothes and ascetic diet mark him as a prophet, a type not seen in Israel in generations. Like the prophets before him, John sees what the culture around him cannot. He can tell time. He knows what hour this is and how the people should respond. The kingdom of God is at hand, and its advent demands action.
Compelled by John’s preaching, people from across the country travel to the Jordan to hear him for themselves. His movement is one of mass repentance: he urges the crowds to examine their lives in the light of the coming kingdom and to commit to change accordingly. Recognizing the power of symbol and ritual, John combines their hope for inner cleansing with a sign of outward washing. Drawing on the tradition of ritual bathing—from the immersive waters of the monthly mikvah to priestly handwashing at the temple—he offers a new rite for those who hear his preaching: baptism.
