hen you think about John the Baptist, what image of him do you see in your mind? The first glimpse we have of him in the gospels is a man dressed in camel’s skins, wearing a leather belt, and eating locust and honey. The first words that Matthew records from his lips is, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” To many he almost sounds like an odd-ball, like someone walking in the street holding a sign up high which says, “Repent for the end of the world is near!” But John was not an odd-ball. He was a priest - his father was Zacharias - who had rejected his opportunity to serve in the Temple because he had something better to do. He had a mission. He had a vision of the future. He had a calling from God! He had a message from God, and his ministry was to prepare the way for the Messiah. He called people to repent of their sins and to demonstrate their change of heart by submitting to baptism.

Man of Integrity. John the Baptist was a man of integrity. He had rebuked the Pharisees when they wanted to be baptized, because he knew they were not sorrowful over their sins. His baptism was for those who recognized that they were sinners and wanted peace with God. But most of the Pharisees and Sadducees did not see their sin as a problem. They believed they were going to heaven because they were descendants of Abraham. They believed it was whom you knew that was important. As a result, John the Baptist offended many of these self-righteous leaders.