Matt. 3:1-3
Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven [c]is at hand.” 3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
Isaiah 40:3-5
3 A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 “Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
John’s ministry was the ministry of repentance, but His mandate was to prepare a way for The Lord. When Jesus announced the reality of the Kingdom, he said to repent and believe, but John only preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance, which not about guilt but is about romance, prepares for the arrival of The Presence and glory of The Lord. Joel 2:12 says, “Return to me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; (Mourning is not just grieving over loss, but is a longing for someone) and rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to The Lord your God. God wants our whole heart, not just part. He doesn’t know how to do halfheartedness, and He therefore can’t accept that as our offering to Him. He wants us to love Him with all of our heart. To rend something is to tear it in half; ruining it. God wants our hearts to be ruined for Him at ever increasing levels. You see, John only preached repentance because he was preparing for The Lord’s arrival. Jesus, now having arrived, preached repentance, for we must live in a perpetual sate of surrendered wholeheartedness, and He preached faith, for He was now present. Repentance attracts His presence; faith releases His behavior. Repentance provides a way for Him to arrive, and having arrived, faith invokes His activity.