“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 3:1-2)
This was the cry of John the Baptist.
This was also the plea from Jesus.
“The time has come,” [Jesus] said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” (Mark1:15)
John’s entire message was of repentance.
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1:4
So, what is repentance and why is it so important?
Definitions are always a good place to start.
The Bible does not split up these definitions as the Merriam-Webster dictionary does, but rather combines them. In other words, to repent in the biblical sense means to change one’s mind regarding certain actions or behaviors that prompt feelings of regret and contrition, by doing away with and rejecting all rationalizations of such behaviors, and accepting one’s humble duty to commit themselves to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life. When John baptized his followers, he immersed them completely under water. Baptism represented a complete submission and immersion unto a person’s teachings. Baptism represented a long-term committed lifestyle change. A lifestyle of repentance meant always admitting when you’re wrong, make peace with those you’ve wronged, always be quick to ask God for mercy and forgiveness, and do whatever you can to turn away from committing the same sin again. It represented a complete change in lifestyle. It was not a one-time admittance of one’s imperfections.
No one likes to talk about sin. No one likes it when their own faults are pointed out to them. It’s never enjoyable. It’s never pleasant. And yet, John was never lacking in disciples. Many came to him to be baptized.
Who were these people, these followers of John? I suspect they were “sinners”. They were those who felt burdened by their guilty consciences. They were those who felt “too far gone” for God to forgive them. They had been ensnared by sinful habits: drunkenness, thievery, prostitution, adultery, the love of money, petty resentments, envy, jealousy, malice, debauchery, … well, you get the picture. They had done wicked things… and they knew it. But… they were not proud of it. Far from it. They were ashamed. But they also felt as if they had no hope.
John had preached a message of hope. Confess your sins to God, repent, commit to change, and God will forgive you all your sins.
It probably wasn’t an easy message for these folks. No one likes to talk about the things they are secretly ashamed or embarrassed about. Especially to God. If anything, we are more apt to get defensive and make excuses for our actions in order to avoid feelings of guilt or shame. But John preached that admitting wrongdoing in spite of the feelings of vulnerability and humiliation confession might stir up, is the only way we can be cleansed. This is how we are made new, by confessing our sins to God and to one another. It is never a “fun” experience, by any means. It goes against our human pride. We want to feel strong, confident, and in control. We want to feel good about ourselves. Talking about our doubts, fears, faults and weaknesses takes vulnerability. And it never feels good. Not at the time. But there is a strange irony that occurs when we do admit our faults and failures. A burden feels lifted. We realize we’re not alone. And we feel… changed. It is by talking about our weaknesses that we are truly cleansed. We’re more apt to put the past behind us. And this is why God wants us to confess our sins and failures. He knows what’s best for us. And His heart, being full of love, will never turn anyone away, no matter what that person has done.
Many of John’s followers asked John for advice. No doubt, they were feeling wretched. Would they ever be able to atone for all the evil they had done? Perhaps, they didn’t even trust themselves to know how to change from old behaviors.
My impression of John’s followers is this: in their hearts, they wanted to please God, but deep down, they felt horribly inadequate. They weren’t sure if they were even capable of doing it. They wanted to believe it was possible. They confessed their sins, they allowed themselves to be baptized by John, and hoped that John was right, that God would indeed forgive them of all their mistakes.
It is important to note that the Pharisees and Jewish leaders were preaching a message that suggested that one could earn righteousness by checking all the boxes and obeying the Old Testament Law. They emphasized outward actions, however, as if that was all God cared about. And people understood sin based on what the Pharisees had taught them. Thus, these people who became John’s followers were most likely those who were the obvious criminals: prostitutes, thieves, adulterers, etc., and others who felt weighed down by the burden and shame of personal guilt of sin.
In order to confess sin, you have to know what sin is. As I mentioned earlier, people during that time period knew what sin was based on what they were told by the Jewish religious leaders. People in general didn’t have copies of the Torah or the Septuagint laying around in their homes. You have to understand – this was 2000 years ago. The printing press hadn’t even been invented yet. Books were rare. They were written by hand. There were no computers, no internet servers, no Bible apps, nor audio books. A lot of people didn’t even know how to read. But the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Jewish leaders, and the teachers of the Law, certainly did know how to read, and they read Scriptures often. And so, everyone assumed these folks knew all the answers and were teaching them everything they needed to know. But then this Jesus fellow comes along… and puts them all to shame.
It is extremely important to understand one critical fact: everything Jesus taught was already there in the Old Testament. It is absolutely ridiculous for anyone to say that Jesus taught something anything different from what was already explicitly stated, or at least alluded to, in the Old Testament.
Over and over again, in the Old Testament, God asked that his people give him their hearts. Over and over again, it was revealed that God sees into people’s hearts and knows our innermost thoughts and motives. God sees what no one else sees. And this was Jesus’ entire point when he stood up before thousands and said, “You have heard it said, do not commit adultery. But I tell you, if you look upon a woman who is not your wife with lust, you have already committed adultery in your heart.” In other words, Jesus was explaining to people what sin is in God’s point of view. He was explaining to them that sin included those secret thoughts and motives in the heart. Sin included those things we do in secret, that we keep hidden from our friends, our family. And this must have been a shock to the crowd of people listening to His message. They had been duped into believing it was all about appearances because that was what the Jewish leaders were preaching. As long as you kept your nose outwardly clean and your reputation untarnished, you’re okay. And Jesus had to ruin all that.
I’m sure most people who listened were stunned. Those who already felt burdened by their sinfulness – the prostitutes, thieves, and those who abused their authority – well, they were probably feeling even worse. They already knew they were sinners. Now they knew just how far off the mark they really were! And those who thought they had checked all the boxes… well, they were feeling quite ashamed of themselves. How can any heart and mind be completely pure and unblemished?
The point of Jesus message came down to this: Every person is in need of repentance. Not a single person is without sin. We all need to repent of something.
John encouraged his followers to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. That is, don’t turn back to your old ways! Stay focused on directing your life towards God and what pleases Him, and you will store up for yourself treasures in heaven.
While it is fine and good and wonderful to preach the message of the Cross – that is, that Christ bore the wrath of God upon His body when He died upon the Cross so that we might be redeemed in the sight of God and win favor with an eternal reward of life in heaven – the message of the Cross has no value apart from the message of repentance. There is a beautiful irony here. The more one is aware of the impurity within their own selves, the more one appreciates the gift of Redemption. And the more one appreciates the gift of Redemption, the more one desires to commit to a life pleasing to God. It is in this way, God slowly changes us, from the inside out. While it may be uncomfortable initially to stand under God’s pure light since it will by its very nature reveal the impurity of our own souls, it is vital to resist the temptation to run away and hide, as Adam and Eve did. Let God’s holy light do its holy work in transforming us into His holy people, willing servants to do His holy will.
“For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” – 1 Corinthians 6:20
Glorify God by living a life in keeping with repentance. Live a life in keeping with the message of the Cross – that our crown of future heavenly glory is an unmerited gift, reserved for us, not because we’ve somehow earned it by living “perfect” lives, but because Christ earned it by His perfect life, death, and miraculous resurrection, and gives it away freely as a gift to all those who believe in Him. Do these two things simultaneously and you will bear fruit worthy of a true disciple of the Lord.