“John came baptizing in the wilderness” (v. 4a). It seems counter-intuitive that John would go to the wilderness to proclaim his message. Why not go to the city, where people live? The answer is that the wilderness has special meaning to the Jewish people. It was to the freedom of the wilderness that God led them from their slavery in Egypt. It was in the wilderness that they became a nation. The answer is also that John the Baptist is the embodiment of Elijah the prophet, who was associated with the wilderness (1 Kings 17:2-3). The scriptures promised the return of Elijah (Malachi 4:5). John’s dress and diet link him with Elijah. Later Jesus will tell us that Elijah has, indeed, returned—“and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him” (9:13)—clearly pointing to John, whose arrest is mentioned at 1:14.
John comes preaching “the baptism (baptisma – a dipping, plunging, or immersion) of repentance (metanoias – a change of mind or direction) for forgiveness of sins” (v. 4b).
There are two traditions from which John’s baptism could be derived:
• One is ritual washings with which people cleansed themselves of spiritual impurity. Ritual bathing was especially important in the Qumran community with which John may have had some connection.
• The other tradition is proselyte baptism of Gentile converts to Judaism, an initiatory cleansing rite performed by immersion.
However, there are differences between each of these traditions and John’s baptism:
• Ritual bathing was a self-administered, oft-repeated ritual, but John personally administers baptism, apparently as a one-time rite.
• Proselyte baptism was for Gentiles only, signifying entry into membership in the people of God. Jews were already members of the people of God, and thus assumed to need no baptism. John’s baptism, however, is directly specifically to the Judeans and Jerusalemites who came to hear him—presumably all Jews.
It seems likely that John borrows from both traditions (ritual washings and proselyte baptism), but establishes his own baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Regarding his requirement that Jews be baptized, prophets such as John were called by God to help people see with new eyes—and to respond in new and often uncomfortable ways. In this instance, John is telling the Jews that they are in need of God’s forgiveness. In that, they are no different than Gentiles. John baptized them to prepare them for the day when God would come in judgment. It was a first step toward a new life.
John’s is a baptism of repentance. We tend to think of repentance as feeling guilty about our sins, but it is more—much more. The Greek word, metanoia, means a change of mind or direction. It is related to the Hebrew word tesubah, used by prophets to call Israel to abandon its sinful ways and to return to God. Both words (metanoia and tesubah) imply “a total change of spiritual direction” (Marcus, 150).
When we learn a new and better way of thinking, we naturally respond by changing our behavior to accord with our new understanding. If our earlier actions harmed others or ourselves, we will feel sorry that we acted in those ways and for the harm that we caused. In that sense, guilt is part of repentance, but guilt becomes true repentance only when it causes us to change our mind and direction.
© 1997-2023 Richard Niell Donovan
