A Voice in the Desert

John, unlike the average preacher, went out to where there was no-one and began to shout.
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"Repent!" he cried. "The kingdom of God is at hand!"
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John was the man who the prophet Isaiah had foreseen when he said:
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"I can hear someone calling out in the desert.
He's crying: build a road fit for the Lord!
May it straight and level!
Fill every hollow,
flatten each mountain,
make the crooked path straight
and the rough track smooth
so the world can see the salvation of God."
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John wore a coat made from camel's hair and had a leather belt tied round his waist. He ate what he could find in the desert - mainly insects and honey - yet crowds came out from Jerusalem and the surrounding areas in order to hear what he said. Those who believed his message confessed their sins and were baptised in the nearby River Jordan.
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"What do you think we should do?" they asked.
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"If you've got two coats,”he said, “give one of them to someone who has nothing. If you have food, you should share that with them too."
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The tax collectors also came to be baptised.
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"Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"
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"Don't collect more than you have to," said John.
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Then some soldiers approached him.
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"What about us?" they asked.
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"Don't extort money," he said, "don't accuse anyone unjustly and be content with your pay."
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Suddenly he noticed groups of Pharisees and Sadducees standing about in the crowd.
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"Villains!" he yelled, pointing a finger straight at them. "How do you expect to escape God's fierce wrath? Repent and do what is right! Your descent from Abraham won't save you! God could produce children for Abraham from these dry stones on the ground! He's going to be like a forester who inspects the trees with an axe in His hand. Each tree that fails to bear good fruit will be cut down and burnt!"
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Then John turned back to the genuine hearers.
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"Listen to this very carefully," he said. "Someone is coming who's more greater than me - someone whose shoes I'm not fit to carry - for I baptise you with water, but he's going baptise you with the Holy Spirit. He will be like a farmer, separating the grain that's lying on the threshing floor. The wheat he'll take into his granary, but the chaff will be swept up and burnt."