The burden of the message preached by John was that which in all ages has awakened a response in the hearts of men: he preached sin and judgment, repentance and pardon. The tone of his message as recorded by Luke, however, was particularly severe; here he is said to have addressed the multitudes as the “offspring of vipers” and to have asked them why they were pretending to have heard a warning of wrath to come. The reason for such severity was that, while wishing to escape the impending judgment, the people were unwilling to forsake their sins. They regarded the baptism of John as a magical rite which could make impenitent men safe in the hour of judgment. John bade them show their repentance by their works and not to trust in their descent from Abraham as securing their salvation. He declared that judgment was upon them; the ax was already lying at the root of the trees and every fruitless tree was about to be “hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
To the question of the people John made it perfectly plain that by repentance he meant no mere form or ceremony, nor was the word merely an abstract theological term; the thing he demanded was plain and practical, that each man should turn from his besetting sin and should show love to his fellow man. Clothing and food were to be given to those in need, for repentance meant to turn from the sin of selfishness. Publicans or taxgatherers, who were everywhere detested because of their dishonesty and greed, were told to demand no more tribute than was appointed and lawful. Soldiers, or more exactly “men on military service,” possibly acting as local police, were told to extort no money by violence and to seek for none by false charges, and to be content with their wages. All who are to receive Christ in any age must turn from their sins. Repentance is not a mystical experience; it is plain and simple and practical. It consists in turning from greed and dishonesty and unkindness and violence and discontent, and from all that is contrary to the revealed will of God.
The coming of Christ was very definitely predicted by John. While some imagined that the prophet himself was the Messiah, John declared that the mission of Christ was so much greater than his own that he would be unworthy as a slave, to loose the latchet of his shoes. While John baptized with water, Christ would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Water was a material element, and merely symbolized an inward change; Jesus would bring them into fellowship with a divine Person, and would exert upon their souls cleansing and transforming power. He would come, however, to punish the impenitent; he would separate the wheat from the chaff; the former he would gather into his garner, but the chaff he would burn with unquenchable fire.