Repentance

"Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
                                                                Matthew 3:2.  New Living Translation

John the Baptist, was the forerunner to Jesus. He was the son of Mary's relative, Elizabeth who Mary visited prior to Jesus being born. He was a strange character, who wore clothes woven from camel hair. He also wore a thick leather belt around his waist. His diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. Perhaps, not the diet that we would find appetising.

John came to the wilderness of Judea and preached: 'Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.'

The Greek for repentance is a word called metanoeo. Meta means 'after' and Noeo means 'to think'. Repentance therefore, is a decision that results in a change of mind, which in turn, leads to a change of purpose and action. (data from The Spirit Filled Life Bible)

So repentance is a change of direction; a change of attitude towards God and conduct of life.

William Barclay wrote:
'The true penitent, is he who has the opportunity to do the same sin again, in the same circumstances, and who does not do it.'

There is one question that seems uppermost in my mind as I read this part of scripture, and that is:
Why was Jesus baptised by John? When you ponder this it just doesn't make sense. Jesus had come to save sinners. He was God and no sin had ever dwelt within Him. So why did He ask to be baptised?
One of the reasons may have been Jesus demonstrating by example. He was willing to do what He was asking others to do. He knew that there was no need for Him to do this but it may have been an act of, 'I want you to do as I am doing.'This was very likely along with the fact that follows.
The most possible answer is the fact that, never before in Jewish history had any Jew submitted to baptism. It was for converts to Judaism from other faiths, not for them. It was for sinners not for the Jew, after all, they were God's chosen people. 
However, it may have been Jesus' intention to approach John the Baptist, at the Jordan and undergo baptism to allow the Jews to witness this; and therefore come under conviction, that they too, were sinners and all though they were God's chosen, they still needed to accept Jesus and be baptised. This is what Jesus told Nicodemus, a prominent Jewish religious leader, when he secretly met with Jesus.  Nicodemus had spoken with Jesus and Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God. (John 3: 1-21)

The Jews who witnessed Jesus being baptised were shocked at the act but as Jesus intended, they were more than likely under conviction that they too, needed to do this. It also caused many of them to become hostile towards Jesus too.

The fact of the matter is, unless we repent of our sin - our behaviour and attitudes, and change direction towards God, Jesus' words will be relevant for us too and we won't see the Kingdom of Heaven either. Sobering words, but we need to take notice of them and if need be, repent.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard 

daillifewithjesus@protonmail.com