The Word of God Came

Although many readers of the Gospels regard John as merely incidental to Jesus, Luke place considerable space and emphasis on his preparations for introducing Jesus. In the text before us, Luke shows that John fulfills the expectation of Elijah returning to Israel. Like Elijah, John kept to the wilderness near the Jordan to preach repentance to the nation, which was about to experience the wrath of God. John's message to Israel is that they should prepare themselves for Jesus, who would introduce the new covenant, baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire -salvation and judgment-.