Now let us turn our attention to the book of John as we further explore this mandate of repentance. John 1:6 introduces us to John the Baptist. He was the man sent from God. Don’t miss that comment. God sent this forerunner. The text goes on:
“This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” John 1:7-9
The Scripture is clear - that all through him might believe. More appropriately we would say that it is the message that John the Baptist brings that opens the way to belief. He bore witness of the Light. This is what the ministry of John did. It pointed to Light. Considering the contrary of this is helpful. Without John the Baptist, the nation would not have a witness of the Light. Nothing to show the way to the Light. As a result, there is something utterly peculiar about John’s ministry that pointed to Jesus.
Let us walk through the section in John 1 beginning at verse 19. John the Evangelist tells us the testimony of John the Baptist. It begins with Jews sending their leaders to John who was outside of Jerusalem to ask who he was. "Who are you?" When John the Baptist appears on the scene of first century Palestine, the nation did not know who he was. One of the keys to this passage is to see John the Baptist as the personification of repentance. Who he was in the plan of God is summed up in the word "repentance". The Jews did not know who this was. He was unknown to them.
