e shall baptize you in
the Holy Spirit and _in_ fire: 17 whose fan is in his hand,
thoroughly to cleanse his threshing-floor, and to gather the wheat
into his garner; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable
fire.

18 With many other exhortations therefore preached he good tidings
unto the people; 19 but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him
for Herodias his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which
Herod had done, 20 added this also to them all, that he shut up
John in prison.

John the Baptist was the first inspired prophet to break the silence of
the centuries which had elapsed since the days of Malachi. The importance
of his ministry is indicated by Luke in the minute exactness with which he
fixes its date. By naming the civil and religious rulers he gives a
sixfold designation of the time; then, too, it accords with the universal
aspect of his Gospel, and with the genius of Luke as a historian, to link
his story with secular events. Naturally he mentions first the reigning
emperor, Tiberius Caesar; he next names Pilate, the governor of Judea who
attained an immortality of shame for condemning Jesus to the cross; Herod
Antipas, a seducer and murderer, son of Herod the Great, is designated as
ruler of Galilee; Philip and Lysanias are said to be governing neighboring
provinces; as ecclesiastical rulers, Annas and Caiaphas are mentioned;
while the former had been deposed some years before, he continued to share
with his son-in-law the actual duties of the high priesthood, and he also
shared the infamy in which their names are united. Such a list of leading
spirits indicates the absolute moral and religious degeneracy of the times
and the need of some one to call Israel back to the service and worship of
God.

Such a messenger appeared in the person of John the Baptist who after his
long discipline in the wilderness came with a definite message from God
and drew out great throngs to the Jordan Valley to attend his preaching
and to accept his baptism as a sign and seal of their repentance. The
nature of his ministry is declared to have been a fulfillment of the
prediction of Isaiah who described "one crying in the wilderness," one
sent of God to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. This preparation
is pictured in terms of Oriental imagery. When a monarch was about to make
a journey, a servant was sent before him to prepare the highway. Valleys
needed to b