e filled, hills lowered, crooked places made straight, rough
ways made smooth. Thus, before men would be ready to receive Christ, moral
obstacles must be removed; men must repent of their sins and turn from
them. Luke closes his quotation from Isaiah with the line, "And all flesh
shall see the salvation of God," which is in accord with the universal
character of his Gospel.

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 p