The Ministry of John the Baptist
Today's reading describes the ministry of John the Baptist, preparing for Jesus' ministry. John was in the wilderness, offering a strong message of rebuke and a call to repentance for fellow Jews. Even across the centuries, John's words are powerful, calling people a "brood of vipers" and promising God's destructive punishment.
John's prophetic words were so powerful that many people began to believe that he was the messiah, but John consistently said that he was not. Instead, God's Messiah would come and would offer words and actions more powerful than John could.
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