Matthew 3:1-12

With all of John the Baptist’s preaching about repentance, calling certain people a brood of vipers, and his message of an axe ready to chop and unquenchable fire ready to burn, he seems like kind of a Christmas buzzkill. His message doesn’t really seem to jive with Christmas spirit. But one important thing to remember is that John is associated with the season of Advent, not Christmas. John the Baptist’s purpose was to prepare people’s hearts by pointing

out their sin and need to repent. But his even higher purpose was to point people to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And in that sense, his message is right on point with the season of Christmas when our Savior arrives to save us from our sins.