15. The Holy Forerunner Goes Out to His Ministry and Baptizes. Mt. 3:1–5; Lk. 3:1–6

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governing Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of Ituraea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.

And he came into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and saying: Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

Behold, the beginning of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written among the prophets: Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You (Mal. 3:1). For he is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke, as it is written in the book of the words of this prophet: A voice crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Is. 40:3–5).

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then the people of Jerusalem, all the region of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan came out to him, and they were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.