John the Baptist proclaimed, “I have baptized you with water; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8)

Although John the Baptist and Jesus both used repentance as the theme when they started spreading the Good News, their ways of doing so were drastically different. John the Baptist only baptized people in the Jordan River, and used it as a sign of repentance from sins. His life was very simple and harsh. On the other hand, Jesus and his disciples went out to every corner in the world to spread the Good News. They even interacted with tax-collectors. Once Jesus exclaimed, “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’” (Matthew 11:18-19)

The baptism from John the Baptist cannot relieve the sins of a person. However, Jesus’ can. It removes all the sins, because that’s the product of the crucifiction of Jesus Christ, and also allows the Holy Spirit to lit up our heart.

The proclamation of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for the Messiah. Similarly, our proclamation can also be used to prepare the way for the Lord. When we love one another, the others will recognize us as the disciples of Jesus Christ.