NOTES for Act 13:24-25
In what really consisted the mission of John the Baptist? To remind the Jewish people about the Messiah? But the messianic expectations in this period in Judea and in Palestine were generally very very intense, so intense that periodically burst here and there messianic revolts, led by another pretender for messianism. One could say: to prepare the people for the appearance of the Messiah. Yes, but in what sense? Remind about the commandments, the norms and rules of the spiritual life? The leaders of the Pharisaic movement succeeded in that not so bad, that even Jesus Himself recognized, advising to accomplish all the advices of the Pharisaic teachers.
The main sense of John's sermon, was, as seen, in another thing, although he (as any real prophet) wasn’t tired to remind the necessary of observing the commandments. But the center of his sermon was all the same the call to conversion. Of course, there would have been nothing new and original here in John's words, if they were addressed to the gentiles. But they were addressed not to the gentiles at all, but to the Hebrew themselves. And not to certain renegades, who forgot the God of their fathers, but to people believing and profoundly religious.
John understood what could and wanted not at all to believe the Pharisees coming to him to do this ablution, of which the prophet exhorted: it was opened to him that there aren’t people ready to meet and accept with dignity the Messiah, there is not even in the people of God. Even to somebody profoundly religious, for that it is necessary, by the way, a new conversion: because on the threshold of the Kingdom, according to the words of John himself, the Messiah will meet him and wash with “the spirit of God and fire”.
To the prophet was opened what even the apostles understood not directly: in the Kingdom everything begins newly, from a white leaf And one should not dirty this leaf. But the Pharisees, people profoundly religious and that is why observing strictly all the norms and rules of the ritual purity, were perplexed: why this strange prophet calls for the ablution of everyone? Indeed, they are not for example gentiles, they committed none of these sins, after which it could have been necessary to them to make rites of purification!
In any case, some of them all the same accomplished of course the ablution, to which John called them, but they did not still understood the sense of the event, provoking an agree rebuke from the prophet, who accused them of hypocrisy. So was indicated even before the coming to the world of Christ this border separating the religion and the Kingdom, which will afterward oblige several Pharisees to hate the One, Who brought intto the world the Kingdom. The border, denoting the path to the cross.