These were not bad people. They are like us. We try to live a decent life, do our jobs, make ends meet and deal with people fairly. Yes, we have our faults, but we are not straying far off the path. We are like the people who went out to the river to hear John.
Ordinary people do some very ordinary sins.
And John had something to say then and has something to say to us now. Advent is a time of preparing, a time to make ready for the coming of Christ. Maybe our first thought is that John is not speaking to us when he talks about repentance and forgiveness of sins. And John's message is a hopeful one for us too. What can you do in the remaining weeks of Advent.