After four hundred years of prophetic silence, God sent John the Baptist to announce the coming of the Messiah, the baptism He would bring, and the in-breaking of the kingdom of God on earth. In response, people streamed to the Jordan River to hear John's words and be baptized by him in the Jewish ritual mikveh bath for cleansing from sin and defilement. John's calling was to prepare the people for the coming glory. Our God is nothing...