The noun repentance or the verb to repent is very familiar already in our faith-life even in the original Greek: ‘metanoia’ ( μετανοία ). This is the core of the proclamation of St. John the Baptist in preparation for the coming of Jesus. St. Luke’s account (3:1-6) gives a distinctive character to John’s ministry, connecting it to the infancy account and designating him as a prophet who speaks the “word of God” (3:2), which is a form of “good news” for the people (3:18). By this description Luke has placed him in the sequence of prophetic figures (e.g. Jer 1:2). His being in the desert near Jordan would have brought him into proximity with the Qumran community known to us from the Dead Sea Scrolls and share with them a baptism of repentance (v3), a ceremonial purification practiced rather broadly in this period of of Jewish expectation.
Luke pictures John as a teacher of morals who calls for deeds appropriate to conversion. Thus ‘metanoia’, literally means ‘turning back/away’ [echoeing the OT word ‘shûb’ (שׁ֣וּב), cf 1Kgs 8:47, Is 59:20; Dn 9:13] which connotes not just a change of one’s mind or outlook but an abrupt about-face in moral conduct. This radical redirection signifies a new walking with God, ongoing in nature, in separation from sin, a shift from a worldly path to an engagement with God. Even the quote from Isaiah about the leveling of hills and filling of valleys and straigthening of roads carries a strong moral implication. And with John’s baptism it serves as the external sign to signify the interior cleansing of mind and heart. And with the quote, Luke echoes as well the return of the Jews from exile and at the same time heralding the coming of Jesus who brings salvation for all (v6) and pointing to the way (Acts 9:2, 18:25) of Christian life as their own exodus, making their own journey toward their final engagement with God.
Whenever we wait for the coming of a person or event we do necessary preparations. This season of Advent St. John the Baptist calls for that perennial preparation, whether it is for the coming of Jesus in the flesh or as our judge- metanoia! Repentance or a ‘turning away’ from sin carries with it the hope that there is indeed a new way of life according to the plan of God. We need only to be constantly attuned to the voices of the modern prophets bearing the “good news” and actively participate in the very life of the Church in her journey towards full communion with God.
