Today's lectionary text told about John the baptizer out in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance. It strikes me as odd that John accuses the Pharisees and Sadducees of being snakes and, I guess, deceitful, in wanting to come out to be baptized. "Who warned you to flee the wrath that is to come?"
Which makes me wonder - did John believe his baptism "worked" no matter whether you had honest reasons for undergoing it? In other words, was it a kind of bullet-proof vest, shielding any wearer from punishment?
And, why does John believe there's a limit to the amount of forgiveness that can be doled out? Is this a preparation for the coming of Christ - to show the difference between human (John's) expectations of grace, and Jesus' revelation of God's infinite grace? Also, did John go on baptizing after Jesus?
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