The great John the Baptist proclaimed the coming of Jesus, the savior, one who is mightier than even John himself (Mark 1:7). John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was essential in fulfilling the role of the one crying out in the wilderness, making straight the path of the Lord our God (Isaiah 40:3). This call to repentance as a precursor to the arrival of the Messiah is an important one. Jesus’ arrival builds upon John’s call to repentance by revealing the fullness of not only God’s mercy, as was preached by John, but also God’s just judgment.
Jesus continues John’s call to repentance saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Take notice of the reasoning behind this call to repent and believe, namely that time has been fulfilled and that the kingdom of God is at hand in an unprecedented fashion. That which is contained in the fullness of Divine Revelation, as expressed in the person of Jesus Christ, makes the call to repent all the more intense. God’s patience and mercy, expressed in John’s call, combined with Jesus’ future just judgment, form two halves of a complete whole.
St. Peter in his second letter puts these two halves together. God in his mercy desires that “all should reach repentance” but also in his judgment “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:9-10). Repentance is necessary to prepare ourselves for God’s dissolving fire. Because of this fire, St. Peter reasons, we ought to always conduct ourselves in holiness and devotion to God (2 Peter 3:11).
There are three distinct senses in which we may understand the dissolving fire of God. First, the fire acts as a means of revealing that which is hidden. Peter makes clear that the fire is all encompassing, that nothing can escape it. This fire will reveal the true nature of reality, burning away the veil that presently obscures the full truth. In the words of Jesus, “nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (Matthew 10:26).
Second, God’s dissolving fire cleanses the elect of their imperfections so that they may enter into heaven. St. Paul teaches thus, “If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:14–15). Here we can clearly see God’s purgatorial power expressed through the divine fire through which the elect are purified and saved. It should be our goal to complete this purification in life, for every stain, every work built with straw, brings us further from God and more likely to be faced with the third sense of fire.
This third sense of fire is that fire which no one wishes to experience. That is the fire of hell. This dissolving fire is one which we hope not to experience. Jesus makes clear that this fire is reserved for those who do not truly serve him, those who do not repent:
[I]t is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire (Matthew 18:8).
Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).
Then he will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.” And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matthew 25:45–46).
This is why John’s call to repentance occurred as part of the preparation for the Savior’s coming. His message was to prepare the world to receive Christ’s message of repentance in hope that they would not need to experience his message of judgment, that they could receive Christ fully and thus avoid the eternal fire which torments the damned. This advent season, the preparation for the birth of our Lord, I ask you to ponder this question: how are you heeding John’s call to repentance and how are you preparing for Jesus fiery return?