John’s audience has been waiting for a Messiah. They have particular (and set) views on what he would be like: from the family line of David, he would set the world alight and set the world right againThey have been drawn out into the desert to get right with God: to be baptized as sign of their repentance. They are going to get on the straight and narrow. But, that’s not the full storyJesus’ arrival was not the best thing on some kind of spiritual “wish list”. He came to free the Jews from a fate worse than one that imposed by the occupying powers of Rome. What He delivered was so much greater than what was expected - He came to free them, and us, from death.