Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.”

Matthew 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John the Baptist preached repentance before he introduced Jesus Christ to a lost and dying land. Given that those reading this may have already repented and are seeking to discover Jesus as their savior, then sequence is important. Repentance has to come first.

The teachers of the law did not preach repentance at this time, and baptism by water immersion was unheard of in Torah. The baptism of repentance was new and controversial.

That was then but in this time and place baptism is common and performed in different ways by different sects. Resist the temptation to seek which method is right and remember this is all about repentance.

Strong’s Definitions

נֹחַם nôcham, no’-kham; from H5162; ruefulness, i.e. desistance

Desistance is the process of abstaining from crime by those with a previous pattern of offending. It is an ongoing process and often involves some false stops and starts. 

Source: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/

This is how the world defines repentance in relation to crime. Not all sins are of a criminal nature. In the spiritual sense which is defined by God the Father it is a turning from the path we are on and begin to follow God. In the truest sense, following after righteousness, Jesus.

At this point I have gotten ahead of the gospel of John and the order in which John presented Christ to us. What comes next?

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Can you see light? Light must be reflected off a subject in order to make those objects visible. Light exposes things so that we can perceive them. Perception is not truth, the light is truth.

John 3:19-20 English Standard Version

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Order: state what it is and then define the effect.