The origins lay in ancient times. Ever since the temple was destroyed in 586 BC and most of the people were taken into captivity to Babylon, there have always been groups in Israel that cared about the faith and obedience of the people of Israel to God. Such a catastrophe was not to be repeated, as it was when the fathers refused to listen to the words of the prophets of God. Therefore, those who had already returned from captivity and all the people swore to "walk in the law of God, which was given by the hand of Moses, the servant of God, and to keep and fulfill all the commandments of the Lord our God, and His statutes, and His precepts" (Neh.10:29).

However, it was not easy to keep this promise. The Greeks who came to Palestine with Alexander the Great, and who brought the country into contact not only with trade but also with the philosophy of the "wide world," the Babylonians and Persians, the Egyptians and Romans, among whom lived the Jews who had emigrated – all of them daily showed the Jews that it was possible to live differently from the faith of their fathers, and at the same time remain, so to speak, "decent people." Therefore, quite soon a significant part of the people began to find a common language with the pagans. Others, of course, opposed all aspirations, "to make an alliance with the surrounding peoples" (1 Mac. 1:11). These were the Maccabees, the Teacher of Righteousness, the people of Qumran, but also the Pharisees and, above all, the Zealots.

The longer the controversy about the righteous path of the people continued, the stronger grew the conviction among the pious Jews that the present moral state of the people could no longer continue. Therefore, some prayed for the restoration of the kingdom of David and the defeat of the Gentiles:

"Lord, you yourself are our King forever and ever; In Thee, O Lord, our soul boasts. As long as a person's life on earth lasts, so long does his hope in Him. But we trust in God our Saviour; for the authority of God our God (endures) forever with mercy, and the kingdom of our God (is exercised) forever in the judgment of the nations. You, O Lord, chose David to be king over Israel, and you swore to him for his Son for all time, that his kingdom would not pass away from you... Look, then, O Lord, and raise up unto them, O God, in Thy appointed time their King, the Son of David, that He may reign over Thy servant Israel. And bind Him with power, that He may defeat the rulers of the unrighteous, that He may cleanse Jerusalem from the Gentiles, who trample it on our mountain. Wisely and righteously may He drive sinners out of their inheritance, as clay vessels will crush the arrogance of sinners, with a rod of iron He will break their whole life, with the word of His mouth He will destroy the godless pagans, let the Gentiles flee before His wrath, and may He guide sinners in the thought of their hearts." (Psalms of Solomon, 17:1-4, 21-25).

Others withdrew to the desert near the Dead Sea, to Qumran, and there, in their community, they made promises:

"To seek God with all your heart and with all your soul, to do what is good and righteous in His sight, as He commanded through Moses and through all His servants the prophets; and to love all that He has chosen, and to hate all that He has rejected; to abstain from all evil, and to cling to all good works... to love all the sons of light, each according to his lot in the counsel of God, and to hate all the sons of darkness, each according to his sin in the retribution of God." (Community Rules I QS I.1-5, 9-11).

Finally, there was no shortage of those who, like the Maccabees of old, called the people to armed revolt against the enemies of Israel and its faith. The Jewish people were very, very restless.

John, who soon became known as the Baptist when he went out to preach, also met with great attention and sympathy. This probably took place in the south, in the Judean desert between Jericho and the Dead Sea, not far from the ford through which the path from Judea to the eastern Transjordan led. Here John was met by all who followed this path.

There were two things that particularly distinguished John:

The first is the baptism to which he called and with which he baptized. True, baptism was a common thing before him. By immersing themselves in the water, people were symbolically cleansed of all kinds of impurity. Pagans who converted to Judaism were also baptized. But in all these cases, baptism was a personal matter of an individual, man or woman. They took advantage of the opportunity to purify themselves on their own initiative. Baptism was available to them whenever they felt the need for it. John, on the other hand, claimed that only he could perform that one-time baptism, which is urgently needed by absolutely the entire people. For he was not only convinced that God's judgment would soon break out, but he was also convinced that no one would be able to stand in that judgment simply because he had "Father Abraham" (cf. Matthew 3:7-10).

1.7-10 — "And when John saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him to be baptized, he said to them, 'Offspring of vipers! Who inspired you to flee from the wrath to come? Make therefore the worthy fruit of repentance, and do not think to say in yourselves, 'Our father is Abraham,' for I say to you, God is able to raise up children for Abraham out of these stones. Already the axe lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

The second thing that distinguished John was that for him there was no distinction between the righteous and the sinners, between the godless and the pious. He demanded repentance, repulsion from their sins of the entire people. From John the Baptist's perspective, holding on to one's former righteousness was no longer enough. And evidently this view was shared by many among the Jewish people (Mark 1:5).

Therefore, the people hurried to follow the call of John, who already resembled the ancient prophets in his appearance. Already by his clothing and food (Mark 1:6) he showed that much of what our thoughts revolve around in ordinary life has lost all significance in the face of the threat of the imminent Judgment.

Thus the people confessed their sins to John, and he baptized them for the remission of their sins.