Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

John backs up the power of his message by the power of the austerity of his life. He preaches repentance; he repents. The message of repentance is real, Christ himself begins his preaching ministry with the exact same mandate as John: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4.17).

The fact that Matthew concerns himself with relating to us what John wore for clothes indicates that how John lived was perhaps as important as his message. Repentance is real in his life. Some of those who went out to hear him were shocked at how he was clothed. “What then did you go out to see?” Jesus asks. “Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces” (Matthew 11.8). To some, John’s message was a curiosity. But how he dressed and ate was shocking. Is our faith a curiosity? How does our daily life manifest a continual attitude of repentance? Our entire life is a preparation for meeting you, O Lord. Help us to repent. Help us to see that your kingdom is not a novelty, but the deepest reality, demanding the difficult preparation and response of penance - the narrow way.