And saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. John's first and only recorded message is a two-part proclamation: repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near. The word repent — metanoeite in Greek — means to change one's mind, to turn, to reorient the entire direction of one's life. The urgency is in the because: the reason to repent is not guilt-management but the arrival of something. The kingdom of heaven — Matthew's characteristic way of saying kingdom of God, honoring Jewish reluctance to pronounce the divine name — is not primarily a location but a reign, the active rule of God that the prophets promised and Israel had been waiting for. Repentance is the appropriate human response to the approach of the king. Daniel 2:44 foresaw an eternal kingdom that would end all other kingdoms; John announces it is arriving.

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