The Baptist, A Warm Fuzzy

John the Baptist seems to me to be less demanding than Jesus, but we seem to think of Jesus as being more cuddly.  Jesus said, "Sell all you have and come follow me."  Not much wiggle room there.  But John did not say that to tax collectors and soldiers, who were thought to be in sinful professions by the people.  He told the tax collectors to limit what they collected.  They could still be tax collectors and did not have to follow him.  They would become good examples of repentant people waiting for the kingdom.  To the soldiers, John said be satisfied with their wages and not practice extortion.  They could still be soldiers.  People can still live in the world, but in John's view those who have more will have less, and those who have less will have more.  It kind of equals things out, a little bit like a reformed tax code might be in the USA today.