Matthew 3: What is the message of John the Baptist?

Isaiah says that the voice (ie John) should call out
'All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are as grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.' (Isaiah 40:6-8)

Two thoughts:
* Maybe this is why John lives out in the desert and doesn't care about what he eats and drinks. He is a living statement that we don't need the 'things' around us ... they will fade. Jesus certainly went into the desert and told the devil that we don't live on bread alone.
* If this is the undercurrent of John's teaching then this may explain why the prostitutes and tax collectors repsonded to him ... why we must live for the kingdom, for the promise.