We can read it slowly, politely but to get the point across, these verses need to be in a shout, a scream, a firehose-level tirade that matches John the Baptist’s message:
“You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bear fruits worthy of repentance.
Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’;
for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees;
every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9 NRSV)
John doesn’t mince his words, when John the Baptist proclaims the “good news” it totally hurts:
- he calls me insulting names, he questions the value of my heritage, he warns me that God is basically fed up with my bad behavior
What I need to do is to receive John’s ministry. I need to listen with care and examine myself: Root out the viper within. Find the behavior that better befits a snake in the grass than a child of Abraham. Take action before the axe hits my roots.
If John can get through to me, and get me to change my direction in time, then that really might be good news.
Act II: The Fine Points of Repentance – Luke gives us three examples from which we can extrapolate. What, these three groups ask, would be an appropriate change of mind, heart, and action?
- The crowds: Share your clothes with the poor. While you are at it, share your food too.
- The tax collectors: Don’t gouge anybody. Be ethically upright in your work.
- The soldiers: Don’t use your position to intimidate or extort. Be content instead.
All in all it is a redirection of the heart–away from self-proclaimed greatness, toward a life of God-defined goodness.
Don’t love your neighbor in some empty theoretical way. Share, be fair, and don’t abuse your power.
Love in practical ways. Start with your character and move to help real people.
Act III: The Redirection of Focus – It was easy for the crowd to think that this deeply convincing (if somewhat edgy) preacher might be their promised savior but the strangely quiet climax of the drama of John the Baptist is that he turns the people’s attention elsewhere.
I baptize you with water;
but one who is more powerful than I is coming;
I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Luke 3:16 NRSV)
You thought John and his firehose of accusation was something?
Wait,” he says, “until you meet my cousin.”
Overall, if you know the Gospels well, Jesus seems considerably more mellow than John. Okay, Jesus takes his turn at slinging insults and overturning tables. But most of his time is spent more quietly, healing, teaching, casting out demons, welcoming outcasts and foreigners.
But John knows something. He knows that his sign of baptism, turning from sin and being washed in a river, is only a beginning.
Jesus aims at deeper inner change. Jesus action to help us can really hurt.
It burns like a refiner’s fire. Jesus brings us step by step toward the day when the metal of our lives shines purely enough that when he looks on us he sees his own reflection.
Used with permission – Gary Neal Hansen, Ph.D Website & Blog:garynealhansen.com Book: Kneeling with giants: Learning to Pray with History’s Best Teachers (Inter Varsity Press, 2012)