Luke 3:7-14

Butler's Comments

SECTION 2

The Baptizer's Message (Luke 3:7-14)

7 He said therefore to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, -We have Abraham as our father-'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

10 And the multitudes asked him, What then shall we do? And he answered them, He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise. 12Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? 13And he said to them, Collect no more than is appointed you. 14Soldiers also asked him, And we, what shall we do? And he said to them, Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.

Luke 3:7-9 Admonition: Matthew and Mark (Matthew 3:5-6; Mark 1:5) indicate that thousands of people came out from the cities and villages and farms of Judea and were immersed by John. The word baptizo in Greek means immerse; it can only mean immerse. There is a Greek word for sprinkle, rantizo; there is a Greek word for pour, cheo. Neither of these words are used in the Greek text for the action of baptismonly the word baptizo. All Greek lexicons, ancient and modern, give the definition of baptizo to be, dip, plunge, immerse. The practice of sprinkling for baptism was not officially sanctioned by Christendom until the fourteenth century! To make changes in the mode of baptism is nowhere sanctioned in the Bible!

Among the thousands coming out to where John was immersing were some of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew uses the Greek preposition epi which could be translated, ... many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to (or toward) baptism. The preposition may also be translated for baptism. Were they really coming for baptism (cf. Luke 7:29-30)? Harold Fowler suggests, they may have feared the loss of their leadership of the people if they did not join it (John's baptism). (cf. Matthew, Vol. I, by Harold Fowler, College Press, pgs. 98-104). John did not mince words. He addressed his remarks to the multitudes, but more specifically (as Matthew points out, Matthew 3:7) to the Pharisees and Sadducees, calling them offspring of poisonous snakes. It was a title well placed for their teachings and their hypocrisy had poisoned the spiritual life of the covenant people (cf. Matthew 16:6; Matthew 16:12; Matthew 23:1-39). Jesus also called them offspring of poisonous snakes (Matthew 12:34). John's question, Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? was probably couched in irony and sarcasm in an attempt to expose the sham and hypocrisy of their hearts so they might be brought to true repentance.

The Greek word for repentance, metanao, means literally, change of mind; change of direction. It was a military term used in drilling soldiers and meant, about face, to the rear march. True repentance is inward and is a state of thinking and beingit is the nature of a person who is going in the direction of the will of God. But true repentance must express itself in actions and deedsin all the issues of life. There must be fruits that befit true repentance, (cf. Acts 17:30-31; Acts 26:20). True repentance involves confessing our sin (Proverbs 28:13; Psalms 32:5-6; Jeremiah 2:35; Jeremiah 3:13); restitution of the damage of our sin (insofar as possible) (cf. Numbers 5:6-7); resolution that we shall not willingly sin again, (cf. Hebrews 10:26-27; 1 John 3:9).

John's next admonition is that genetic or biological relationships, racial or national heritages and family ties have nothing fundamentally to do with our relationship to God. God is interested in character, not color of skin or cultural circumstances. All these things may have some bearing on the formation of our character, but they count for nothing in themselves concerning our future life. The Jews believed that inasmuch as God once chose Abraham and blessed him, they automatically, by reason of physical descent, must stand in the exact same favor with God as Abraham had. If God wanted only physical descendants from Abraham, He could multiply them from stones of the ground. After all, God made the original man from the dust of the earth. But God cannot and will not overwhelm the autonomous will and spirit of man to make him a child of faith. God wants children of Abraham by faith (cf. Romans 4:1 ff; Romans 9:6-7; Romans 11:13-24; Galatians 4:21-31), and good works (James 2:18-26). God is not partial for any nationality or culture; He is partial toward anyone anywhere who believes and obeys His Word (cf. Acts 10:34-35). God saves individuals, not nations or races. God takes repenting, obedient individuals from every nation and tribe and tongue and makes them a kingdom of His own (cf. Revelation 7:9). Jewish apocryphal traditions taught that Abraham had accumulated more merit with God than was necessary for his own salvation. All Jews in good standing with the torah and the traditions could draw on this excess merit for their salvation.

The final admonition of John was that the axe of God's judgment was already laid to the root of the trees (the people of the Jewish nation). John himself had come in partial fulfillment of that great prediction of judgment upon the nation in Malachi 3:1-5. Jesus-' coming to judge was the other part of that prophecy (cf. John 9:39-41; John 3:19; John 3:36; John 5:22; John 5:27; John 12:40). The question is, when was the axe to cut down the trees? John may be warning of the imminent destruction of the Jewish system, as Jesus often did (cf. Matthew 21:33-43; Matthew 22:1-14; Matthew 23:37-39; Matthew 24:1-35; Luke 19:41-44, etc.). The book of Hebrews warns of judgment to come upon the Jewish system (cf. Hebrews 8:13; Hebrews 10:25; Hebrews 12:25-29). The Jewish system was ready to be done away withit had served its purpose (cf. Jeremiah 3:15). All who did not repent and prepare to meet God on a new basis would be cast off. John is warning of the danger of being hewn down and thrown into the fire of eternal damnation. Even now, with the coming of Jesus Christ, the axe of judgment falls. Without acceptance of the Messiah there is nothing left but inevitable judgment. The Messiah is God's last message of grace and salvation to the world (Hebrews 1:1-3). The One whom John is to introduce to the world is man's only hope. In effect, the good news becomes bad news. It is good news to the humble who surrender in faith and repentancebut it is bad news to the proud, self-righteous and impenitent. Christ is God's final touchstone of judgmenthenceforward God will categorize and separate all men as to their eternal destinies according to their response to Christ's covenant. Thus, even at the beginning of John's preaching, the axe of judgment was poised, ready to fall upon mankind.

Luke 3:10-14 Application: John the Baptist has his method in the correct order to bring about the proper result. People must first repent of improper theology. Man must first obey the revealed covenant terms and come into right relationship to God. Then he acts according to God's revelation concerning right relationships toward other men. Those who repented and were immersed with John's baptism, having redirected their attitudes with respect to God's coming kingdom, asked how this new attitude was to affect their daily lives.

True repentance will manifest itself in sharing one's worldly goods with others less fortunate and in need. John does not qualify the necessity of sharing by asking why the one is without a coat or without food. Need is all the motivation a New Kingdom person requires. Right relationship to needy humanity is necessary in order to be in right relationship to God (cf. 1 John 3:16-18; 1 John 4:20; James 1:27; James 2:14-17; Hebrews 13:16; Matthew 25:31 ff). Tax-collectors (publicans) were told they should not cheat or be dishonest and take more taxes than allowed. Soldiers were told they were not to use their power and influence to extort or defraud others and to be content with their wages. G. Campbell Morgan says, ... the height of morality is the love-mastered life. The New Kingdom person does not live his life or do his job for mercenary reasons. He keeps his life free from love of money (cf. Hebrews 13:5; 1 Timothy 6:6-8). He does not have to give up a perfectly normal and socially useful vocation to come into right relationship to Godhe just has to let God's revealed will give sovereign direction to whatever vocation or avocation he chooses in life. Tax-collectors did not have to quit their jobs, soldiers did not have to be discharged from the armythey simply had to do their jobs according to God's guidance. These words from John the Baptist are both timely and timeless. The apostle Paul's advice is, Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not man, Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. (Colossians 3:23-24; Ephesians 6:5-9, etc.). Craftsmen, professional men, housewives, even children doing chores should remember God's ideal is that we do our tasks with excellence, not haphazardly, and not for mercenary purposes. Anyone who does otherwise cannot please God!