Matthew 3:7-12

Posted by DJL on Jan 16, 2014 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume 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. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Like his prophetic forebears, John is not one to sugarcoat his words. He believes and preaches that they only way to restore right relationship with God is through repentance. Serious repentance. It is not enough to be people of the covenant or to adhere to tradition, for judgment is coming and that judgment will depend soley on one’s conduct.

And so when the Pharisees and Sadducees, those charged with tending the covenantal traditions, appear at the Jordan – apparently coming to be baptized – John greets them with harsh words of judgment, if not condemnation. He suspects that they of all people will rely on their status or keeping of the tradition to establish their relationship with God, and John warns them that his baptism of repentance is not mere window dressing, but rather cuts to the core of his ministry and their being.

Having warned them of the need for repentance, John then announces the coming of one who will inaugurate a new era in the relationship between God and God’s people, an era John assumes will be characterized by repentance and, even more, judgment. It is a rather fierce message, not unlike other prophetic imagining about what the consummation of history will be like.

But while John may be faithful and fierce, the question remains: is he right?

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for sending people like John the Baptist to call us to repentance and urge us to good works. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

Post image: “John and the Pharisees,” by James Tissot.