Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father"

Grape harvest detail, 4th century, mosaic.  Nave of Santa Costanza Church, Rome 

 

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled

And every mountain and hill brought low;

 The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough ways smooth;

And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, 'Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  

 

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do them?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."

 

- Luke 3:1–14 

 

In our recent readings, we have been covering Jesus' final hours with His disciples.  We read His Farewell Discourse (beginning with this reading) and also His High Priestly Prayer (starting here).  Yesterday, we read the last verses of that prayer:  "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene . . ..  Today the lectionary starts readings in Luke's Gospel.    Luke is careful to establish dates, times, places, and the people of the historical setting to the story of Jesus Christ.  Herod the tetrarch of Galilee is Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who was king of Judea at the time of Christ's birth.  (Herod the Great ruled Judea from 37-4 BC.  My study bible notes that there was an ancient prophecy of Jacob which indicated that the Messiah would come when  king ruled who was not of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).  Herod was a non-Jew who called himself the king of Judea, a sign that the coming of Christ was at hand.)  At the time setting of the beginning of Luke chapter 3, both Jesus and John the Baptist are mature adults.

. . . while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  At this time Caiaphas was now the sole high priest, but people also recognized the continuing power of his father-in-law, Annas, a previous high priest who had been deposed by the Romans.  

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins . . ..   My study bible says that the call to repentance was a traditional call of the prophets.  John's baptism does not grant remission of sins once and for all, but was a prefiguring and preparing people for Christ's baptism which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).   It adds that John is a figure of the Law, in the sense that, like the Law, he denounced sin but he could not remit (literally "put away") sin.  (The word for remit here is the same word found in the Lord's Prayer, when we're told to pray for forgiveness as we offer forgiveness -- see Luke 11:1-4, Matthew 6:8-15.)

. . . as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  John ascribes himself the role of the voice of one crying in the wilderness in John 1:23.  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3-5.

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, 'Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."   My study bible comments that while parents and ancestors help to impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself doesn't make a person worthy of God.  Each person in every generation needs to bear fruits worthy of repentance.  That is, to come to God in a dynamic living relationship.  Stones in this context are symbols of the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18).  

 

 So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do them?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."  Luke, through the responses of John the Baptist, gives us images of fruits of repentance:  to share or give alms to those in need when one has abundance, that tax collectors and soldiers do their work justly, and not commit extortion (a common practice).  

I find it very interesting that John the Baptist does not tell the tax collectors or soldiers to stop doing their jobs, to find other forms of employment.  Instead, he counsels them to be just in doing their work:  the tax collectors to collect no more than what is appointed for them, and the soldiers to refuse to intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and to be content with their wages.   Clearly it was common practice for tax collectors and soldiers to use the power of the Roman state to extort by either claiming someone owed more taxes or by intimidation and false accusation.  We know the tax collectors were Jews appointed to do this job among fellow Jews, and it seems quite clear that the soldiers seeking repentance in preparation for the Messiah are Jews as well.  But John does not tell them they should not be tax collectors, and he does not tell them they should not be soldiers.  What this means is, first of all, he is not separating people along political lines.  He doesn't tell people that repentance consists of refusal to work for the Romans.  Similarly to Jesus, the emphasis here is on the soul and one's place before God, the judgment brought near by the Messiah, and preparation for that reality.  Apparently, nationalist or other politics plays no role in that for John.  This also speaks of John's great faith in the Messiah, for if those issues need be addressed, surely they will be addressed in the coming of the Lord.  We know, however, that this is consistent with Christ, who did not preach politics as salvation.  Neither does John assert that to be a soldier or a tax collector is evil in and of itself.  He does not assert that the violence and power of the Roman state makes those who work for the state automatically ineligible for membership in the kingdom of God or able to prepare for the coming of Messiah.  And in this context, we must remember that tax collectors were despised by the people and seen as sinful, as no doubt were the soldiers who might back them up and do their own predatory practices against the people and prop up the hated occupiers as well.  John the Baptist's focus is redemption, and the preparation for a Messiah who will be capable of offering the remission of sins.  Therefore his preaching is perfect preparation for Christ Himself, who will not be counted with the rebels like Barabbas, but who will offer a different sort of Kingdom for the remission of sin, and a different sense of justice.  What John preaches instead is righteousness, and personal righteousness, the responsibility to do what is just in one's own life.  He preaches a personal responsibility to God, even among tax collectors and soldiers of the Roman state.   He preaches loyalty to God.  To be a child of Abraham is to be like Abraham, loyal and obedient to God, and humble before God, aware of where one is asked to go and what one is asked to do in this dynamic relationship of love.  To be a child of Abraham is to bear fruits worthy of repentance, to take on personal responsibility for our place before God, not a slogan and not a political solution to all evils.  John's baptism is a not a collective effort, but one that recognizes the heart and soul of the individual as the place where the preparation for the kingdom of God must take place.  It is a sense in which justice and righteousness must exist within a person first, a right responsibility to God.  Let us remember that at the time described in the historical setting, there were all kinds of rebels and rebellious sects seeking to overthrow the Roman rule, but this is not John's preparation for the Messiah.  John tells them "do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' "  It is not pride in ancestry that saves, but rather a clear focus on the knowledge that it is God who creates God's children, a living and dynamic communion.  Let us consider in our own hearts, and our own time, what this means for us.  What does it mean to take on righteousness as a personal expression of our place before God?  What would it look like to be a true child of Abraham, one who is prepared to leave all to follow where God asks us to go, and what God asks us to be?  What is it to take full responsibility for righteousness, and not a political side or a slogan?  These questions remain important, in every generation, just as every generation -- as my study bible says -- and each person in it, must consider what it means to bear fruits worthy of repentance.