So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"

 

 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

* * *

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 then?"  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 the 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 (1:1–4) 3:1–14 

 

On Saturday, we read the final reading in John chapter 12, as Jesus spoke at the Passover Feast after His Triumphal Entry:   Then Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.   And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.   I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."

 

  Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.  My study Bible comments that although Luke was not a disciple from the beginning, he has perfect understanding of the gospel because his sources were the apostles themselves, the eyewitnesses of Christ.  Luke wrote his Gospel to Theophilus, who was a prominent Gentile who had received Christian instruction (see also Acts 1:1).  It cites St. Ambrose, who notes that Theophilus can simply mean any "lover of God," and therefore he writes, "If you love God, it was written to you."

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.   As in the beginning of his Gospel (see Luke 1:5), Luke is careful to note the historical setting of the events his Gospel narrates.  My study Bible comments that an ancient prophecy of Jacob indicated the Messiah would come when a king ruled who was not from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).  Jesus was born under the ruler of Herod the Great, who was a non-Jew who called himself king of the Judea.  Now at this beginning point of Christ's ministry, while John the Baptist is preaching his own call to repentance in preparation for Christ, Herod's sons rule as tetrarchs.  Herod the tetrarch of Galilee is also known to us as Herod Antipas.  Caiphas was now the sole high priest, but people also recognized the continuing power of his father-in-law Annas, a previous high priest who was 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 comments that the call to repentance was tradition for prophets.  John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit (literally "put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.  

 

. . . 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.'"  The voice of one crying in the wilderness (as quoted here from Isaiah 40:3-5) is ascribed by John the Baptist to himself, in his role in the story of the Christ, in John 1:23. 

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 impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself does not make one worthy of God.  It notes that each person in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance.  Stones symbolize 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 then?"  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 the 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."   Like Jesus' teaching about Judgment in the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46, John the Baptist counsels compassion as a standard rule for behavior and living a life of repentance.  Those who are well-to-do should share with the poor.  The tax collectors, who frequently practiced extortion as a matter of course, are told to do their job honestly and collect no more than their appointed share.  The soldiers serving Rome frequently did the same, and so could use their rank to intimidate and extort; they also are to be content with their wages.  

Let us make an immediate observation about John the Baptist's teachings to those who ask him what they should do to practice repentance in preparation for the Lord.  While our immediate commentary was on its entrenched prescription of compassion, which is so elegantly echoed by Christ in the parable of the sheep and the goats, and His specific prescriptions of visiting those who are sick, or hungry, or in prison (Matthew 25:31-46), we might also make another observation about them, and that is that -- yes, while all are acts which involve compassion -- they also involve sacrifice.  In other words, John tells the people to share with those who have less than they do; he tells the tax collectors to collect only what they can do honestly and without extortion, and the same thing he tells to the soldiers:  to do without the extra they can collect through dishonest, manipulative, and violent means.  (It would seem that the latter was quite a standard practice.)  He was telling them -- and also us, today -- that the decent and humble behavior that goes with honor is an important part of repentance, of living as though we expect the Lord at any minute and are aware of His power of judgment.  This might not seem like great, heroic expectation, nor is it highly exciting or ambitious, but it is the stuff of living a decent life and being as honest as we can within our particular sphere of where we are and who we are in the world.  In these days of competition about whose "wokeness" is greater, whose sense of compassion can be publicly expressed so as to elicit the most approval and good public relations, we can look to John the Baptist's more modest prescriptions about doing the best we can in the ways our jobs and lives permit as something more reasonable and bearing the hallmarks of truth and familiarity with the reality of people's lives in a much deeper way than today's media often allow us to think about.  We don't need a special secret superpower to be the kind of responsible person to God that John says we can be.  Neither do we need to spread the word about our good deeds to the whole world.  In fact, in John's more realistic picture of life here, we might be better off if we do not do that.  While John sought to prepare people for Christ, for the gospel message and for Christian baptism, his realistic teaching to the people who ask him for help puts us in mind of an event broadcast around the world today, the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.  While attitudes about the British monarchy in particular or monarchy in general may vary, Queen Elizabeth -- at least for today -- is being praised for her capacity for self-denial in responsibly discharging her duties in her position.  She seems never to have openly taken sides in a political dispute among her subjects, even to have allowed those close to her to hear a political opinion one way or another.  In an age where we are used to seeing emotional expression all about us, the Queen remembered her role and seems to have played her part without personal bias or feeling overriding her responsibility, whether that be a political opinion or personal feelings.  In that sense, she stands praised today as someone who gave an example of what it was to serve dutifully, and put her private feelings and desires aside, yet caring to express compassion in ways still fitting to duty and protocol.  In this day when so many are praising -- at least for today -- this capacity for sacrifice, let us remember the humble and honest words of John the Baptist.  For each of us are capable of doing likewise in our own ways -- and more than that, we are each called to do so.