For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones

 

 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think 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.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

- Matthew 3:7–12 

 

Yesterday we read that in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 

 

  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  My study Bible explains that Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple as well as the internal political affairs of the Jews.  In a sense, therefore, they were a type of aristocratic class.  They denied the resurrection of the dead and they had no messianic hope beyond this life.  The Pharisees, it notes, on the contrary, formed a lay religious movement.  This movement was focused on the study of the Law (or Torah) and strict observance of its regulations.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead and also cherished a messianic hope.  However, they taught that righteousness is achieved on the basis of one's works according to the Law, and my study Bible adds that they believed the Messiah would be simply a glorious man.  John the Baptist's title for them here, brood of vipers, will later be used by Jesus as well (Matthew 12:34; 23:33).  My study Bible explains that this title is a description of their deception and malice, and being under the influence of Satan -- vipers being an image of the character of the demonic.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance . . . "  My study Bible comments that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance, a way of life which is consistent with the kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life does not follow, it notes, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are of little use.  So, therefore, in many Orthodox icons of the Baptism of Christ, there is an ax portrayed chopping a fruitless tree (in the image given by John the Baptist here in verse 10).  

 

 ". . . and do not think 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."  This warning is a memorable play on words in Hebrew:  from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim).  My study Bible adds that God will not admit fruitless children into God's house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.   This is John's warning to the religious leaders.

"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."  See the commentary at verse 8, above.  Fire here is a reference to divine judgment, my study Bible notes (see Isaiah 33:11, 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22, 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  See also fire in the next verse.

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."  My study Bible comments that Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power and grace of God which is divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  Note how fire figures also in the verse above.  Furthermore, my study Bible tells us that in the culture of John the Baptist, a slave would carry the sandals of the king.  Therefore, what John is saying here is that he is lower than a slave of Jesus.  John's inability to carry the sandal of Christ also has another meaning -- carrying someone else's sandal once meant to take someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Used here, it tells us that John is declaring he could not have carried the responsibility that Christ does -- and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  John the Baptist himself is a figure of the Law, in that he is considered to be the last and greatest prophet of the Old Testament.

 

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  A winnowing fan was used to separate the threshed wheat from the chaff, the nourishing grain from the inedible parts of the plant.  This is a metaphor for divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.

Fire figures largely and in seemingly different ways in today's reading.  Let us first note that fire is an image of energy.  If we turn to the story of the Burning Bush in Exodus 3 we see a bush consumed with fire.  But the bush, as Moses observes, is not consumed; it is burning but the fire does not actually burn the bush.  "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn ' " (Exodus 3:2, 3).   Out of this burning bush that does not actually burn in the fire comes the voice of the Lord to Moses.  The fire energy renders the place holy, as the "angel of the Lord" tells Moses, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5).  The Lord gives Moses instructions, and tells Moses the Name of the Lord:  "I AM WHO I AM." And the Lord said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.' " (Exodus 3:14).  So this energy of fire, of the "angel of the Lord" and the voice of the Lord guiding Moses, is an energy that consecrates, out of which God speaks and encounters God's servant Moses, and although it is burning, it does not consume the bush.  In today's reading, John the Baptist speaks of fire in these senses, and in another:  the fire of judgment.  The fire of judgment is the same fire of the Burning Bush, but that same fire has an effect on soul and spirit:  it is a purifying fire.  It burns that which cannot stand in its energy, and sustains that which can receive it and find compatibility with it.  In a similar passage to today's reading, Luke 3:16-17, my study Bible comments about Christ's baptism as John the Baptist prophesies here, that fire in this context has the primary meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, in which we note the tongues of fire that appeared on the apostles).  It is moreover a declaration of the judgment of Christ, in which the faithless will burn.  But we must note that this fire is one -- it is the same power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless.  John the Baptist preaches repentance for the people -- and the religious leaders -- to prepare for a new age ushered in by the Messiah, the Christ who is coming, bringing the kingdom of heaven which is at hand (see yesterday's reading, above).  This new age is brought to us with Christ's Incarnation, and John the Baptist prepares the people for His public ministry, ushering in what are truly the "end times" which will culminate in the judgment at the end of the age.  Let us for now be assured that it is the same fire of love, of the mercies of God, that judges, burning that which cannot stand in it, vivifying and renewing all of creation to be brought into the Kingdom.  May we cherish this gift for faithfulness that leads us on the path to such a joyful reconciliation, through a world that so remarkably needs it.   John tells the religious leaders of his time, "For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."  The power of God is life absolute.  Let us ask for the power of God to raise us up as children to Abraham, to teach us to live that same faithfulness of Abraham, the living stones about whom St. Peter will so effectively preach (1 Peter 2:4-5).

 

 

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

    "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

    'Prepare the way of the LORD;

    Make His paths straight.'"

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think 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.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

- Matthew 3:1–12 

 

Yesterday we read that when the Magi had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."  When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."  Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.  Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:  "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."  Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."  Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.  But when he hard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.  And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.  And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

 

 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"  My study Bible explains that the wilderness of Judea is the barren region which descends from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.  This preparation for Christ's ministry begins with John the Baptist's call to repent.  Repentance, which accompanies faith, is a total about-face, my study Bible says.  The word in Greek (μετανοια/metanoia) literally means to change one's mind, or more generally, to turn around.  Repentance, my study Bible notes, is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart, a complete reorientation of the whole of one's life.  It is the necessary first step in the way of the LORD.   It is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism, which John initiates, and is meant to be followed by a life, as John indicates further on, bearing the fruits worthy of this change.   The Baptist quotes from Isaiah 40:3.

Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. John's ascetic life bears resemblance to Jewish sects such as the Essenes, who my study Bible explains lived in the wilderness and whose purpose was the prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  His clothing is typical of a prophet (specifically Elijah; see 2 Kings 1:8).  In the early Church, the monastic movement began as patterned after John's way of life.  

Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.  My study Bible notes that the confession of sins is essential to baptism under both the Old Covenant and the New.  John's baptism, however, was a sign of repentance for the forgiveness of sins only.  It did not confer the power of total regeneration nor adoption as a child of God as does Christian baptism.  John alludes to this when he prophesies of the baptism of the Savior to come.

 

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  According to my study Bible, Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They denied the resurrection of the dead and had no messianic hope beyond earthly life.  The Pharisees formed a lay religious movement which centered on the study of the Law, and also on strict observance of its regulations.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead and cherished a messianic hope, but they taught that righteousness is based on the strength of one's works according to the Law, and that the Messiah would be simply a glorious man.  John calls them brood of vipers, and this title is later used by Jesus (Matthew 12:34; 23:33).  This name for them is indicative of their deception and malice, and their being under the influence of Satan.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance . . ."  My study Bible comments that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance.  That is, a way of life which is consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life does not follow, it notes, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  So, therefore, in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, an ax is pictured chopping a fruitless tree, again alluded to by John (see verse 10). 

 

" . . .  and do not think 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."  This warning is a play on words in Hebrew:  from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim).  My study Bible comments that God will not admit fruitless children into His house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.  

 

"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."  Continuing from his command, above, that they must bear fruits worthy of repentance, John the Baptist makes this statement.  Fire here, my study Bible says, refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11; 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22; 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  See also the reference to fire in the verse that follows.  

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."  My study Bible comments that Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  This fire is the same as the fire of judgment referred to above; the same power and the same Spirit both enlivens the faithful and "burns" the faithless.  In John's culture, my study Bible explains, a slave would carry the king's sandals.  Therefore John is declaring himself to be even lower than a slave of Jesus.  John's inability to carry Christ's sandal has another meaning, also, for to carry another's sandal once meant to take someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Here it shows that John could not have carried the responsibility that Christ carries, and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  Winnowing (in this case using a special fan for the purpose) is the act of separating the threshed grain from the chaff, and it is a metaphor here for divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.

John the Baptist comes preaching a baptism of repentance, but teaches that the One who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Let us note that this is not a conditional statement.  That is, John does not preface this statement with, "If you choose to be baptized by the One to come."  This is a certain, affirmative statement, and the "you" is plural.  He addresses it to all of them, even to these Pharisees and Sadducees.  It is a positive statement made as an emphatic point of fact:   He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  This is an affirmation not simply of Christian baptism to come, a baptism of water and the Spirit.  This baptism is the baptism of judgment, to which John alludes many times in what he says in today's reading.  The first thing John indicates about the One who is coming is His power.  He says, "He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry."  That word, mightier, is important, for it indicates strength and power.  When John adds that he is not worthy to carry the sandals of this One who is to come, He is speaking of Christ's authority, which couples together with might to create a threatening kind of statement to these leaders whom John rather obviously addresses as corrupt.  This kind of baptism is one that will be universal, as the Holy Spirit will be at work in the world.  In John's Gospel, Jesus speaks at the Last Supper, telling the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit:  "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:7-11).  It is in this context that the language of winnowing is used, the separation of the good wheat from the chaff.  It is in this context of judgment that the religious leaders are warned to bear fruits worthy of repentance, and that the ax is laid to the root of the trees, because every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  John is warning of the time that is to come which Christ's life and mission will usher in, for the One whose sandals he's not worthy to bear comes in the likeness of a Man, and without worldly power and might, but is also the Son who bears the authority of God.  So this prophetic warning to the Pharisees and Sadducees is one that will stand the test of time, and is meant in a way much more far-seeing than simply the immediate time of the beginning of Christ's public ministry.  It is meant for the era He would usher in, the time which continues now in which the Holy Spirit is still at work to "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  It reminds us that prophecy works with a different sense of time than you or I understand on worldly terms, and that the universality of John's words works as a warning for us, too.  Moreover, we're to understand the fire of the Holy Spirit as one which both enlivens those who accept its energies and its work, and burns those who refuse it.  It's the fire Moses saw that did not consume the burning bush, out from which came the voice of the Lord (Exodus 3:1-6), and it's the fire John warns about in today's reading into which the dead wood and the chaff will be thrown to be consumed.  We still live in the time when the Holy Spirit is at work in the world preparing the time for the judgment to come at Christ's return.  Let us take this text not just as words meant for certain peoples at that time in the world, but also meant for us today.  

 

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think 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.

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather his wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

- Matthew 3:7-12

 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and all his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shaltiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel.  Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. * * * In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'" Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  The Sadducees, my study bible explains, were members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They denied the resurrection of the dead and had no messianic hope beyond this life.  The Pharisees were a lay religious movement, which centered upon the study of the Law, and on the strict observance of its regulations.  They did believe in the resurrection of the dead, in contrast to the Sadducees, and they also looked to the coming of the Messiah.  But they taught that righteousness is won on the strength of one's works according to the Law, and also that the Messiah would not be divine, but rather a glorious man.  The title that the Baptist uses for them, brood of vipers, will later be used by Jesus as well (12:34, 23:33).  My study bible characterizes this name for them as indicating their deception and malice, and also being under the influence of Satan.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance . . . "  My study bible comments that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance, which is a way of life consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life does not follow, it says, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are useless.  Therefore in many icons of the Baptism of Christ, there is an ax pictured chopping a fruitless tree (see this one, for example).

" . . . and do not think 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."   The statement that from these stones  (in Hebrew, 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim) is a play on words.  My study bible says that God will not admit fruitless children into God's house, but rather will adopt other children from the Gentiles.

"Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  Here fire refers to divine judgment (see Isaiah 33:11, 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22, 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."  My study bible comments that Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power and grace of God divinely poured out on believers at baptism.  In the culture of the Baptist, a slave would carry the sandals of the king.  Therefore what John is declaring is that he is lower than even a slave of Jesus.  There is also a second meaning to this statement, my study bible says, as carrying the sandal of another once meant taking on that person's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).    Here, understood as such, it would indicate that John could not possibly have carried the responsibility that Christ does, and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather his wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  A winnowing fan is one that separates threshed grain from the chaff.   This is a metaphor for divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.

One thing worthy of note in today's reading is the similar use of "fire" both as representative of the energies of God the Holy Spirit and also as that which burns the chaff -- that which is not fit for consumption and not good for human beings.  In this sense, we can read a spiritual metaphor as that fire being one and the same:  the energies of God are those with which we either become compatible -- producing fruits of worthy of repentance, as John puts it -- or for which we are incompatible and cannot stand in that fire.  Either way, fire is a purifying image, burning away that which is not good, not healthful.  If we consider Christ's mission into the world (and John's) as a healing ministry, then perhaps we also get another sense of this meaning of winnowing the wheat from the chaff.  Christ will come into the world in order to heal and to restore, to bring good health on all levels:  to spirit and soul and body.  That is, to seek what is good and restorative not just for human beings but for all of the creation.  This is one meaning of "to save."  It is not simply to keep from perishing, but rather to give life and fullness of life, abundance of life, as Christ will put it (John 10:10).  "Wheat" will also become an understood metaphor for the good and healthful "food" of the Eucharist.  John also speaks of bearing fruits worthy of repentance, and we must consider what that means, as fruits of faith.  John addresses the religious leadership in the harshest terms, describing them as a "brood of vipers," indicating, as my study bible says, malice and deceptiveness, as well as being under the influence of Satan.  His statement, "Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" strikes me as scathingly sarcastic, indicating that they hold no true idea of the God of Israel in their hearts, nor the warnings of the prophets of the Old Testament as applying to themselves.  From these statements we can deduce that a lack of awareness of any judgment at all, and the practices of malice and deception, are those things that are needful of repentance, of a turning toward God and the things of God.  It is these religious leaders of whom one would expect a greater knowledge and understanding than others, yet it is they whose practices John condemns.  It indicates to us a responsibility unfulfilled, in response to which even what they have will be taken away and given to others -- so John warns, as Jesus will after him (Mark 12:9).  John's words suggest a condemnation of practices well-known and understood by the common people, who flock to him for baptism in preparation for the Lord.  They suggest a corruption known and understood by the people, a form of oppression upon which Christ will also comment ("For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" - 23:4; "For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone" - 23:23).  None of these things are said in private, but in the hearing of the people, both when John the Baptist states them here in today's reading, and also when Christ speaks in the temple during what we know as Holy Week.  They are all warnings, said in the context of prophetic speech, about the need for repentance before the work of God's holy fire, the proving out of the work of the Spirit in the world.  They speak to us of the destructiveness of sin and selfishness, that both are not simply bad for us as human beings, but rather something to mourn, that which harms the creation and works against true healing.  Thereby do the saints mourn not only their own sins, but the sins of the world which harm all of the creation.  What we understand from today's reading is not just that each of us must consider repentance and turning toward the Lord, but that we must also think about this fire of the Holy Spirit, an image of energy at work among us.  How is this fire of love one and the same as that which burns away sin -- or even that which has become wholly self-identified with sin?  How does that fire work on one who considers no need for repentance or reconsideration of personal orientation and understanding?  These are mysteries beyond the possible valuation of each one of us, a judgment which belongs only to the One who will Judge.  Nevertheless, we can heed these words and awake to the work that needs to be done.  This is a call to spiritual awareness, and to the deep healing needs of the soul.  John's words speak to us not only of our own lack of perception of the place to which Creator calls us for healing, but also to an understanding that none of us is exempt from this work.  Even so, thereby, our prayers can be understood as that which heals -- our turning to God in dialogue (the very goal of repentance) as that which helps restore not only ourselves and our fellow human beings, but the whole of the creation as well.  This echoes in the prayers of the Church at each liturgy, in which we pray not simply for ourselves but for the whole of the nation and of the world.  In the fullness of all of these understandings, John's words give us a sense in which the fire of the Holy Spirit is ultimately healing in both its purifying and energetic senses -- both giving us what we need and taking away that which is unhealthful.  Let us join with our prayers to this work on behalf of "all of the creation."

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think 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.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

- Matthew 3:7-12

In yesterday's reading we were given the beginning of Matthew's Gospel, the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and the beginning of chapter 3, the mission of John the Baptist, heralding the fulfillment of prophecy -- the advent of the kingdom and the Christ.   The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:  Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.  Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.  Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon.  Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king.  David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.  Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa.  Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah.  Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah.  Hezekiah begot Manassah, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.  Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.  And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor.  Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud.  Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob.  And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.  So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. . . . From chapter 3:  In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.'" Now John himself was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  The Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class.  They controlled the temple and the internal political affairs of the Jews.  They did not accept the resurrection of the dead, and they had no messianic hope beyond this life, as my study bible describes the party.  The Pharisees were a formation of lay religious movement; theirs was centered on the study of the Law and on the strict observance of its regulations and what was called the tradition of the elders, a "code" built up around the Law.  They did believe in the resurrection of the dead and cherished a messianic hope.  But theirs was a righteousness attained by works according to the Law.  In their expectation, the Messiah would be purely a glorious man.  The Baptist calls them "brood of vipers" here, which Jesus will also use for them later on (12:34, 23:33).   It's an indication of their deception and malice, also connecting them to the influence of Satan.  As used here by John in this particular context, it's a scathing indictment of the practices and perceived corruption of the leadership.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think 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."  My study bible says that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance.  That is, a way of life which is consistent with the Kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life doesn't follow, then sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are of no use.  In many icons of the Baptism of Christ by John in the Jordan, there is an ax pictured chopping a fruitless tree.  (See. for example, the lower left corner of this icon.)  John echoes the words of the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew (in yesterday's reading, above), reminding the leadership that genealogy is not enough for salvation.  John's warning here is a play on words:  from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim).  God will not admit fruitless children into His house, my study bible says, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.

"Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  My study bible reminds us that Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power and grace of God divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  In John's culture, it notes, a slave would carry the sandals of the king.  John here is declaring himself to be even lower than a slave of Jesus.  His inability to carry Christ's sandal has another meaning as well, because carrying another's sandal once meant taking someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Here we're being told that John could not have carried the responsibility that Christ carries, and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  Winnowing the threshed grain from the chaff is separating what is useful and healthy for human beings from what is not.  The chaff would be burned in common practice.   Winnowing is a metaphor for divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.

In these last verses spoken by John the Baptist, we're given several images of fire.  He first speaks of the trees which do not bear good fruit.  John says that every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  It's a warning to the religious leadership if they fail themselves to produce fruits worthy of repentance.  They are not above such a command, even as descendants of Abraham.  This is a fire that burns what is not useful to a purpose, what is "not good."  Then John uses another image of fire, one in an entirely positive sense.  That is the fire with which Christ will baptize, together with the Holy Spirit.   In the next sentence, he returns to the image of the burning and even unquenchable fire, which burns the chaff, an image of hell fire.  To us these images of fire which are positive and negative seem contradictory.  But John's images, given together, correctly give us a picture of God's love as energy.  It is a fire which both consumes and purifies, taking away that which is not good, burning what is evil, and purifying in its baptism.  These images of fire give us the true picture of hell, which is not a place but a state of mind, depending entirely on our orientation toward this holy fire of baptism and the Holy Spirit:  we are either going to be transformed and purified in that fire -- and therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, or we are going to resist its energies and therefore feel its burn.   To stand in this flame is to attune to its energy or to be at odds with it.  And lest we forget, flame is akin to light.  The metaphors for light in the Gospels frequently are those of oil lamps that burn with a flame that illuminates or gives light.  See, for example, Jesus' comparison of His followers to lamps meant to be put upon lampstands in the Sermon on the Mount (5:14-16).  Those whom He calls the light of the world are those who  partake in this holy fire, sharing it with the world by burning with it openly to illuminate all that is around them.  Ultimately, fire is an image of energy; that is, of God's energies at work in the world and in us.  As used by John it is a question of faith as to whether or not we will burn with this energy and so illuminate as a lamp or simply be consumed by its power through our failure to embrace it.  In the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, given in Matthew 25, the wise are those who remember to carry oil for their lamps; the foolish those who do not.  "Oil" in the Greek sounds the same as the word for mercy, also indicating the fruits worthy of repentance that come from acceptance of the energies of God which are mercy, the fire of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Notably, in chapter 25, this parable is followed by the parable of the Talents (also teaching about fruitfulness) and a description of Judgment.   John the Baptist speaks of the fire of God, which the Christ will give as baptism to the world.  How do we accept these energies?  Do we allow them to illuminate us, and share them with the world?  Can we stand in that truth and allow it to burn away what is not useful nor digestible nor good and healthy for us?   How do you see by that light of illumination and partake of it?  The saints have been spoken of as beings who are all fire, notably from the example that Jesus Himself gives in His statement to the leadership about John the Baptist as witness to His truth (John 5:31-35).  Jesus says of John, "He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light."  Let us consider how we, too, may become such a lamp, burning and shining, bearing light as witness to truth, being made of the same substance as the flame whose fuel is mercy and whose effect is true justice.