Bear fruits worthy of repentance

 

 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.  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 3:1-14 

 

Our most recent lectionary posts followed what is known as Christ's Farewell Discourse, spoken to the apostles at the Last Supper.  Jesus' final words in that discourse (just prior to His High Priestly Prayer) were, "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father."  Then some of His disciples said among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?"  They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'?  We do not know what he is saying."  Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, "Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  And in that day you will ask Me nothing.  Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.  Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father.  In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and I have believed that I came forth from God.  I came forth from the Father and have come into the world.  Again, I leave the world and go to the Father."  His disciples said to Him, "See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech!  Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You.  By this we believe that You came forth from God."  Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe?  Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone, because the Father is with Me.  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 

  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 . . .    My study Bible tells us that Herod ruled Judea from 37-4 BC.  He was also called "Herod the Builder" for his many building projects, the most famous and impressive of which was the expansion and refurbishing of the Second Temple, so that it became known in its time as one of the seven wonders of the world.  My study Bible comments that Luke mentions Herod to pinpoint the historical date of the birth of Jesus Christ.  It adds 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).  Herod was a non-Jew who called himself the king of Judea, and so expectations were that the coming of Christ was surely at hand.

 

 . . . while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  Regarding the high priests, my study Bible notes that 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.  John the son of Zacharias is St. John the Baptist.

 

 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins . . .   My study Bible comments here that the call to repentance was traditional for prophets.  John's baptism, it says, did not grant remission of sins once and for all.  But it 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 (or literally "put away") sin.  Both John and the Law, my study Bible tells us, 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.'"   John quotes from Isaiah 40:3-5, ascribing to himself this role of the voice of one crying in the wilderness.  

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.  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."   My study Bible comments on this passage that, while parents and ancestors help impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself does not make one worthy of God.  Each person in every generation must do as John says; that is, bear fruits worthy of repentance.   These stones are symbolic of the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18). 

What does it mean to become children of Abraham?  This is a question central to the Gospels and to the Christian faith.  For we, as Christians, are also called children of Abraham (as St. Paul writes in Romans 4).  There, St. Paul makes it clear that those who are children of Abraham are those who are "like Abraham."  That is, like Abraham, they are those whose righteousness is justified by faith.  For, if we consider that Abraham himself lived before the Law was given to Moses, he could not be justified by the Law.  Instead, Genesis 15:6 tells us of Abraham that "he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness."  This is what it is to be "justified by faith."  But in pursuing this understanding, we also have to consider just what faith is.  Is it just a set of principles we state that we believe are true?  According to the whole of the Bible, this is not what faith is, for faith can't be separated from living that faith, actually doing the things our faith (or "trust" in God) calls us to do.  It's the same as proclaiming our love for someone or something.  If this love does not prompt us to live its values and meaning, if we neglect our pledge of love, then what is love?  Declarations do not make love, "belief" does not make love.  Love is what we do, and faith is also what we do, what we live.  This principle is exemplified in John the Baptist's teaching to those whom he calls to repentance in today's reading.  What it is to "bear fruits worthy of repentance" is shown in John's answers to the people who ask, "What should we do?"  To the people, he instructs they must share charitably with those who are without, to the tax collectors he teaches not to engage in the common practice of extortion, but to collect only what is appointed.  The soldiers he instructs to make no false accusation or intimidation (and thereby take a bribe), "and be content with your wages."   These are all actions, works, fruits; even to refrain from doing something evil is an action.  To have faith is not simply a mental exercise.  For to have faith in God is to be obedient to God, to respond to God's call to us, which appears in some way in every conscience, "written in the heart" as St. Paul says in Romans 2.  In St. John the Evangelist's First Epistle, he writes to his flock about judgment, and of the discernment of knowing Christ.  He makes this intriguing statement, speaking of Christ, "If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him" (1 John 2:29).  We come back over and over again to this question of righteousness, and John supplies us with this sense of choosing what (or Whom) we align with, the "energies" by which we live, that determine what we do, the life in which we participate.  But in his words, we "practice righteousness," just as the Baptist tells the people, the tax collectors, the soldiers.  So let it be also with us.  For we also today must "prepare the way of the Lord" -- if in our hearts, then in the way we live our lives, as did Abraham.

 

 

 

 

 

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed

 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.  I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."  They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.  But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this.  You do the deeds of your father."

Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God."  Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin?  And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

- John 8:33-47

In our current readings, Jesus is at the temple in Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles.  He has been sparring with the leadership in the temple, who have unsuccessfully sought to arrest Him.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin.  Where I go you cannot come."  So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, 'Where I go you cannot come'?"  And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."   Then they said to Him, "Who are You?"  And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.  I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him."  They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.  Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  And He who sent Me is with Me.  The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."  As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.  And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.  I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."  They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.  But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this.  You do the deeds of your father."   Once again, John's Gospel moves us in understanding, through Christ's words, from the commonplace to the transcendent meanings that Christ gives.  These things are not separate from one another, but exist together, and both are part and parcel of our own existence.  My study bible explains that what Jesus teaches is that to be a child of Abraham it is not enough to simply be related through blood.  Instead, Abraham's true children share both his faith and his virtue (Luke 3:8).   My study bible adds that St. John Chrysostom teaches regarding this passage that Christ wanted to detach them from racial pride and to teach them no longer to place their hope of salvation by being in the race of Abraham's children by nature.  Rather, He calls all to come to faith through free will.  The idea that being a descendant of Abraham was sufficient for salvation is the very thing that prevents them from coming to Christ.

Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father -- God."  Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.  Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word.  You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.  But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.  Which of you convicts Me of sin?  And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?  He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."   Proceeded here refers not to Christ's existence as eternal Son, but rather to Christ being sent from the Father to His Incarnation.   Once again, Jesus expands understanding to a spiritual reality that permeates our world.  He explains here that just as being a child of Abraham is based on sharing Abraham's attributes (see previous verses in today's reading, above), those who reject Christ share the attributes of the devil who rejects God's teaching (in particular, my study bible notes, this includes a hatred for truth);  in this way they are called the devil's children.

We have an important concept given in today's reading that to do is to be.  In other words, we might say that the choices we make, the things we do, create identity for us.  Those who are "like Abraham" are children of Abraham in this sense.  Those who seek to fulfill our creation in the image and likeness of God are "children of God."  This applies to each one of us, and if we take it seriously, then we see the essential importance of our choices and decisions.  We can no longer rely upon family inheritance, a name, even the nominal title of "Christian" to truly define ourselves, unless our behavior and our choices express a kind of loyalty to Christ that He asks of us.  This is consistent with the emphasis on a love of truth that is expressed throughout John's Gospel, and is tied closely to concepts of justice that we are given.  Christ's justice is one that includes a transcendent reality that permeates our own lives:  that of the spiritual truth to which we are interconnected as beings who  consist of body, soul, and spirit.  We might reject spiritual truth for ourselves, but to dwell merely as material beings is a way of cutting off an inextricable part of ourselves, of living as less than whole.   Christ gives us a picture in which our choices also reflect a spiritual reality, a kind of loyalty or its opposite:  rejection of God's truth.  And what is God's truth?  Let us recall that as Jesus has presented the truth that makes us free, it is inseparable from righteousness and from true justice, righteous judgment.  To seek the truth in a court case is to seek to be fair and just.  In Jesus' perspective, this honest search for truth includes a capacity for mercy, for the wisdom of second chances and the worthiness of human beings, for an honest assessment of character -- including potential -- rather than merely a judgment based upon appearance.  This is God's way, it is Abraham's way.  It is a way of faith that is based on loyalty to God who is love (1 John 1:4-7).  And therein lies another key to Christ's righteous judgment and justice.  What we worship in fact -- and not just in name -- we will become.  This is why Jesus makes startling pronunciations, hard for us to accept still today, such as, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:37).  It is because our own loyalties will determine our identity, and who we are as persons created by God is so important that it cannot be a matter left up to genetic or material inheritance, a nominal group or family name, or other ties that label us in a worldly way.  Our choices matter.  What we choose to love matters.  And most importantly, our own awareness of how we are choosing matters -- because these men whom Jesus faces in today's reading are the most outwardly "perfect" and virtuous in Israel, and yet, their reliance solely on their place and defense of their threatened positions allows them to forego righteousness, even the concepts of justice present in their own law when they judge Jesus (7:51).  They are willing to forego a deep search for truth in their judgment, and in Jesus' words, this is what makes them children of "your father the devil."  In their rejection of love of truth, they do the desires of the one who rejects spiritual truth, the one who loves lies.  As we have observed all throughout chapter 8 of John's Gospel, these concepts are all tied to true righteousness, to justice.  Christ takes us beyond appearances and nominal loyalties.  He takes us beyond our labels, even those of which church group we belong to, which denomination, which spiritual inheritance we claim.  He asks us to look at each choice, to live an active love of God, to search the heart, and to forego judgment purely based upon appearance.  That is, beyond "worldly judgment."  This is where righteousness lives, and it is where God calls us to be, so that we are truly God's children, because it is all too easy to fool ourselves or to be misled, especially by our own passions.  Jesus goes so far in today's reading as to speak of the desires of those whom He calls the devil's children.   It is a kind of warning to us to be aware of our own motivations and desires, and what takes top priority.  He teaches, in a strong warning, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin."  These warnings are meant to teach us about the heart, what we live within ourselves.  They are not about rules we memorize, but rather about loyalties in the heart, about what we love most, about an active love made real and true in prayer where we truly reveal who we are and seek to know how to choose from the One to whom our deepest loyalty belongs.  That is the place where we are indeed most free, where every other allegiance or persuasion can be cast away in the light that teaches us where love is, where our true strengths are, and who we really are.  We are most free when we are in that place with the One who will not lie to us, and in whom we can put our trust.