Mark 1.7-8,
Matthew 3.11-12,
Luke 3.10-20,
John 1.26-28.
Previously I dealt with what John the baptist had to say to religious folks—people who already followed God, or at least were active in temple and synagogue. John didn’t come to preach to them; they already had prophets, and shouldn’t need to come to John and repent. He came to reach the people who had no relationship with God, who needed to get ready for their coming Messiah.
But you might notice Luke describes John’s message to the religious folks as being directed towards everyone. Religious and irreligious alike.
- Luke 3.7-14 KWL
- 7John is saying this
- to the crowds coming to be baptized by him:
- “You² viper-spawn!
- Who warned you² to escape the wrath of God?
- 8Fine then: Produce worthy fruits,
- from repentant people.
- Don’t start to tell yourselves²,
- ‘We have a father in Abraham’:
- I tell you² God can raise up children for Abraham
- from these rocks.
- 9The axe already lays at the root of the tree.
- So every tree not producing good fruit
- is cut down and thrown into fire.”
- 10The crowds are questioning John,
- saying, “So what can we do?”
- 11 In reply John tells them,
- “You² who have two tunics:
- Share with those who don’t.
- You² who have food:
- Do likewise.”
- 12Taxmen come to be baptized
- and tell John, “Teacher, what can we do?”
- 13John tells them,
- “Do nothing more than you were ordered.”
- 14 Soldiers are questioning John,
- saying, “And we, what can we do?”
- John tells them, “You² could stop shaking people down,
- or stop accusing them falsely.
- Be content with your paychecks.”
I explained the whole worthy fruits, making Abraham’s children from rocks, and axe at the foot of the tree stuff in the previous article. Here Luke includes John’s corrections to the people who came to him for baptism.
In general the problem is stinginess. The crowds needed to share their food and clothing with the needy. Yes, the Law had a sort of welfare system built in so farmers would leave gleanings for the needy, Lv 19.9-10 and so every third-year’s tithes would go to the needy. Dt 14.28 But then, same as now, people don’t bother to do any more than their obligations, and share food and clothing only with people we consider worthy—not so much needy. Loving our neighbor Lv 19.18 gets limited to thinking pleasant thoughts about them, not doing for them. It’s an attitude which always needs breaking.
The taxmen (KJV “publicans,” although Julius Cæsar abolished the publican rank in 30BC; NLT “corrupt tax collectors”) were customs agents. They sat in booths at ports and city gates, and charged everyone a fee to get in. Merchants especially: Usually 2 to 5 percent of whatever they were selling. (Which added up, especially when you transported goods from city to city.) Taxmen were usually already-wealthy men who bought their commissions from the city officials (usually Roman), because it was such a lucrative job. One of the perqs was the ability to set the rates above what the city required, and pocket the difference. Or cheat the merchants with faulty scales, and again pocket the difference. It’s why they were so hated. And why they knew they needed to repent. “Don’t steal” is one of the 10 commandments, y’know.
Lastly soldiers. Who were likely—and kinda surprisingly—Roman soldiers. This is the first time we see gentiles really getting involved in the gospel, but Luke wanted to make it clear in his gospels (both Luke and Acts) that God’s kingdom is likewise for gentiles. And interestingly, John initially responded to them with what they could do, not commands: They could be more fair and just in their duties, instead of hassling the locals and trying to rob them. As gentiles, they weren’t under the Law, so John couldn’t command them to follow it in quite the same way. But like the taxmen, they also knew they needed to repent.
