Luk 3:8-14 | KingComments | STEP | There are crowds coming to John, but that does not mean that he sees only a mass and has no eye for the individual. John does not speak to the crowds in general, he speaks to the individual. He makes the gospel a personal matter and guards against individuals being carried away by the mass into a choice that does not come from a true inner conviction. His performance has nothing to do with the popular entertainment to which the gospel is unfortunately often lowered today. He addresses his non-flattering words to the crowds to make clear to them from whom they are actually descended. They have the devil as father. They do not need to think that they can boast of being descendants of Abraham ( ) and that on that basis the coming wrath will pass them by. It is not like that. The clear language of John will not shy away the truly humbled among them, but rather confirm them in their conversion. John points out that true repentance can be seen in the life that someone leads. Repentance involves fruits in keeping with repentance. Valuable fruits of repentance are speaking truth and doing things that are according to the will of God. Such fruits come from the new life that a person receives when he repents. There are also people among his audience who want to be baptized because they think they are entitled to it. They are not converted, because they do not need it, they think. They belong to the descendants of Abraham, don’t they? They belong to the chosen people of God, don’t they? Then they are entitled to all blessings. Such reasoning shows that there is no awareness of being a sinner and deserving hell. Pleading on origin does not give access to the blessing. To boast of superior privileges does not work with God ( ). He seeks truth in the innermost being ( ). Nor is God obliged to bless a man on the basis of what he claims. According to His sovereignty He can raise children from dead stones and credit them to Abraham. He does so in a certain sense with every person who repents ( ). Not natural descent makes children of God, but only God’s Spirit and God’s Word ( ). God raises His children from useless, dead material. In his preaching, John points to the judgment that is about to come on the people. With the coming of Christ not only blessing, but also judgment is connected. Anyone who rejects Him, and thus produces no good fruit, will be cut off from life and thrown into the fire of hell. The axe is already laid at the root, that is to say, on the cause, the problem of the bad fruits. The root is not good and therefore the fruits are not good. Because the root is spoiled, there is only spoiled fruit or no fruit at all. There is nothing that can be done with the old men.

‏ Luke 3:8-14

The Preaching of John the Baptist

There are crowds coming to John, but that does not mean that he sees only a mass and has no eye for the individual. John does not speak to the crowds in general, he speaks to the individual. He makes the gospel a personal matter and guards against individuals being carried away by the mass into a choice that does not come from a true inner conviction.

His performance has nothing to do with the popular entertainment to which the gospel is unfortunately often lowered today. He addresses his non-flattering words to the crowds to make clear to them from whom they are actually descended. They have the devil as father. They do not need to think that they can boast of being descendants of Abraham (Jn 8:39) and that on that basis the coming wrath will pass them by. It is not like that. The clear language of John will not shy away the truly humbled among them, but rather confirm them in their conversion.

John points out that true repentance can be seen in the life that someone leads. Repentance involves fruits in keeping with repentance. Valuable fruits of repentance are speaking truth and doing things that are according to the will of God. Such fruits come from the new life that a person receives when he repents.

There are also people among his audience who want to be baptized because they think they are entitled to it. They are not converted, because they do not need it, they think. They belong to the descendants of Abraham, don’t they? They belong to the chosen people of God, don’t they? Then they are entitled to all blessings.

Such reasoning shows that there is no awareness of being a sinner and deserving hell. Pleading on origin does not give access to the blessing. To boast of superior privileges does not work with God (Jn 8:33 ; 39-40). He seeks truth in the innermost being (Psa 51:6a). Nor is God obliged to bless a man on the basis of what he claims. According to His sovereignty He can raise children from dead stones and credit them to Abraham. He does so in a certain sense with every person who repents (Rom 4:9-12). Not natural descent makes children of God, but only God’s Spirit and God’s Word (Jn 3:5). God raises His children from useless, dead material.

In his preaching, John points to the judgment that is about to come on the people. With the coming of Christ not only blessing, but also judgment is connected. Anyone who rejects Him, and thus produces no good fruit, will be cut off from life and thrown into the fire of hell. The axe is already laid at the root, that is to say, on the cause, the problem of the bad fruits. The root is not good and therefore the fruits are not good. Because the root is spoiled, there is only spoiled fruit or no fruit at all. There is nothing that can be done with the old men.

Show Fruits of Repentance

The preaching of John makes a deep impression on the crowds. They ask what they shall do, what fruits belong to repentance. To this question the various groups who come to John each receive the appropriate answer from him. However, in the various answers given by John, a common root of evil seems to emerge, that of greed, of money. How we deal with money is an excellent indicator of the mindset of our heart. If Christ is not Lord over our money and possessions, He is not our Lord.

The first group must share of their abundance with others. The second group should not rob others to enrich themselves. The third group must be satisfied with what they have. To the crowds in general, John tells them to share their prosperity with others who have nothing.

This is an important indicator of the reality of repentance. If there is life from God, it will be evident from the giving away of our possessions to others. God is the giving God. He who has the Divine nature will act as He does. The rich young ruler is an illustration of the opposite (Lk 18:18-30).

A special group in the crowds is that of the tax collectors. They too have come to be baptized and they ask what is expected of them. That is a good question. Someone who has just come to repentance does not always know immediately how to behave in all things of everyday life. Often, through repentance, there will be a proper sense of what is appropriate, but sometimes it must be pointed out first. Then there will also be recognition and action will follow.

The characteristic evil of tax collectors is not their profession, but the way in which they practice it. They abuse their position and collect more than they are ordered to do. John tells them what to do. In the conversion of Zaccheus the tax collector we see an illustration of what John says here (Lk 19:1-10; cf. Lk 5:27-30). Zaccheus does even more than John tells the tax collectors here.

The soldiers form another special group that comes to John with the question of what to do. For the soldiers, too, their profession is not the characteristic evil, but the abuse of their power. They also clearly express their discontentment with their wages. Soldiers of an occupying power have power over others. The exercise of power often brings out the worst in man. Greed drives him to abuse his power to enrich himself at the expense of others. What they do is stealing, misappropriating someone else’s property, using force and without sparing anyone. Such people have no conscience and will easily falsely accuse others to remain free of punishment themselves or to benefit from it.

In addition, it is important that they are content with their wages. Rebellion against the superior, the employer, is never an activity that belongs to conversion. Contentment is a hallmark of faith in a caring God and also prevents to take money from anyone by force.