Luke 3:7-19

 

EVER HEAR JOHN PREACH? - Luke gives us a generous sampling of the rhetoric of John the Baptist as he addressed the people who crowded the Jordan to hear him: name-calling, warnings to flee impending wrath, exhortations to obedience (talking the talk and walking the walk), raising and shattering claims to God via pedigree, impending judgment.

CLAIMING STATUS - As one commentator notes concerning Abrahamic status, "What is at stake is not a paternity test by which one proves that Abraham is one’s blood ancestor, but a test of character and behavior consistent with that of Abraham. Important for the portrait of faithfulness Luke will paint, Abraham’s own faithfulness was articulated in Israel’s literature, especially in terms of hospitality to strangers." [1]

ST. AUGUSTINE - Repentance for our sins does indeed change us for the better. But even repentance will not appear to be of much use to us if works of mercy do not accompany it . . . those who haven’t produced such fruits have no reason to suppose that by a barren repentance they will earn pardon for their sins. [2]

 

BIBLICAL INTEGRATION EXERCISE - When the crowd responds positively to John’s preaching, John names specific, concrete ways to connect repentance to action: sharing. Find some extra cans of food and an extra jacket to take to a homeless shelter. Hold them in your hands. What might happen within you when you take them to the shelter? What revolution might take place within your heart if you chose to make generosity your lifestyle? What might happen to your need for security and control? Commit to one simple act at a time. Mark a date on your calendar that is a month from now; when that date arrives, assess any change you might have experienced within yourself.

EUGENE PETERSON - Repentance is not an emotion. It is not feeling sorry for your sins. It is a decision. It is deciding that you have been wrong in supposing that you could manage your own life and be your own god . . . Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace.

 

The NIB suggests a helpful way to proclaim this lesson:

John’s preaching contains three emphases: a prophetic warning against the coming judgment, a call to justice and compassion in our dealings with others, and a confession of the coming Messiah. Think for a moment about the relationship among these three emphases and their expressions in contemporary churches. Each congregation has its own unique blend of heritage, theological distinctives, setting in the community, style of worship, and diversity among its members. Some churches strongly emphasize one or another of the themes of John’s preaching-some spend their time interpreting prophecy; others are involved in social action; while others just praise Jesus. Is any one of these emphases by itself a sufficient gospel?

. . . Less frequent is a church that finds a way to maintain both a prophetic/eschatological urgency and an involvement with social issues related to poverty, abuse, hunger, and world peace. Is it desirable for the church today to embody all three strands of John’s preaching? If so, how can this be done? By listening to one another, churches that are socially and theologically quite different might learn from each other. [3]

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[1] The Interpreter’s Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), page 1858.
[2] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture III (InterVarsity, 2003), page 61.
[3] The New Interpreter’s Bible IX (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), pp. 86-87.