Tuesday 24 June 2008
- Bible Book:
- Luke
"John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our ancestor"; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire'." (v.7-9)
Background
Luke is alone in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke)to go into such detail about the timing of the start of John theBaptist's ministry. He sets the context by explaining who all the'leaders' in a variety of roles throughout the country are, fromthe Roman governor to the Jewish high priest. By doing so heconnects John not only to a timeline, but also gives himrecognition as a leader and someone to take note of. He furtheradds to this case by setting John in a prophetic timeline - this isthe one spoken of in Isaiah (
John is thought to have been a member of the Essene community, agroup who lived together in the wilderness and had particularmystic, eschatological (concerning the end of time), messianic andascetic beliefs. It used to be thought that the Essenes were thecommunity responsible for writing the Dead Sea Scrolls, which havecontributed much to our understanding of the time, but manyscholars now believe them to have been written by a splinter group,or offshoot of the traditional Essenes.
John the Baptist's 'list of actions' that must be undertaken inverses 10-14 are things that would be familiar to anyone hearinghis words. He was talking about commonly occuring events and oneswhich, if changed, would shock people.
John reminds us that in discipleship preparation is an importantactivity and the penalty for being unprepared would bedisastrous.
To Ponder
John Wesley himself offered these thoughts onthis passage - "That is, trust not in your being members of thevisible Church, or in any external privileges whatsoever: for Godnow requires a change of heart; and that without delay". What inyour life of discipleship requires a change of heart?
John the Baptist's message that tax collectorswould be baptised was a hard one for people to swallow. Whichgroups of people do you have similar difficulty with in our worldtoday?