7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” 15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ~ Luke 3:7-17
John the Baptist's message was designed to prepare the people for the Messiah and to introduce the Messiah to the people. In v.7, John says, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" John's message of good news that God will forgive our sins is framed up by the bad news that we were born into sin and we need God's help. John's message is harsh, and his approach, although difficult for the proud to receive, was truthful and liberating.
At the heart of John's message was a call for sinners to repent. Repentance is turning away from our ideas on how to live our lives, and turning to God's definition of things. In this first message from John the Baptist, we can identify five characteristics of repentance.
The first characteristic of repentance is admitting that we are sinful. John likens the people to "vipers." These Jews to whom John is speaking knew full well the story of the Fall in Genesis 3 where Satan took on the form of a "viper" and deceived Eve. True repentance requires an admission of one's sinfulness, that we were conceived into sinfulness, and, as a result, we do not get life right apart from God.
The second element of repentance is a recognition of the wrath of God. In v.7, John asks a question, "Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" John said this in order to prepare the people for the Good News that would follow. The absence of God's love is His wrath. The Good News of forgiveness of sin is not effective in the hearts of those who do not have a proper understanding of their hopelessness. We are all sinful and until our sinfulness is atoned for, we are objects of God's wrath. Admitting our sinfulness creates a measure of brokenness that allows the Gospel to do its work in our hearts most effectively.
The third element of repentance is the rejection of religious ritual. In v.7, when John said, "Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?," he meant, “Did you think that by this rite of baptism you would escape the wrath to come? It doesn't do you any good to come down here and go through the water. That is not enough. You have to reject religious rituals and seek God with an honest heart.” No ritual saves anyone, not even baptism. We cannot avoid God's wrath without His forgiveness.
In v.8 John says, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” We cannot bring forth the fruit of God apart from a personal relationship with Him. "Fruit in keeping with repentance" illustrates that God has come into our lives. Baptism is an outward sign of something that has happened in the heart, and John knew it could be an outward sign of lifelessness in the heart.
The fourth element of repentance is also found in v.8. John said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father." Salvation is not genetic. John's hearers thought, "we are Jews, we are the people of the promise, we are automatically God's children." But they failed to remember that their faith in the God of the Bible was essential. Repentance is an element of our faith in the God of the Bible. It doesn't matter what our parents believe, their faith in the God of the Bible isn't automatically passed to us. God does not have grandchildren.
In v.9, we read, "The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." Repentance is the work of God, it is the result of Him making us alive to Him. And, if He has not made us alive to Him, we are dead to Him and not in His family.
The fifth and final element of biblical repentance is receiving the Lord Jesus as our Savior. In v.15-17, we read, "15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
In Acts 4:12, we read, "Neither is there salvation in any other name than the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." No matter what kind of repentance a person makes, there is no salvation unless there is trust in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin. So, that's the capstone on John's preaching. He preaches repentance from self toward the Messiah.
John is saying I can't save you, nor can I damn you. I can't give you the Holy Spirit, nor can I bring you to eternal punishment. So, the Messiah who is coming is none other than God. And He will do what no prophet, no man, even the greatest man who ever lived up until his time, could even begin to think to do.
In v.17, we read, “His winnowing fork is in his hand.” A winnowing fork is a large, wooden farm implement. It was used to sweep through the wheat and discharge the heads into the air. The heavier, good kernels of grain would fall back to the ground almost exactly where they were cut, and the lighter, worthless chaff would be blown away in the wind. The good grain would be gathered into the barn and the chaff would be burned in the fire. The picture that John is painting is of dividing the good from the bad. The question is: what makes anything good? It is the presence of God. It is His presence that makes anything holy. John is saying there are two kinds of people in the world: those who will receive the free gift of new life through the Messiah, and those who will reject it.
