Advent 2:7. 14 December 2013

image by humusak2

by Kaysi Hastings

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.'"

Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Matthew 3:1-12

We might be surprised by the severity of John's words here to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Doesn't it seem blasphemous, or at the very least disrespectful, to direct such harsh accusations toward those in leadership positions among God's people? And yet John is in good company. It seems that most, if not very nearly all, of Jesus' recorded verbal daggers were aimed not at unbelievers but at the religious leaders of His day. Our Lord was very clearly not a fan of their tendency to make it difficult for people to connect with God.

John admonished the Pharisees and Sadducees to "bear fruit in keeping with repentance." To do so requires humility, for repentance involves admitting one's shortcomings. This, the religious leaders lacked.

Jesus, on the other hand, displayed the pinnacle of humility. Though "he was in the form of God," He "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:6-8) May our humility reflect the heart of Christ, who was willing to sacrifice His own life for the sake of humanity, and not the false piety of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Take some time to consider the following. Perhaps it would be helpful to record your responses in a journal.

What rotten fruit was seen in the lives of the Pharisees and Sadducees that resulted from their lack of repentance? On the other side of this coin, what are some practical examples of fruit that IS in keeping with repentance? How does repentance affect our perspective of and interaction with others?

Here is a prayer in response to today's text. You can pray this as your own or use it as a prompt for a spontaneous prayer.

Jesus, the humility You demonstrated in the incarnation and Your willingness to be brutally killed is something we can hardly begin to comprehend. If You, our King, would submit to such lowly measures, how could we begin to believe we have any right to lord our hopelessly inadequate self-righteousness over any other human being? Forgive us for our pride. May Your Spirit lead us to live lives of repentance as we humbly walk with You.