Post by M.R. Hagerty on Feb 11, 2023 12:23:11 GMT -7
Luke 3:9-18
9 "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." 10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" 11 And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." 12 And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." 14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages." 15 Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, 16 John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 "His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 18 So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.
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Commentary
Luke 3:9-10
9 "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
John intensifies his exhortation to the crowds by picturing the husbandmen clearing his fields. Trees that have left off bearing fruit are cut down to make a place for new trees that will. And John is telling the crowd that the axe is already laid at the roots, meaning the penalty for not bearing spiritual fruit is at hand. Those who no longer bear fruit will be side-stepped by God in favor of those who will.
Bearing fruit in the Spirit is one of the outpourings of having the new birth. Believers truly converted will not sit idle. But it is a phenomenon of later Christian life that people can adopt indolence and laziness for a variety of reasons; and this we can get used to rather easily. Soon, it’s the young people who are supposed to have the verve and vigor, “We’ve had our day,” so we say.
But John is saying that it is a fearful thing to be cast aside by God, to be on the outside looking in on His work of the Kingdom. The people got the message and responded: ”What then shall we do?”
That is part of what preaching should accomplish and we see it here in the able hands of the Baptist. Preaching should grip us where we are and shake us from our complacency. It should rekindle the desire to not be left behind in God’s work. These people do not walk away disgruntled by a “judgmental” preacher. They are pricked in the heart and are running to catch the train leaving the gate. “Help us. What must we do?”
But strangely there are churches today for which such a message is too harsh, too politically incorrect, too alienating. In them, you will never find a message like John’s.
There are congregations that, in fact, make it clear they will not tolerate such “pulpiteering.”
A mainline denominational church in a large city had a chairman of the board who made it clear to the pastor that the congregation did not need to be taught from the Bible. “They know what it says and don’t need their faces rubbed in it week after week.” The church has now been through a dozen pastors over the past 30 years and has reduced from a congregation of 800 to scarcely 50 members.
But the people in John’s day knew the value of exhortation. They knew something was missing and their hearts told them the malady was with them, somewhere in their own attitudes and life styles. They were ready for this message and John answers them.
Luke 3:11
11 . . . "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise” . . tax collectors also came . . ."Teacher, what shall we do?” . . soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?"
John addresses the plight of the poor around them because that is where the rubber meets the road in Christ-like service. It was and is the chief thing with which our God is concerned regarding service. If we are blessed and another man is destitute, we are to pass along the blessing of God that all might be blessed.
The example of the tunics is amazingly poignant for us in modern times. Few can relate to the impact this exhortation delivered.
A tunic was an outer garment much like a short, unwaisted, straight dress, for both men and women, that covered what we would call crude under garments. Picture a very large potato sack (but of comfortable material) cut open across the bottom and at the top for arm holes and neck. It was of course more stylishly made than a potato sack, but you get the simplicity involved. It was separate from a cloak which was heavier and used only for cold weather or outdoors at night.
And in ancient times in poorer places like Judaea, most folks had basically one or two garments, not a wardrobe of gowns and outfits. They didn’t even have what we might call “Sunday best.” Your one set of clothes got daily duty throughout the year until they wore out. You were often recognized by what you perennially wore. Your appearance included you and that same old faded tunic.
Picture now what has often been observed in department stores – young girls fretting around rack after rack of clothes, looking for the next addition to a jamb-packed wardrobe of old things they’ve grown tired of. They have 20-30 times the number of outfits and combinations that most ancients owned at any one time. And they’re out shopping for more.
So you can imagine what giving up an extra tunic meant in John’s time. It wasn’t like taking that occasional trip to Goodwill to offload outdated clothes. It meant going back to one garment from two.
As for the communal living of those times, we are in very different days today. Private ownership, the pursuit of happiness have taken hold and once done are very hard to give up.
Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel in his early days in Southern California relates how his family regularly opened their home to the hippies of the seventies and his girls literally let their guests take what they wanted from their closets. That would be hard for most folks today who believe that if they’ve worked hard for what they have, they ought to be allowed to enjoy it.
9 "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." 10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" 11 And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." 12 And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" 13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." 14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages." 15 Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, 16 John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 "His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 18 So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.
_____________________________________________________________
Commentary
Luke 3:9-10
9 "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."
John intensifies his exhortation to the crowds by picturing the husbandmen clearing his fields. Trees that have left off bearing fruit are cut down to make a place for new trees that will. And John is telling the crowd that the axe is already laid at the roots, meaning the penalty for not bearing spiritual fruit is at hand. Those who no longer bear fruit will be side-stepped by God in favor of those who will.
Bearing fruit in the Spirit is one of the outpourings of having the new birth. Believers truly converted will not sit idle. But it is a phenomenon of later Christian life that people can adopt indolence and laziness for a variety of reasons; and this we can get used to rather easily. Soon, it’s the young people who are supposed to have the verve and vigor, “We’ve had our day,” so we say.
But John is saying that it is a fearful thing to be cast aside by God, to be on the outside looking in on His work of the Kingdom. The people got the message and responded: ”What then shall we do?”
That is part of what preaching should accomplish and we see it here in the able hands of the Baptist. Preaching should grip us where we are and shake us from our complacency. It should rekindle the desire to not be left behind in God’s work. These people do not walk away disgruntled by a “judgmental” preacher. They are pricked in the heart and are running to catch the train leaving the gate. “Help us. What must we do?”
But strangely there are churches today for which such a message is too harsh, too politically incorrect, too alienating. In them, you will never find a message like John’s.
There are congregations that, in fact, make it clear they will not tolerate such “pulpiteering.”
A mainline denominational church in a large city had a chairman of the board who made it clear to the pastor that the congregation did not need to be taught from the Bible. “They know what it says and don’t need their faces rubbed in it week after week.” The church has now been through a dozen pastors over the past 30 years and has reduced from a congregation of 800 to scarcely 50 members.
But the people in John’s day knew the value of exhortation. They knew something was missing and their hearts told them the malady was with them, somewhere in their own attitudes and life styles. They were ready for this message and John answers them.
Luke 3:11
11 . . . "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise” . . tax collectors also came . . ."Teacher, what shall we do?” . . soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?"
John addresses the plight of the poor around them because that is where the rubber meets the road in Christ-like service. It was and is the chief thing with which our God is concerned regarding service. If we are blessed and another man is destitute, we are to pass along the blessing of God that all might be blessed.
The example of the tunics is amazingly poignant for us in modern times. Few can relate to the impact this exhortation delivered.
A tunic was an outer garment much like a short, unwaisted, straight dress, for both men and women, that covered what we would call crude under garments. Picture a very large potato sack (but of comfortable material) cut open across the bottom and at the top for arm holes and neck. It was of course more stylishly made than a potato sack, but you get the simplicity involved. It was separate from a cloak which was heavier and used only for cold weather or outdoors at night.
And in ancient times in poorer places like Judaea, most folks had basically one or two garments, not a wardrobe of gowns and outfits. They didn’t even have what we might call “Sunday best.” Your one set of clothes got daily duty throughout the year until they wore out. You were often recognized by what you perennially wore. Your appearance included you and that same old faded tunic.
Picture now what has often been observed in department stores – young girls fretting around rack after rack of clothes, looking for the next addition to a jamb-packed wardrobe of old things they’ve grown tired of. They have 20-30 times the number of outfits and combinations that most ancients owned at any one time. And they’re out shopping for more.
So you can imagine what giving up an extra tunic meant in John’s time. It wasn’t like taking that occasional trip to Goodwill to offload outdated clothes. It meant going back to one garment from two.
As for the communal living of those times, we are in very different days today. Private ownership, the pursuit of happiness have taken hold and once done are very hard to give up.
Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel in his early days in Southern California relates how his family regularly opened their home to the hippies of the seventies and his girls literally let their guests take what they wanted from their closets. That would be hard for most folks today who believe that if they’ve worked hard for what they have, they ought to be allowed to enjoy it.