Post by M.R. Hagerty on Feb 10, 2023 19:56:05 GMT -7
Matthew 3:7-8
5“Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; 6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.”
As said earlier, the Law lacked the piece of the process that enjoined genuine confession and repentance. You could go to the Temple and offer the required sacrifice in a very ritualistic manner without much interaction, counseling or inner contemplation. It could easily be seen as a case of sinning, going to the Temple and paying a sort of spiritual “fee,” then on to the things one had to do. Interestingly, there are high liturgy churches where members can continue to operate in this logic and are not scrutinized.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Since Luke presents these words as addressed to the multitudes coming to be baptized, the impression might be that the people at large were addressed. As we see in Matthew 3:7, John spots the Pharisees and Sadducees among the crowd and addresses them as a brood of vipers. John’s language had two purposes. 1) to ferret out the cynical and the false, who came merely to observe or even to spy, and 2) to clarify among the penitent what was happening here. This was serious business before the Lord, so don’t come to have a nice day in the country, but confront your sins and change your way of living.
Luke 3:8
8 "Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
It was necessary to cut asunder all the clever tricks the mind can play on rationalizing our sins. The truly penitent would welcome the message because they were already convicted about themselves.
First he calls them a brood of vipers, meaning they have become crafty as to the consequences of sin. It is as though someone had convinced them that they could somehow escape the wrath to come. These very words are there to let them know that this is a delusion.
He says that they should instead bear the fruits of a real repentance. They should also not hide behind the blessing promised to Abraham. A Jew might rationalize that God will not discard His people because of the promises made, hence, his sins could never have too bad a consequence if he is of Abraham.
The dig is in the statement that God can raise up better children from the stones lying around. Very exhortative stuff. No one got away without conviction. The effect was positive for many, as we shall see next.
5“Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; 6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.”
As said earlier, the Law lacked the piece of the process that enjoined genuine confession and repentance. You could go to the Temple and offer the required sacrifice in a very ritualistic manner without much interaction, counseling or inner contemplation. It could easily be seen as a case of sinning, going to the Temple and paying a sort of spiritual “fee,” then on to the things one had to do. Interestingly, there are high liturgy churches where members can continue to operate in this logic and are not scrutinized.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Since Luke presents these words as addressed to the multitudes coming to be baptized, the impression might be that the people at large were addressed. As we see in Matthew 3:7, John spots the Pharisees and Sadducees among the crowd and addresses them as a brood of vipers. John’s language had two purposes. 1) to ferret out the cynical and the false, who came merely to observe or even to spy, and 2) to clarify among the penitent what was happening here. This was serious business before the Lord, so don’t come to have a nice day in the country, but confront your sins and change your way of living.
Luke 3:8
8 "Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
It was necessary to cut asunder all the clever tricks the mind can play on rationalizing our sins. The truly penitent would welcome the message because they were already convicted about themselves.
First he calls them a brood of vipers, meaning they have become crafty as to the consequences of sin. It is as though someone had convinced them that they could somehow escape the wrath to come. These very words are there to let them know that this is a delusion.
He says that they should instead bear the fruits of a real repentance. They should also not hide behind the blessing promised to Abraham. A Jew might rationalize that God will not discard His people because of the promises made, hence, his sins could never have too bad a consequence if he is of Abraham.
The dig is in the statement that God can raise up better children from the stones lying around. Very exhortative stuff. No one got away without conviction. The effect was positive for many, as we shall see next.