Luke 3:7-9 7Therefore, he was saying to crowds who had come out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Therefore, produce fruit worthy of repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9But even already the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
The next few verses give a summary of John’s message of preparation for the Messiah. People heard about his message and ministry of baptism and sought him out in the wilderness. The sincere, curious, and even skeptics may have been part of the crowd that made the difficult journey out to the wilderness area to find out about this prophet. John did not soften his words but spoke with the full authority that comes with the strong assurance that one is speaking the truth.
John uses four images in his short sermon in these verses. His first is the shocking and harsh words of calling the people a snake nest. A brood are the snake hatchlings; vipers or adders are poisonous snakes. Such snakes could be found in the area of John’s ministry. The image is vivid and would have grabbed the attention of the people. John accused them of being deceitful serpents like Satan (see John 8:44). John’s rhetorical question implies that God’s wrath was coming upon those who refused to repent. The people had been warned; it was up to them to act or face the consequences. There is a place and need to confront sin and call people to repentance like what John did. Ignoring the problem will not make it go away.
Second, he uses the image of trees that needed to bear fruit or otherwise, would be chopped down. The fruit that needed to be evident on these trees represents repentance (metanoias). This important biblical word means to change one’s mind, leading to new behavior. In the spiritual realm, it means forsaking sin and turning to righteousness. The sincerity of those who went out to be baptized by John should have been evident by how they lived from that point onward.
The problem is that these Jews could fool themselves into thinking they were already righteous before God because they were the descendants of Abraham. John made it clear in his preaching that being a Jew did not guarantee their salvation from God’s wrath. Ethnicity or heritage was not enough to avoid judgment. It never was in the Old Testament story either. God always wanted his people to be holy and righteous. Forsaking the terms of the covenant brought God’s judgment upon the nation and those individuals who were part of the nation. John emphasized individual responsibility, not collective safety.
John’s third image of stones comes in response to the false assumption of the people. We can imagine him pointing to the many rocks out in the wilderness as he preached. Being a child of Abraham meant more than being a Jews. John’s statement should have reminded the Jews that all people would be blessed through Abraham (Genesis 12:3). This would include the Gentiles, whom the Jews tended to look down upon. The coming Messiah would bring salvation to “all flesh” (verse 6).
The fourth illustration returns to the image of a tree about to be cut down. Because the tree in verse 8 has not produced the right kind of fruit, its destiny is to be cut down and used as firewood. The axe represents God’s judgment and warning. The people faced God’s wrath because they continued in their sin and did not repent. Although John spoke at a specific time and place to those who came out to hear him, his critique echoes throughout time. Those who refuse to repent will face God’s wrath. Turning form sin is crucial for experiencing the salvation that Jesus offers.
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