Amy C Walters

John the Baptist Prepares the Way – Luke 3:7-20

John the Baptist’s assignment was to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” In Luke 3, we see him preaching and baptizing people for repentance. This shows us that to be ready is to be repentant. 

Several stories in the Book of Luke have been about John, this unique individual who would make a way for Jesus, to “make read a people prepared for the Lord.” And finally, at the beginning of Chapter 3, we see John doing just that, getting people ready for Jesus.

But what exactly does that look like?

To start off, John is surrounded by crowds who are dedicating themselves to looking forward to the Messiah. And they demonstrate that dedication by this baptism of repentance–turning away from their sin. 

We also read part of John’s message to the crowds. He calls them “a brood of vipers,” a very insulting title. But John does not pull any punches. 

He continues with, “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” John is talking about the wrath of God and judgment. He describes the people who have come for baptism as those who are escaping judgment.

John paints a picture of what this judgment looks like. He talks about a tree with an ax at its roots, an ax that is ready to chop the tree down and throw it into the fire.

What will save that tree? What is the litmus test to decide if it stays standing or it’s cut down? If it bears good fruit (3:9). So to flee the coming wrath, the tree must bear fruit. 

Picture an orchard full of fruit trees. The trees have matured and the fruit is in season. But one tree has nothing on it. What does tell you about the tree? There’s something wrong. That’s what that tree is there for, to produce that fruit, to feed others, to bring beauty and nourishment and joy to those around it. If a tree is supposed to be doing that and it’s not, there’s something wrong.

Fruit is talked about often in the New Testament as the product of a life that is changed by God. There will be good things that come as a result of that changed heart.

John specifies what kind of fruit he’s talking about: “fruit in keeping with repentance.” 

In American culture, true repentance is rare. We see a lot of people who are sorry that they got caught. We see people who are sorry for the consequences that they are facing now because of their sin. But we don’t see a lot of people owning what they’ve done as wrong and committing to change it.

That’s what repentance looks like: to acknowledge, yes, I have sinned, and there is no excuse for me. And I desire to change that because I grieve and mourn what I have done. That’s what repentance looks like. 

And that’s what John says that God is looking for. Repentance, sorrow over sin, taking ownership of it instead of making excuses, and committing to change.

Also included in that is the recognition that I cannot fully change on my own. I need a Savior.

John is already pointing to the fact that the Savior is not going to be a political figure, or a figure who feeds all their cravings and heals all their diseases. The Savior is one who deals with the sin problem. That’s why John is pointing out that sin problem.

Notice, too, what kind of people are coming out to listen to and be baptized by John. For one, we have tax collectors mentioned specifically. Tax collectors were not friends of the people. They represented the Roman government, an occupying government, and they often took more than just the taxes. They padded those numbers so that they could line their own pockets with the extra money.

That’s why when they asked John what they should do, he said, “Do not take more than is required.” He’s telling them, “Don’t cheat the people. You might be known for this. This might be culturally acceptable for people in your line of work. But stop.” 

We also have soldiers who come out to listen to John and John tells them, “Don’t extort money and don’t falsely accuse people. Be content with your pay.” Soldiers were known for making up charges against people so that they could get a bribe to let the people go, to not press charges. They too were lining their pockets. They too were cheating people out of money.

So you’ve got these two groups of people, specifically named tax collectors and soldiers, who were known as cheats and scoundrels. And yet these are the ones who have come out to John to say, “We are sinners. We repent. We are looking forward to the Messiah.” 

This is one of the reasons that John is not just talking about repentance, but the fruit of repentance, or the evidence of repentance. Because anyone can say, “I follow God.” But what does their life say? If the life and the lips are inconsistent, what do we tend to believe? We believe the life.

If someone has wronged us, and they say they’re sorry, but then they continue to do it over and over again, do we believe that they’re really sorry? No, we don’t, because the evidence of their life is that they have not repented. They are not truly sorry for it because they continue to do it.

John says God wants to see evidence of a repentant heart, that you are changing. John even lumps himself in with those who are repentant and in need of a Savior.

When the people start to think maybe John could possibly be the Messiah, we see this incredible humility from him. He says, “One who is more powerful than I am is coming, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” John does not even consider himself worthy enough to touch Jesus’ dirty, dusty sandals because Jesus is so much greater than he is.

John is not standing on some religious mountaintop, looking down on the people below and saying, “You people are horrible.” He acknowledges that he too needs the Messiah.

Now, one thing we need to be careful about. It’s easy to look at this story and think that John is saying you need to do these good things to be okay with God. You need to share your tunic, your shirt. You need to share your food. And if you are doing these good things, then you’ll be fine.

But John is not saying that. It’s not about the good deeds–it’s about what those things reveal about your heart.

Think about this: John’s saying, “The one who has two shirts should share with the one who has none. The one who has food should do the same.” He was talking to tax collectors, soldiers, who he’s also telling, “don’t cheat people out of money.” 

They have been cheating out of money. They’ve been collecting all of the wealth for themselves, leaving other people in need. They have two shirts. They have all the food. 

And if they are truly repentant for what they have done, then that will reveal itself in sorrow for taking more than they should, and sharing it with those that they have cheated. To stop stealing and instead share. That’s the fruit of repentance. That shows that their hearts really have changed.

So it’s not about the deeds themselves. It’s about what it reveals about their hearts.

We know that John’s role is to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” And we come to this story to see what that looks like. And what we see from John is a message of repentance. That’s what it means to be ready for the Lord. And that’s our key truth for today: to be ready is to be repentant.

To take responsibility for your sin, stop making excuses for it. To be grieved over that sin, not to pretend like it’s not a big deal, but to recognize that it is an offense to God, a holy God. And then to be transformed and not continue in that sin.

It also means sharing that message of repentance with others, like John was doing. And just like with John, there will be some people who will listen and repent, and some people that will not be happy about that message. 

We see the tax collectors and the crowds and the soldiers responding and repenting. But we also see Pharisees, religious leaders, standing at a distance, not responding. We see Herod even throwing John into prison because he does not like that message.

We might even fear those same results today. Because to call for repentance is to tell people that they are sinners in need of a Savior, that they cannot deal with their sin problem on their own, that they are not okay. And this is a message people don’t want to hear. And we are increasingly going into days where that can be legally dangerous to call sin what it is.

It’s so easy for us to skip to the Good News that Jesus loves you. And yes, he does.

But the realization of that love is so much more potent when we understand that we are sinners who have offended Jesus. And he loves us in spite of that.