Knowing The Word in Luke 3:4-13

3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin 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. 9 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.”

10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Comments

All four Gospels quote Isaiah 40:3 and apply it to John the Baptist. Only Luke includes verses 4-5, including that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” This fits with Luke’s purpose of bringing out the universality of the gospel. The large size of the crowd showed that John’s message was for the whole nation. When John calls the people a brood of vipers who should flee the coming wrath, he is referencing Genesis 3:15, showing the people had become a seed of the serpent. The wrath of God is an important topic in both Testaments. It stresses the divine hostility to all evil. John preached that repentance must be shown by the appropriate fruit and reminded them that people will stand as individuals before God on the day of judgment.

Having heard him preach, people wanted to know what was expected of them. John answers regarding sharing with one’s neighbors in general and then specifically about tax collectors and soldiers. The Romans taxed people by farming out the taxing rights to the highest bidder, known as “tax farmers.” The successful man would pay Rome the amount he bid, but he would collect more than that to pay expenses and to give him his legitimate profit. The “tax collectors” who came were agents of the tax farmers, not the tax farmers themselves. John’s preaching had convinced them they were doing something wrong and they wanted to express their repentance by being baptized. Luke alone tells us how John replied to questioners anxious about the way repentance affected their particular callings. Jesus called for nothing less than the complete surrender of the soul to the indwelling power of the divine Spirit. John’s answers reveal a recognition that each person’s calling comes with its own temptations. It is the mark of the truly penitent to resist them. Notice that John does not call either group to leave their jobs but to act uprightly in them.

Application

How do you act uprightly in your job? How we act in our jobs can often give witness to Jesus for good or for ill. How do you give witness to Jesus in your work at home and away from home?

Prayer

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of

other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, p. 261)