City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

7 [John] 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.”

Luke 3:7-14 ESV

 ³³ Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴ For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
³⁵ until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸ And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 2:33-38 ESV

¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

Reflection

In today’s passage, John is focused on showing people what is real.  First, he calls the people in the crowd a “brood of vipers.”  As the saying goes, “he’s coming in hot!”  This is a very different than the simple “I love everybody” image of Jesus that we get from popular culture. He’s actually calling people names that are not so nice.  But we know that he is very loving, so how do we make both of those thoughts live together well?

My wife is German, and the German approach to kindness is to correct people quickly, so that they are not running around all day looking like idiots.  No one likes to be corrected, but having been corrected, one should learn to be thankful.  There are times when Jesus also called people names that were not so nice.  “White washed tombs” is not the most encouraging thing to hear from the most loving being in the universe.  If Jesus calls you a bad name, it is for your good, that you might live a better life.  Yes, come to Jesus, but come expecting your heart to be changed.  Sometimes it happens slowly and sometimes it happens in an instant.

Imagine a professional sports team with a coaching staff that was so nice that they never corrected their athletes when they were doing their drills incorrectly.  Or what about professors in medical school who did not correct their students of surgery.  It is easy to understand how important corrections are in those cases, so how much more important are corrections that grow your heart and soul?

Also, John is ahead of the game.  He doesn’t even let them claim Abraham for their justification.  Something tells me that he had heard that justification before.  John is making clear here that if you want to be something other than “a brood of vipers” you will have to do the work of actual repentance.  This is not some kind of social compliance message, but rather a calling out for people to seek a change in their hearts.

Application

The word of God is living and active and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  What if Jesus were to approach us and expose the thoughts and intentions of our hearts?  Do you think He would do it so that He could gossip about it?  Or do you think he would do it to embarrass you?  Well, neither approach would be consistent with His character.  But giving you a very loving German “hey, you’ve got mustard on your pants” type of correction would be very much in keeping with who Jesus is.  A moment of small embarrassment is nothing in comparison with a deeper fellowship with our Lord.

Learn to accept correction from others.  Learn to keep your heart open.  And of course, do all things with grace.

Prayer

Dear Lord, thank You for the loving attention You give to me on a daily basis.  Though sometimes corrections are difficult to accept, I pray that you continue to correct me until You see the image of Jesus in me.  May my life be a symphony of corrections that portray Your beautiful image in all things.  Amen.