Luke moves forward to A.D. 28/29. Tiberius Caesar (A.D. 14-37) reigned as emperor over the Romain Empire. Pontius Pilate (A.D. 26-36) was governor of Judea. Herod Antipas (4 B.C. to A.D. 39), son of Herod the Great, ruled as tetrarch, a kinglike governor of Galilee under Rome’s authority. Herod’s brother Philip was tetrarch over the regions of Iturea and Trochonitis. Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene. Little is known about Lysanias but his region was later ruled by King Agrippa II. That was the political landscape. Luke also points out that Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. Annas had been High Priest from A.D 6-15 but still held significant influence. His son-in-law Caiaphas (A.D 18-36) held the official position of High Priest. Israel needed deliverance from both the subjugation of foreign rulers and from the corruption of the priesthood. God bypassed the religious leaders of Israel and instead, His word came to John the Baptist who was living in the wilderness.

John proclaimed a message of repentance intended to bring the nation of Israel back into fellowship with God. The baptism John performed was an outward symbol of an inner decision and change of heart. It was not intended to bring salvation to eternal life or justification before God. Only belief in Jesus can do this (John 5:24-25). John’s call to repentance was in preparation for the arrival of the Messiah. John’s mission fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy of the voice of one crying in the wilderness (Isa 40:3-5). His message was to prepare the way of the lord and make His paths straight. Israel’s obedience to John’s message would open up an unhindered way for the Messiah to bring God’s blessing. The second part of the prophecy could still be talking about John’s work to prepare the way for Messiah’s coming but it could also speak of the results that Jesus would bring plenty to the needy, humility to the haughty, and remove all the obstacles that sin lays in our way. The end result is that all (both Jew and Gentile) would see the salvation of God in Jesus.

John’s accusation to the crowd was probably specifically focussed on the religious leaders (Matt 3:7) and warned them of coming with the idea that simply wetting yourself in baptism would be of any benefit. No, baptism was nothing without bearing the resulting fruit. Repentance should always be followed by a decisive change of attitude and action. The very fact that John demanded the fruit of good works assures us that he was not talking about salvation because salvation has no condition attached to it. Eternal salvation is freely given to all who simply believe Jesus for it (John 3:16-18). The Jews were not to rely on their national heritage and think that was going guarantee they were saved. God could raise children from the stones to fulfill His promise to Abraham. The axe was ready to chop down those unfruitful trees and throw them into the fire. Fire does not always mean the fires of hell. Fire more often refers to a temporal, more immediate judgement that God uses to cleanse the nation of disobedience and may be pointing to the fall of Jerusalem in the Jewish war of A.D 66-70.

The crowd then asked John what they should do to show their repentance. He explained that they should look after the poor. The one who has two tunics should share with whoever has none and the one who has food should share with whoever is hungry. This is easy for us to apply. We too need to help those who are needy from our abundance. To the tax collectors he didn’t tell them to stop their work but to do it with integrity and honesty. They should only charge the appropriate tax without extortion or dishonest gain. For us, secular jobs can still be worked to God’s glory if we work as if all our work is for God Himself (Col 3:23-24). To the soldiers he told them not to use their power to extort money from others through threats or false accusation but instead to be content with their wages. Too many people use positions of power to further their own interests. We should be content with what we earn and not use our influence for personal gain.

John’s message was to a nation who had been chosen by God but were living in disobedience. Sometimes we need the same wake-up call. As believers we have received an incredible gift of salvation but we can still live disobedient lives far from God. Do you need to heed the call to repentance and change how you are living in order to bear fruit?