Luke 3:7-14 — Do you have any idea who my father is?!

READ THIS: Luke 3:7-14

7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 

10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” 

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

The first paragraph can be confusing. John is talking to a Jewish crowd, and Jews call Abraham their father. Yes, the Abraham from Genesis. The Jews call him their father because they all share him as an ancestor and God made a promise to Abraham that He would make him a father of many nations. Part of what the Jews took pride in was being a part of that fulfilled promise, and they knew the other promises of God would go to them as well! BUT what John tells to the crowd of Jews is that they can't just rely on the fact that they're related to Abraham. Just being related to him doesn't make you a follower of God...actually following God does! The first step of following God is to repent, to turn away, from following other things. So, John is telling them to repent instead of just name-dropping Abraham. 

The crowd isn't sure what they should do to repent. Repentance starts in the heart, but it also ripples out from there. For the tax collectors and soldiers, if they truly have a changed heart and want to live for God, then that would change the way they try to steal extra money from people. God is fair and just, so when we follow Him, we start to look fairer and more just. When we know that we have God, the best thing ever, then we can be content no matter how much or how little we have. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. If John was standing in front of you and telling you to repent, what do you think he would be telling to repent from? (For the soldiers and tax collectors, it had to do with taking money that wasn't theirs to take and abusing their power/authority/position to get it). 

2. What are the fruits of repentance in your life? In other words, how does your repentant heart show on the outside sometimes?

TRY THIS:

Ask God AND a friend to help you see where you are relying on something that isn't God in order to be tight with God. The Jews were relying on being related to Abraham. I sometimes rely on saying spiritual stuff about God to feel like I'm tight with God without actually hanging with Him. It's hard to know what it is we're relying on without someone else's help!