Shouting in the Wilderness

Heloo everyone.

Today, we start our exegesis of Luke 3. We are still getting everything set up for the ministry of Jesus, and chapter 3 mostly deals with the ministry of John the Baptist. Luke, as historian, frames this story by telling who was in charge during the time period.  In fact, he lists seven different leaders.  Tiberius was emperor and Pilate was governor in Judea.  He lists three tetrarchs: Herod, Philip and Lysanias and two high priests: Annas and Caiaphas. 

As for John, Luke 1:80 says that John lived in the wilderness until the time came for him to appear publicly.  Now in Luke 3, the time for that appearance has come. I assume that John has spent all of that time in the wilderness, being prepared for this ministry.  He was, after all, filled with the Holy Spirit even before he was born. (Luke 1:15)  

The word of God came to John while in the wilderness, and from the wilderness he came to the Jordan preaching baptism and repentance. Regarding John, Luke makes reference to Isaiah 40:3-5. Here is my own translation of Luke 3:4-6:  

Just as it is written in the book, the words of the prophet Isaiah: 

     A voice shouting in the wilderness,

       “Prepare the way for the Lord,

           Make straight paths for him.’

    5 Every valley will be filled 

         And all of the mountains and hills will be made low.

       What is crooked will be made straight 

          And what is rough will be made smooth. 

     6 And all people will see the salvation of the Lord. 

 So, John is the voice of one shouting in the wilderness, he was actively preparing the way for the Lord.  Isaiah says, ‘prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” John's ministry fulfilling this passage. With the coming of the Lord, God is levelling the playing field and now, all can stand on equal footing before the Lord.  He lowers the mountains and raises up the valleys, so that we can see the salvation of the Lord. So Jesus's ministry on the horizon, John has a very important role.  God has been promising salvation since the beginning.  People were wating for it. Now it was coming near.  John's message as recorded in Luke 3 is lengthy, and also rich and full of meaning.  We will have to look at it in parts.  In today's post I will look at the beginning of this message that is preparing the way for the Lord and making straight paths for Him. 

First of all, John has a bold message.  He starts by calling his audience ‘Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν’ (gennaymata ekidnown) which means ‘children of snakes.’ John is clearly not worried about charming these people.  His message is straightforward, if not offensive. And still multitudes were coming to be baptized by him. (Messages like this explain why John was regarded basically as an Old Testament prophet.)  Snakes can be poisonous.  The Old Testament sometimes refers to the enemies of God as vipers. (Isa. 59.5, Jer 46:22) Darrell Bock says that John is basically blasting his audience, who believe themselves to be the chosen people of God, calling them children of the devil (Bock, 303) Then he asks, “Who warned you to run from the wrath that is coming soon?” Bock suggests that the comparison to the snakes is still in play.  The analogy being that when there is brush fire in the desert, the snakes come up out of their holes in the ground to flee from it.  (Bock, 304) 

What is John really asking here?  Is this a questioning their sincerity?  Is it seeking to know their level of understanding of his message of repentance?  Is he just continuing the insult?  Knowing that judgment is coming one day, are these people here as some sort of cosmic life insurance policy, or are they truly ready for repentance and a relationship with God? 

Jihn then says in the Greek Ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας. (Poiaysatay oun karpous axious tays metanoias) I have translated this as ‘Therefore produce the corresponding fruits of repentance.  I'm going to break it all down for you. 

Οὖν (oun) means ‘therefore.  John has just warned them that wrath is coming, now he will tell them what to do to escape this wrath. 

Ποιήσατε (Poiaysatay)-2nd person plural active aorist imperative of ποιἑω (poiayo) - it is often translated as ‘do’, ‘make’ of ‘produce.’ In this context, 'produce' seems to be the best choice. 

Καρποὺς (karpous) - Fruits, plural. Bock points out that the plural here means that this is not to be a one-time action, but a constant behavior. 

 Ἀξίους (axious) - is an adjective describing the fruits produced.  In the Greek-English Lexicon of New Testament Words the entry for  ἀξίους lists possible definitions of this word as corresponding, comparable and worthy. Corresponding seems to fit context best, knowing that these fruits are produced by our repentance.  

Μετανοίας (metanoias) - repentance. 

So what does this all mean? It means that when we truly repent our lives will produce the corresponding fruits. So this is John’s call to repentance. For what purpose?  Tohelp his audience avoid the coming wrath of God. John's message comes off as hard, for sure, but as we will see, his message did strike a cord with many people.  

Tom 

     Darrell Bock, Luke Volume 1 - 1:1 - 9:50, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1994.