Luke 3:7-17

Luke 3:7–17 ESV

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.” 15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Luke 3:7–17 (ESV)

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?

New Testament (3:7–20—John’s Preaching)

3:7. Vipers (e.g., the Nicander’s viper) were commonly believed to eat their way out of their mother’s womb; thus John’s calling the crowd “viper’s offspring” was even nastier than calling them “vipers.” Serpents would flee a burning field.

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Ministry of John the Baptist (3:1–20)

The paragraph is heavy with judgment. John condemns his hearers as vipers trying to flee the wrath to come. The wrath of God is an important topic in both Testaments. It stresses the divine hostility to all evil.

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.

New Testament (3:7–20—John’s Preaching)

3:8–9. The Jewish people believed that they were saved by virtue of their descent from Abraham, which constituted them the chosen people. The idea of raising people from stones appears in Greek mythology. Some scholars have suggested that John makes a wordplay between the Aramaic words for “children” and “stones.”

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.”

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Ministry of John the Baptist (3:1–20)

The trees are not yet cut down. But the warning is clear. In between, John reminds his audience that repentance must be shown by the appropriate fruits. He warns them against relying on Abrahamic descent. Jews were apt to think that God would ultimately be kind to them because of Abraham’s merits if they had none of their own.

10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Ministry of John the Baptist (3:1–20)

10–11. John’s teaching was rejected by Jewish leaders (7:30), but it led others to ask questions. People wanted to know what was expected of them. John’s first answer is intensely practical: people should share what they have with those who have nothing.

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.”

New Testament 3:7–20—John’s Preaching

3:10–11. The poorest people (such as most people in Egypt, who were peasants) had only one outer tunic; by such standards, anyone with two tunics had more than necessary. “What shall we do?” occurs throughout Luke-Acts as a question about how to be saved.

12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

New Testament 3:7–20—John’s Preaching

3:12–13. Tax gatherers sometimes collected extra money and kept the profit; although this practice was not legal, it was difficult to prevent.

13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Ministry of John the Baptist (3:1–20)

12–13. The Romans taxed people by farming out the taxing rights to the highest bidder. 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. But it was a strong temptation to levy more tax than was strictly necessary and to pocket the extra. This provoked resentment, especially among the patriotic, who in any case did not like to see Jews helping the Romans by collecting their taxes for them. A vicious circle developed: the more they overtaxed the more they were hated and the more they were hated the more they overtaxed.

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.”

New Testament (3:7–20—John’s Preaching)

3:14. Some commentators think these “soldiers” are Jewish police who accompanied tax gatherers or Herodian mercenaries, but more likely these are the light auxiliary non-Jewish troops that Rome recruited from Syria. Although the large legions were stationed in Syria, not Palestine, some soldiers were stationed in Palestine (Caesarea and Jerusalem) and smaller bands no doubt marched through. The frequency of Roman soldiers’ illegal concubinage with native women also indicates that all soldiers did not remain in their garrison at all times. Jews were exempt from required military service due especially to their dietary laws.Soldiers occasionally protested their wages, creating trouble with the government (e.g., the frontier mutiny of A.D. 14); they were known for extorting money from local people they intimidated or for falsely accusing them (see, e.g., the papyri; Apuleius).

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Ministry of John the Baptist (3:1–20)

Notice that John does not call on either group to leave their jobs. Rather he wants them to act uprightly in them.

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ,

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Ministry of John the Baptist (3:1–20)

15. Such activities raised in men’s minds the question whether John might perhaps be the Christ (cf. John 1:20, 25). Messianic expectations were in the air and John’s activities were such as to make people wonder whether he might be the one they were looking for.

16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Ministry of John the Baptist (3:1–20)

16. But John repudiates the idea. He makes two points: he is inferior to Someone who is yet to come and his baptism is likewise inferior. This Successor, says John, is mightier than I. In sheer power he surpasses John. And when it comes to worth, John sees himself as unfit to loose the thong of his sandals.

17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

New Testament 3:7–20—John’s Preaching

3:15–17. On John’s messianic preaching, see comment on Matthew 3:11–12. The Old Testament prophets had declared that in the end time the righteous would be endowed with the Holy Spirit and that the wicked would be burned with fire. The Jewish people generally viewed the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of prophecy, and some circles viewed the Spirit as a force that purified God’s people from unholiness.