3 Days of Prayer and Fasting (2025/01)

3¹ In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

⁴ Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not presume 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. ¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

In Matthew 17:10-13, Jesus Himself confirms that John the Baptist is the prophesied Elijah (Mal. 4:5), and says that “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist“ (Matt. 11:11).  In other words, under the Old Covenant, before Jesus established the New Covenant and poured out the Holy Spirit, John the Baptist is the greatest of all human beings who ever lived. John was also a very popular figure in his day. It says in verses 5-6, “Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

Yet, John says in verse 11, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” There’s a Jewish rabbinic teaching that says, “Every service which a slave performs for his master shall a disciple do for his teacher except the loosing of his sandal-thong” (H. L. Strack und P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch, 4 vols. (München, 1922–28), vol. 1, p. 121). Everything that a slave does for his master, waiting on him, fetching water, etc. a disciple should do for his teacher, except handling his shoes. That task was reserved only for slaves. But John singles out this particular, humiliating act, and says that he is “not worthy” to do that for the coming Messiah. This is an accurate self-assessment, because of Jesus’s surpassing worth and glory!

John warns the Sadducees and Pharisees in verses 8-9, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume 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.” The Pharisees and the Sadducees were not repentant, because they bore no fruit that repentance produces. They had not “turn[ed] back” from their sins (Acts 3:19). They did not have “deeds in keeping with their repentance” (Acts 26:20).

Their confidence lay, instead, on a presumption, “We have Abraham as our father.” Because of their Jewish, ethnic heritage, they presumed that they were safe. But John corrects them, “God is able from … stones,” from inanimate, dead stones, “to raise up children for Abraham,” so it is no credit or merit to them that they are physical descendants of Abraham. They, too, need to be converted. They, too, need to repent of their sins. We must not presume that we are safe just because of our spiritual pedigree or family background. Such false assurances abound today among Christians also. “I’ve been going to church all my life.” “My parents and grandparents are all Christians.” “My dad’s a pastor.” “I lead worship at my church.” “I’m baptized!” “Everyone who knows me thinks I’m a mature Christian.” “I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t a Christian.” None of that matters ultimately!

We must “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Imagine that your friend is driving and that you’re sitting on the passenger seat giving him directions from your GPS. He is going in the wrong direction, so you tell him that he has to make a U-turn. But imagine that he keeps driving in the wrong direction, then you would rightly question whether he heard you or understood you. Similarly, someone who has truly turned back from their sins toward God by believing in Jesus will start walking in a different direction, sure there will still be wrong turns time and time again, but the overall direction of his life has been completely turned around.

It says in verse 7, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Divine wrath awaits unrepentant sinners. If we do not understand the fiery wrath of God, we will not understand the urgency of repentance and evangelism. “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” (v. 10). Thud. Thud. The axe of divine judgment is already at the root of the trees for those who do not bear fruit in keeping with repentance.