Following after Jesus #10

We have seen the Gospel writers introduce John the Baptist, giving an overview of his ministry as the "messenger of the Lord", the forerunner to the Messiah. We now begin to look at some interactions he had with those who came to see and hear him. Matthew 3: 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.

John welcomed all who came to hear him, but when it came to baptism, he questioned the motives of these religious leaders. The Pharisees had not only a long list of rules they expected everyone else to live by; they had a host of ceremonies they meticulously went through in their daily lives. John rebukes them for reducing repentance to some sort of ritual, to add to their countless list of other rituals, making it yet another act of self-righteousness. He rebukes the rationalistic Sadducees for just going through the motions of religion, which had little impact on their day-to-day living. In essence, these two groups had extremely opposite views of spirituality, but both boiled down to this: it was all about man and nothing about God. The gospel is like an axe that chops down man-made righteousness. The only thing that will "cut it" with God is turning away from ourselves and putting our faith in Christ and Christ alone.