“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? 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. 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.’” (Matthew 3:7-10)
John the Baptist reminds us that Advent is not meant to focus solely on the birth of a baby who is the Son of God. We aren’t just getting ready for that baby to be born in Bethlehem. John himself would probably be offended by many of the preparations we make as we prepare to celebrate Christmas for these contradict the simplicity of his clothing and his humble, ascetic lifestyle as well as the message which he preached: Repent. Not just a onetime act of repentance, but a lifestyle of repentance, a lifestyle which renounced the ways of the world. John’s lifestyle proclaimed this message. His mission was to preach the comforting news of the Messiah’s appearance. He was to prepare Israel, indeed all people, to repent of sin and receive Him.
The words John the Baptist spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees would get him banned from social media today. He would certainly be accused of hate speech and for offending the woke sensibilities of the elite men of Judaea, the spiritual leaders of the Jews. But these harsh words had to be spoken for these spiritual elites who neglected their responsibility to foster the spiritual well-being of the people of God. They were vipers, poisonous snakes, poisoning the people of God with the bad example they set of corruption, greed, merciless, selfishness, and pride.
We could compare them to those people in our society that are exalted as celebrities or elite which would include so many politicians, athletes, movie stars and other cultural icons. While many of these are enthusiastically promoted as loving, charitable, and caring, they often demonstrate with their lifestyles they they are selfish, egotistical, and unrighteous. They poison people into forsaking the Lord Jesus Christ and engaging in selfishness, idolatry, and immorality.
All sinners, that is everyone, are called by John to repent, to produce fruit of repentance that is constant and consistent with the their words and faith: sobriety, kindness, compassion, mercy, self-control, and righteousness. This message of a lifestyle of repentance is appropriate for this time of Advent. This is a time to look at our lives, to repent of sin, to forsake living for self and turn one’s heart to God to serve Him alone, a hard thing to do in the midst of a world that bombards us at this holy season with the lust for material goods, gluttony, and overindulgence. Yet we can turn from such with the help of the Lord. With our focus on Jesus we can live according to God’s will. And we can present to Gospel of faith in Christ Jesus to all those we meet.