In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea 2 [and] saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: “A voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’ ”4 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him 6 and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. 7 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 coming wrath? 8 Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
There was a Jewish tradition that Elijah was to return before the day of the Lord came (Mal. 3:23-24) which means before the second coming of Christ. Jesus told his followers that Elijah had already returned in the person of John the Baptist, fulfilling that Jewish tradition (Mt. 17:12). Elijah was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot (2 Kgs. 2:11).
John the Baptist (JBap), the divinely appointed herald of Jesus, led an ascetic life. He lived in the desert, dressed in the clothing of a prophet with his outer garment made of camel’s hair (Zech. 13:4; 2 Kgs. 1:8). He ate locusts and wild honey, food still consumed by Bedouin today. He covered a wide area preaching repentance, a change of heart, for the forgiveness of sins in preparation for the inauguration of the Kingdom of God (Is. 40:3). He was baptizing in the Jordan near Jericho, and everyone, including Pharisees and Sadducees, was coming to be baptized. His baptism was neither the Jewish ceremonial bath to remove Gentile defilement nor a Christian sacramental Baptism (Mt. 28:19).
The Pharisees practiced an extremely rigid and elitist form of Judaism which John the Baptist and Jesus criticized (Lk. 18:9-14). Their Rabbis opposed Jesus’ teaching. The Sadducees were the Priestly sect connected to the Temple and were directly involved in the death of Jesus. JBap addressed the Pharisees and Sadducees as ‘You brood of vipers (v. 7)’ because they were not sincere. They most likely came to spy on John for fear that the large crowds coming to him could become a political movement and threaten the state and their interests. He challenged them to sincerely repent and demonstrate their repentance through righteous acts because the axe of the Messianic judgment already threatens fruitless trees. Salvation is not guaranteed by heredity (Abraham) but by being a child of the promise of God (Rom. 9:7-8). There is still a short time for repentance and if they accept the formal ritual of baptism he is offering, they would be acknowledging that the Kingdom of God is at hand and that they are willing to admit and atone for past sins.
John told the crowd that his baptisms do not compare with the baptisms that the coming Messiah will offer. In Rabbinic teaching, a disciple should do for his teacher anything a slave would do for his master except take off his shoes; hence by using the expression, ‘I am not worthy to carry his sandals,’ John admits his subservience to Jesus. Jesus will baptize with fire and those who do not accept his teaching will be separated at the judgment and will be destroyed (Jer. 7:20).
Almighty God, grant us the grace to persevere in good deeds so that we have something of value to offer Christ at his coming. At the Judgment, may be found worthy to enter your heavenly Kingdom. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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