This verse seems out of place and appears to have no connection with the words before and after in this chapter. Luke records the verbal attack of John the Baptist as he called for people to make their paths straight. His preaching seems almost venomous. John was intolerant of his own people who lacked repentance. Instead of spiritual cleansing they were proud of their heritage from Abraham. That was all that mattered to them. That was all they thought was needed to stand rightly before God. It was because of their arrogance that lead them down, no different from the rest of the world.
John’s purpose in demanding that people be baptized for repentance was to require them to take a step outside of what their stately religion practiced. He expected them to take this radical step so that they might declare genuine sorrow for their sins. He demanded that the highest held positions in the religion such as Pharisees lower themselves into the waters as a sign of genuine reversal of the path they walked. He saw them no better than the lowest of the lowest who needed to repent. In fact, he saw these people encumbered by their own pride. To declare themselves descendants of Abraham was of no special significance to John. He challenged these people who were supposed to know so much about how to serve God by saying their situation was no better than the rocks laying on the ground nearby. If God so chose, he could turn them into descendants of Abraham.
Before us, is to consider the novelty of our text today. It’s words or intrusive into the powerful sermons of John the Baptist. He spoke those words seemingly as a side thought. However, our text is both relevant today as it was spoken then. In essence, John was speaking about two things at the same time. In all the beauty of their man-made religion, God would hold them accountable. Those who were unrepentant were like trees standing in the forest unaware that the judgment axe would soon strike into the very roots of their confidence. They were so self-deluded they did not recognize how God would hold them accountable regardless of the position they held in their religion. Not only was the axe ready to strike, the entire tree would be thrown in the fire. In other words, all they built was a deformed religion inherited from Moses. It was of no account for any spiritual value or purpose. That’s why what they held so closely to them was also to be a danger of God’s judgment.
The second application of the axe is prophetic. Because of their refusal to repent and perform service as God’s people before the world, the patience of God would expire. The high and holy people would know the end of the religion they created, not one God gave them. History tells us that only a matter of approximately 40 years the entire structure of Israel’s religion and culture would be annihilated by a Roman general named Titus. The axe truly was laying at the roots of the trees just waiting for the time when all the things they bragged about and all the things they relied on would be gone. The only thing that could have saved them was repentance. That singular hope was an offset to God’s coming judgment.
God’s guiding hand is pending judgment. His waiting reward is so clearly in sight that we do not see it just as in the axe laying openly at the roots of the tree. How might we avoid some of the traumas in life? It is by listening to the Word of God and his Holy Spirit that declares our need to be more serious about the God we claim to worship. We must never be satisfied or lulled into comfort for our spiritual well-being. We have the opportunity as did John’s audience to be more intent about what it is that we declare in our relationship with God.
Christian Writer 