In Keeping With Repentance

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

IN KEEPING WITH REPENTANCE

Matt 3:7-10

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

NIV

Why would John call those Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers? What is known about vipers is that they are one of the deadliest snakes that lived in Israel. From the account in the very beginning when God said the serpent was craftier and any of the other animals would imply that John was calling them out for being cunning and crafty, but also one of the most dangerous venomous people in Israel. They professed their religious acts but according to the words of John, they did not produce the fruit in keeping with repentance. What good is saying they are children of Abraham if they did not believe God as Abraham did which God declared to him as righteousness. The Pharisees and Sadducees tried to attain righteousness through the observation of the law. This was not just the law given to Moses, but of all the rules they had added. We can be sure there have been books written about all the aspects of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Essenes as well as some of the other smaller sects within Jewish culture at the time of just before Jesus arrived. But the point here is about producing fruit in keeping with repentance. Although we were not born by natural methods into the family of Abraham, we can claim to be of his line because we believe God, except we believe through Jesus Christ and not through the law. Abraham lived before the law was given, so they could not claim in all reality that he was their father, for they did not live by faith, but by works. So, then there is something we should be doing in keeping with repentance and that produces fruit. Of course, we also know that the fruit of the Spirit is not us producing it, but the Spirit who dwells within us who produces that fruit in our lives. Still, we need to allow the Spirit to work within because we have repented of our sin, our self-driven life. If there is no evidence of repentance in our life, could we say that we might be in danger of being cut down and thrown into the fire? There must be evidence of repentance. We must produce good fruit, and the implication is the fruit of the Spirit, but at the same time it could also be a fruit that appears like a life that has been turned around and one that believes God and lives accordingly. If we use Abraham as an example, then we must be willing to sacrifice our most precious one to God. Abraham loved his son above all else for God told him he would have a son and through him, he would be the father of many nations. Abraham was willing to kill his son because God told him to. We cannot sacrifice anyone else, but only ourselves. Paul tells us to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice. This is our spiritual act of worship. This is being a descendent of Abraham in a truer sense than those brood of vipers claimed. A viper only brings death to its victim.  Jesus brings life to those who believe, those who repented and live by faith and not by works.