Luke 3:7-14 - "What Shall We Do?"

John the Baptist came preaching a message of judgement and repentance. It appears that there was a movement of the Spirit of God across the land of Israel and when people heard about this wilderness preacher, they started coming by the thousands to hear him and many were willing to repent and be baptized. As we said yesterday, John first addressed the religious crowd that came to hear him, trying to find out why all the country seemed to be flocking to hear him. They were not interested in his message of repentance. They were blindly satisfied with their religious rituals and ceremonies.

So, John addressed them first and called them a “brood of vipers”. A bunch of poisonous snakes! He warned them of the judgment of the “wrath to come”. That they needed to repent like everyone else and just being a Jew wasn’t enough! John went on to say, that already the axe is laid to the root of the trees, which meant that the Messiah was here, and judgement by being thrown into the fire, was sure if they rejected Him.

Then it appears that John has a message for three different groups of people. In verse 10, “the people”, which would be the multitudes of common people that were there. In verse 12, “the tax collectors” that came to be baptized. And in verse 14, the Roman soldiers possibly were there to keep order because of the crowds. They were coming under conviction by John’s powerful preaching!

It is interesting that each of these groups all ask the same question upon getting baptized and now wanting to bear fruits that gave evidence of their repentance. Their question was, “What shall we do?” This sounds like a familiar question that was often asked in the Book of Acts. On the day of Pentecost after Peter preached his powerful message about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, in Acts 2:37, the people listening “were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"

In Acts 9:6, we see the Apostle Paul’s response when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. After he acknowledged that it was Jesus speaking to him, he asked, "Lord, what do You want me to do?” After the earthquake and the jail doors opened in Acts 16:30, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

What a great question! It is a sign of truly coming under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and wonderful evidence of genuine repentance! And John had an application for each of these groups. To the people he said, “that whoever has two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and he that has food, let him to likewise" (Luke 3:10, 11). The message for the people was mercy and charity. This indirectly exposed the sin of the people, namely, selfishness.

To the tax collectors he said, “collect no more than that which is appointed you?" (Luke 3:12, 13). John the Baptist did not hesitate to deal with sin. The publicans, who were the tax collectors, were notorious for overcharging people for taxes. And to the soldiers, John the Baptist gave a threefold answer. First, “do not intimidate anyone.” Soldiers have the means to do violence to people. Secondly, “do not accuse falsely." Soldiers could be very evil to people by bringing false accusations. Roman courts readily accepted the testimony of a soldier. And thirdly, “be content with your wages”. Contentment with wages reflects an attitude that is not poisoned by materialism.

What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you about today? Will you respond, “Lord, what will you have me to do?”

God bless!