Luke 3:1-18
“Notice what you notice.” Two items… First, I love Luke, the historian. In his first two verses today he is specific about the timing of John’s appearance in the wilderness, referring to a time frame that included five political figures and two religious leaders. Presumably intersecting those peoples’ reigns we would be able to date John fairly exactly. However, even with this level of specificity, there is still some confusion as to the exact date, in part because Luke is writing his Gospel some 30 to 50 years after Jesus’ life on earth. Still, Luke makes the attempt!
Second, I was noticing the people who came to John in the wilderness. He mentions four groups: a “brood of vipers”, the crowds, the tax collectors, and the soldiers. The “brood of vipers” presumably refers to the religious leaders – the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees (see Mt. 3:7, 12:34, 23:33). So I was wondering about today’s counterparts. The soldiers could obviously translate to our military and first responders. The tax collectors could refer to our government representatives and employees – local, state, and national. The crowds could be everyone else – the people – or more correctly those people who are seeking the Lord and those who are just curious. The “brood of vipers”, the first century religious leaders, could translate to today’s religious leaders. HOWEVER, not all Scribes, Pharisees, or Sadducees back then were “snakes”, nor would all of our religious leaders today fall into that category. I trust that most of us can be found in the crowds, the people who are actively seeking the Lord. But we are also religious leaders – RTB, Avanza, Children’s Worship, etc. Sinners though we are, we need to be careful that we do not fall into any “brood of vipers” category.
Slava Bohu!