Bearing Fruit in 2023

“But 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 wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”” (Matthew 3:7-10, ESV)

John the Baptist: a guy who was simple in a lot of ways and yet had a big job. Scripture describes him as a man who “wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” (Matthew 3:4) To us, it might sound a little crazy and alternative between the clothes, the diet, and the wilderness lifestyle, but in a lot of ways, John the Baptist was a real-time example of God’s provision over a man that walked by faith and in his calling. 

Seriously. This guy lived out in the wilderness– not a desert, but not in a comfortable town either– and lived off of what God gave him. He didn’t worry or strive or beg his followers to provide for him. Scripture doesn’t say that he led a revival, baptized people, and then shook down the crowds of people for a paycheck afterwards. John lived and breathed his ministry: to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming and calling the world to repentance ahead of Christ’s ministry. It wasn’t a side hustle or a mere passion project. It was his whole life. 

And God provided for John as he walked in that calling. It might not have been four course meals or a flashy lifestyle, but he was covered and provided for to keep doing the work the Lord had for him.

So when the Pharisees and Sadducees showed up at the Jordan River to take part in what John was doing for the optics of being seen but with none of the heart-commitment behind it, John was indignant. What I noticed when I read this passage is that John corrects them with a lesson Jesus teaches in John 15. Remember the whole “I am the vine, you are the branches” passage? John the Baptist– in true form– touches on some of the same ideas so famously taught by Jesus later on. 

In short: repent and bear fruit or be cut off from God. This was something antithetical from what the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Jewish people believed. The popular idea was that Jews could not be cut off from the kingdom of God simply because they were born Jewish, or within the bloodline of Abraham. That’s what John means when he tells them not to presume their salvation simply because Abraham is their distant relative. Why? Because regardless of the bloodline of Abraham, there was a greater bloodline that would be extended to Jew and Gentile on the coming cross. The fact of the matter is, Jesus was coming to supersede and fulfill the law that these Jewish leaders clung to. In fact, God told Abraham himself that He would send His Son through Abraham’s bloodline in order to save the world. 

Jesus was not a surprise to the Jews. He was, however, not what they were expecting. Instead of a Messiah on a cross to die for their sins and be the propitiation for that sin, they were looking for a Messiah that would come down from heaven triumphantly to defeat Satan and save Israel from their physical enemies in a similar way to what we believe Jesus’ second coming will be. But John the Baptist was making a way for the coming Messiah that would graft us into the family of God, cleansing us from our sins spiritually under the blood the way John was baptizing people in the Jordan as a public declaration of their need for a savior.

Instead, John likens these Pharisees and Sadducees to a brood of vipers, a family of a much different metaphor being that the fall was caused by Satan in the form of a snake. Why? Because these Jewish leaders were not there to lead the people into real and genuine repentance by example. Instead, they were there to be seen in front of the people as righteous– to be visually associated with John’s kingdom work– without any of the heart-work or conviction.

But John’s main point is this: Repent and bear fruit. The coming of the Lord was imminent and near. Making their hearts ready was an immediate issue to avoid the coming wrath of God, and John was passionate to address those needs. His baptism was for repentance, but Christ’s would be for not only repentance, but salvation as well. And in that baptism and repentance, it is not enough to merely sit idly by and enjoy salvation or feel good about the fact that you are brought nearer to God. Our repentance and ultimate salvation should lead us to bear spiritual fruit– the same spiritual fruit Jesus talks about in John 15. This fruit glorifies the Father and helps draw others nearer to their own repentance and salvation. 

It is the ultimate goal that we would bear that fruit. That we would pick up our crosses and follow Christ, not just superficially or performatively but genuinely and whole-heartedly. There is no one without the other. Repentance will give way to walking in our calling to disciple and share the gospel. That will bear fruit. And if you don’t bear fruit? John says, “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:10.)

This lines up with Christ’s lesson in John 15, “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (verse 6)

So in this, we see that John wasn’t only called to make a way for the Lord, but to also prepare and reinforce the principles Jesus was coming to teach. Repentance from sin is necessary to close the separation between us and God. Once we repent, we are to walk in our call to help create disciples and share the Gospel, bearing spiritual fruit. If any one part of that equation is missing, we are at odds with God. You cannot bear fruit if you are living in unrepentant sin. You squander your salvation and are cut off from God if there is no spiritual fruit in your life because you have chosen to sit on your hands and not share the gospel.

And I’m sorry to offend, but if there is not both repentance and fruit, you will be tossed away into the fire. The hard truth is that we are called to both and we are responsible to be accountable for both. In order to live in harmony with God, we cannot be at odds with His gospel and design. So as we enter a new year, let’s start from a place of repentance– turning away from our sin and former self-serving nature in order to live free from sin and within God’s presence.

From there, we can position ourselves to the work of growing spiritual fruit  and glorifying God. It is my prayer that at the end of this year, that spiritual fruit would be abundant and spiritually satisfying– to know that we are living within God’s plan for salvation, no longer at odds with Him.