(8) Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We
have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children
unto Abraham‖. (Luke 3:7-8)
There were two main religious factions in Israel. The Saducees, who held to a strictly literal, Torah-only view,
became the Temple power and they became corrupt. The Pharisees, who were the Heirs of Ezra (fathers of
Rabbinic Judaism), believed in extrapolating from Torah according to the Oral tradition which was believed to
also have been given to Moses at Sinai. These oral teachings, many predating Y‘shua, were finally put into
print in the form of the Talmud between the second and fifth centuries. As shown earlier in this study, Y‘shua
Himself quoted from the Talmud regularly.
First Century Jewish sources provide no direct forerunner for or parallel to Yochanan‘s baptism. Cleansing
ceremonies using the waters of purification are prescribed in the Torah, and the priest-prophet Ezekiel
declared that YHWH at the end time will purify the people from their defilement with clean water and give
them a new heart and a new spirit.
The custom of baptising Gentile converts to Judaism is close to Yochanan‘s rite; although it cannot be
proved that proselyte baptism foreruns Yochanan. If the practice was current, it is possible that Yochanan
deliberately applied to the children of Abraham (Jews) ―a rite devised by them to benefit pagans‖. Thus
evidencing his conviction that the whole Jewish nation needed to be reconstituted as the people of YHWH as
explained below.
Yochanan warns the Pharisees and Sadducees about saying, ―we have Abraham as our father‖. This was a
reflection on the Rabbinic teaching that all of Israel has a share in the world to come (Olam haBah.) found in
Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1. Some Rabbis taught that the Jews did not have to be concerned about losing out
with YHWH because of the merits of the fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Also Bereshith Raba 48:8
records, ―In the hereafter Abraham was set at the gates of Hades and would not let any circumcised Israelite
to descend into it‖. Yochanan was contradicting this teaching.
Yochanan further drove home his point when, upon seeing the legalistic Pharisees and Sadducees
approaching him, called them snakes and vipers. They would have known about snake‘s venom being
compared to slanderous and evil talk, and that is something that they had probably accused the Gentiles of
many times before.
Whenever there was any kind of Messianic movement of note, the Sanhedrin had a legitimate two-fold
responsibility they had to carry out. In Matt 5:2, Yochanan began preaching a message that the King and the
Kingdom were near at hand. And so in that sense, Yochanan was beginning a Messianic movement of some
sort. The Sanhedrin was obligated to do two things because he was creating such a great amount of
attention.
First, they were to send a group for the purpose of observing. This is called the ―stage of observation‖. Unlike
the Luke account where the multitude came to be baptised, the Pharisees and Sadducees merely ―came
forth to‖ the baptism to carry out the first element of observation. They were not allowed to ask any
questions, but merely observe what was being said and done. After a period of observation, this group would
go back to Jerusalem and report to the Sanhedrin their conclusion as to whether this movement was
significant or not. If the movement was judged insignificant, the whole thing would be dropped right there.
But, if the movement was significant, then the Sanhedrin would begin the second stage—the stage of
investigation. A second delegation would be sent to investigate. They were to ask such questions as:
- Who are you?
- Who do you claim to be?
- What do you plan to be doing? and
- Why are you doing it?
3:8-10 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance
―(8) Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: (9) And think not to say within yourselves, We have
Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
(10) And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire‖.
(8) ―Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We
have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto
Abraham.