Or, When the Word of God Came to John
Scripture: Luke 3:10-20
Date: May 31, 2026
Speaker: Sean Higgins
When the word of God came to John the point was clear: get ready for Jesus. John was the forerunner. He was the turning prophet, turning the hearts of the children of Israel back to God, and through God’s Son. John proclaimed repentance, and he practiced a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Luke introduced us to John’s ministry in Luke 3:1-6. He came to work in a crooked context. He came to tell sinners about salvation. He confronted the religious leaders who didn’t show signs of repentance or faith. He exhorted those who listened on how to live.
In Luke 3:10-17 there are some application questions, an identity question, and then verses 18-20 summarize John’s ministry unto death.
In the first part, three different groups of persons ask John what fruit of repentance looks like. In the second part, the people taken all together wonder if John might be the Messiah. In both parts, John points the crooked straight.
John didn’t reject everyone who desired his baptism. He was baptizing when more of “the crowds came out” to be baptized (verse 7) and he rebuked them. The people who actually listened to John’s exhortations, the people in whom God’s Spirit was working, were convicted and asked questions about what repentance looked like. “Okay, we accept what you’re saying. Now what are we supposed to do?”
John answers nothing “religious.” There’s nothing “sacred” or even what we might label “spiritual.” There’s no need to head back to do something worshipful at the temple, no special sacrifice to do.
In general the crowds wanted to know, “What then shall we do?” John gives a clear answer, with concrete action. And for our own clarity, we need to remember at least two parts of the context to the answer.
John says, give. Give what you have to serve those who don’t have; the Haves and Have Nots. The items involve human basics: clothes and food (see 1 Timothy 6:8). The tunic was a layer of clothes next to the skin, what you’d wear under a cloak/jacket. You do not need to give the shirt off your back, but if you have an extra and someone has none, help a brother out. So also with food. Don’t let a brother starve if you can help it. In this case words “Be warmed and filled” aren’t enough (Jams 2:16).
The fruit of repentance is practical, it is also personal. So remember the first part of the context: this is local, not global economics. See a need meet a need is one thing, obedience is required. Watch a YouTube ad about a need on the other side of the planet, maybe there’s a way you can help, but that requires more wisdom. The context is also not a call to economic marxism; we’re not sharing common underwear.
And remember a second part in context, this is what fruits of repentance look like, not the basis of salvation. John did not proclaim salvation by works. Good and sacrificial works are not a substitute for repentance any more than the liturgical sign of baptism can substitute for repentance. But what’s in the heart comes out.
The second and third groups are more specific, not just society but certain jobs. They are also jobs that most Jews probably despised.
Tax collectors just hardly ever catch a break. They must come forward because they wonder if it’s even possible to be a repentant tax collector at all.
The tax system in first century Israel was layered, and stinky, like fertilizer. A guy would bid for a taxable parish, so to speak. He promised to bring in whatever Caesar wanted, plus some. He had to cover his costs. And he hired collection guys, who had a quota to fill, but there wasn’t anyone “watching” to make sure that they only took their fair/fare share.
John does not say that a man couldn’t do the job, he said do the job honestly. Collect no more than you are authorized to do. You don’t have to change the world, you don’t have to argue with your boss about how bad the system is, but you do have to be straight with your neighbor.
Another group on the do-not-encourage list were soldiers. These aren’t Gentile/Roman soldiers, but Jews stationed in various places. They also want to know if it’s possible to do their job.
And as he did to the tax-collectors, John does not say to get out of the army. They don’t have to quit, they do have to quit using their power to shake down the ones they’re supposed to be protecting. Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages. They might not make a lot of money, but not trumping up charges to harass and intimidate and steal money from others was a big deal. Be content.
From vipers to honorable vocations. Love your neighbor, and do lawful occupations lawfully.
The vibe was shifting, and people started to wonder if they were living in unprecedented times (they were). Was John the anticipated Savior (he wasn’t)?
That they were questioning in their hearts doesn’t mean no one said it out loud, it more means that it was a deep hope.
There were three groups with questions, and now there are three comparisons between John and Jesus. Jesus is stronger, His baptism is better, and He Himself is the Judge.
John made clear that he was not just a turning-prophet but a pointing-prophet. Look for the Coming One. He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. This “Stronger One” is not a formal title, but maybe it should be. He is strong and great. Rabbis taught that even Hebrew slaves shouldn’t mess with another man’s sandals, like we might speak about the stigma of scrubbing public toilets. John says he’s not even worthy enough to be that low.
And this coming Strong One will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, compared to John baptizing with water. The immersion into the life of the Spirit we know now came later at Pentecost, what does the with fire mean? The best option seems to be connected to the illustration in the next verse which refers to two ends. Some of the crooked are saved and given the Spirit, some of the crooked are judged.
There is wheat and chaff. The same activity separates them, and their ends are completely different. The wheat is gathered, the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. The fire is inextinguishable. The Barn or the Burn Pile, either heaven or hell. This is what John proclaims, it’s what the Strong One will produce.
Here’s the end of John’s ministry, as Luke prepares us to follow the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (see Luke 3:23).
John had the gift of exhortation. He kept on urging people. He preached good news, though John didn’t have the message of death, burial, and resurrection (as we see in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5). The good news was forgiveness of sins. The good news was fruitful repentance. The good news was in the Strong One.
John also spoke to power. Herod divorced his wife in order to marry his brother’s (also named Herod, and their dad was Herod the Great) wife, Herodias, making both of them adulterers.
John told tax collectors and soldiers how to be righteous in their vocation. Herod had a vocation too, that of a ruler, and his sins were vocational sins: an unlawful marriage, abuse of power, jailing the prophet who confronted him. Herod got the same call to fruit-bearing repentance the crowds got, but he refused it. He stayed crooked to the end. That’s why Herod is chaff.
Herod locked up John in prison, and John didn’t come out alive. John is referenced later in Luke, but he does not appear again.
Luke’s purpose for the book of Luke (Luke 1:4) is to give certainty that the teaching is trustworthy. This section confirms that John’s message fits with “the way of the Lord” (Luke 3:4), as in, the law of the Lord in loving your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), and in the Lord’s teaching about the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12). We might take it for granted, but John’s exhortations were consistent both directions. The word of God that came to John (Luke 3:2) belongs in the story.
The fruit of repentance isn’t a superpower, the fruit is a simplepower, power to do the simple things generously and honestly and contentedly. Practical over pietism.
Righteous living adds up, not only in your reputation but in your neighborhood. What if a whole city had honest tax collectors and law enforcement who don’t take bribes? Multiply that and you’d get a civilization. That said, righteous living also ruffles feathers, and can cause you to lose your head (as John did). But the Strong One knows, and the winnowing fork is in His hand.
Are there common sins in your vocation? Don’t do those. Can you be generous, honest, and content? That’s good fruit.
Do you have fruit? Maybe it’s not a show on the internet, but it would be known to your neighbor. The crooked are saved, and the saved walk straight in the way of the Lord.
If you were a fruit-bearing tree, you could be absolutely healthy and you’d still only bear fruit one season out of four. Sowing, watering, weeding, waiting, these are vital even though the fruit is not yet visible. You must work before the harvest for there to be a harvest. By the Spirit of God, sow!
In other words, most of the race is not the finish line, let alone the off season. But you can’t stop running.
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:7–9 ESV)