Matthew 3:7-9 "But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptistm, he said to them..."

"But when he (John the Baptist) saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham" (Matthew 3:7-9 NRSV).

Comment:

The message of John the Baptist represented a significant break from what had become the religious tradition of his time. Against the smug certainty of the Pharisees and Sadducees that the way to God was clear for his “chosen people,” John taught that being chosen was not enough. It was necessary to be properly aligned with God—to wash away old beliefs and make oneself personally right with the divine. Jesus would then take the message of John a crucial step further, teaching that mere obedience to the Law was not enough. We must recognize our own innate Oneness with the divine—we must see ourselves as divine—and thus create a new dimension of spiritual consciousness—“the kingdom of heaven.”   You specifically asked about the sentence, "Bear fruit worthy of repentance." I relate it to Jesus teaching, "By their fruits you will know them." We must be able to see the negative manifestations in the world—not as punishment from a God on high—but as the results of our own negative beliefs and choices. John is telling the Pharisees and Sadducees that they are not remotely ready for baptism, because they don't even recognize their own fruit—they can't see the negativity that is resulting from their beliefs in punishment and limitation. The same is true for us—if we can't even acknowledge that there's a problem, we can't hope to be part of its solution.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed