Evangelicia

Alicia's Bible Blog

 

 

Luke 3:8. "Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves 'We have Abraham as our Father'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.'" John the Baptist is preaching these words to the "multitudes that [have come] to be baptized by him", after calling them a "brood of vipers" (Luke 3:7). He will go on to say that "even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Luke 3:9).

 

Just because they are God's chosen people, sons of Abraham, John is telling these Jews they should not take anything for granted, they are still sinners in great need of repentance. He is there to baptize them after they first repent of their sins, then they will be ready to bear the fruit that befits repentance. Jesus will tell us the importance of bearing fruit as well, and will use a similar analogy to John's when He tells us of the vine branches that will be cut away for not bearing fruit. 

 

John speaks of not just bearing fruit, but "fruit that befits repentance." I think this means we have to be in proper relationship with God to bear good fruit. We have to have repented, which brings us to realize how much we need God, only then can we properly tell others of Him. If we fail to repent and instead rely on our comfortable identity as Catholics (similar to the Jews as "sons of Abraham"), we assume too much - we are actually then acting out of pride when we speak of God to others. We are trying to share faith in a God we do not truly understand; we somehow think we are giving others something we had some hand in having.

 

When we have truly repented, however, we realize how much we are dependent upon God for everything. Nothing is of our own merit or making, even our faith, it is all from Him. Then we tell others of God because we love them, and we want them to find Him as well. We are telling another starving person where to find bread, as I've heard it described. So, to be pleasing to God and worth anything at all, the fruit we bear has to be fruit of repentance, and not the fruit of pride.