Luke 3:7-14
We have, in these verses, a specimen of John the Baptist’s ministry. It is a portion of Scripture which should always be specially interesting to a Christian mind. The immense effect which John produced on the Jews, however temporary, is evident, from many expressions in the Gospels. The remarkable testimony which our Lord bore to John, as “a prophet greater than any born of woman,” is well-known to all Bible readers. What then was the character of John’s ministry? This is the question to which the chapter before us supplies a practical answer.
We should first mark the holy boldness with which John addresses the multitudes who came to his baptism. He speaks to them as “a generation of vipers.” He saw the rottenness and hypocrisy of the profession that the crowd around him were making, and uses language descriptive of their case. His head was not turned by popularity. He cared not who was offended by his words. The spiritual disease of those before him was desperate, and of long standing, and he knew that desperate diseases need strong remedies.