Luke has just introduced John at the time of his ministry and he is preaching and baptising around the region of the Jordan. In his rebukes to the Pharisees and other authorities of his time, John will call them a “brood of vipers”, an accurate description but also an interesting choice of words as this is what the Essenes also called them along with the quote of the prophet Isaiah, further highlighting their overlap.
10 And the multitudes asked him, “What then shall we do?”
The crowds surrounding John ask him what it is they should do, this is in response to his criticisms of the current mainstream way of life for Jews. It’s important to highlight just how popular John was, remnants of his followers even exist today with the Mandaeans of Iraq, who reject Christ’s divinity. One of their sacred texts the Ginza Rba reflects this:
“Yahya [John] is the great teacher of truth, sent by the great Life [God], a prophet who revealed the divine mysteries and baptized in the name of truth.”
In John’s own day however he exerted much greater influence. The Jewish historian Josephus had this to say:
“Now when many others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise), thought it best, by putting him to death“.
So these multitudes were so large that even Herod feared his influence, something that is highlighted in the Passion of John (see Matthew 14:3-12). Many think of John’s ministry as being maybe a few hundred people if that but we should really understand the vastness of his audience and its class diversity.
11 And he answered them, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
In verse 8 John tells the crowds to “bear fruits that befit repentance”. This is a call to demonstrate their internal repentance with outward actions to demonstrate their moral and social transformation. In verse 11 John gives them a direct example of something they can do.
He tells them if they have two “coats” they should share their surplus with those without one. The word for coat in Greek is chitōn which can refer to an inner tunic or outer garment, in the first century clothing was very expensive and if you had more than one of these you were very well off. John is saying if you want to prove your spiritual transformation you should do the charitable work of giving up your extra clothing for those that need it. He extends this giving up of surplus to food also, anyone who has extra food, should give it to those who have none. This is not a radical departure from the Mosaic Law itself which emphasizes the concern for the poor, the widow and the orphan but it is a radical position to take against the way Second Temple Judaism was currently interpreting the Law.
12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than is appointed you.”
Even tax collectors are in the vast crowds and are convicted by John’s preaching. They seek to change their ways and receive the baptism of repentance that John offers. Like others they ask for direct instruction from John, calling him by the title of Teacher (didaskale) and ask about how they should go about their business. Many teachings at the time completely excluded tax collectors and saw them as unredeemable traitors since they worked for the Romans, this will be highlighted later with how the Pharisees and Scribes treat Jesus for dining with them. John offers something different, he does not tell them to stop being tax collectors but provides them a rule in how to do it justly, they are to take no more than they are instructed.
The dislike for tax collectors was not completely unfounded, they had a habit of scamming their fellow Jews all the while serving the empire that was oppressing them. It is most likely this behaviour that the tax collectors are seeking to turn away from. Since John does not instruct them to give up their job completely suggests he does not think their position is inherently immoral which is in stark contrast to the mainstream thought of Jews at the time.
14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
Once again demonstrating the diversity of John’s ministry, soldiers approach John for teachings on how they should conduct their work lives. The word used for soldiers is strateuō and considering there are no other indications given by St Luke we can infer that these are auxiliary forces most likely serving under Herod Antipas but they could be serving under the Roman authorities. Luke likes to indicate gentiles explicitly like the Roman Centurion of Luke 7:1-10 and since they’re approaching John they’re likely to be Jews, furthering implying them serving under Herod.
They ask what they should do. At the time, whether you were serving under Herod or directly under the Romans you were not seen in a particularly positive light, soldiers had a habit of exerting more power than they needed and extorting people when superiors were not looking or not caring. They like the tax collectors feel convicted by John’s call to repentance.
John directly calls out the common bad behaviour of first century Judean soldiers, “Rob no one by violence or by false accusation” he follows this with “be content with your wages”. This final line of advice is essentially the impetus for their bad behaviour they were infamous for, they did not think they earned enough but they also had a weapon they could threaten someone with when no one was looking. John calls out the origin of their bad actions as well as the actions themselves. Just like with the tax collectors, John does not see an inherent problem with their occupation itself but in how they are abusing it.
15 As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ,
This verse marks the pivot of transition in Luke’s narration of John’s ministry. People are seeing and hearing John’s preaching and it leads them to assume that he is the promised Messiah or Christ (anointed one) that would restore the Davidic Kingdom. The phrase “were in expectation” or in some translations “state of expectations” is a translation of the Greek word prosdokaō which evokes the eager waiting and sense of immediate fulfilment of what you have been waiting for.
This encapsulates the messianic fervour of first century Judea, which was not unfounded. The descendant of David who would rule forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16) and the divine Son of Man figure of Daniel 7:13-14 were correctly interpreted as the same individual and the timeline given through Daniels illumination of Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of four earthly kingdom’s with final fifth Kingdom of God (Daniel 2) and also the Week’s of Years (Daniel 9:24-27) lock the Messiah’s arrival to first century Judea under the Romans. The Romans being the fourth earthly empire to have power of Judea and the Weeks of Years, counting from the rebuilding of the Temple leads you right here. So it is understandable why they thought John was the Christ.
16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
John clarifies to the crowds, so there should be no confusion, that he only baptises with water but one who is “mightier” than him is coming. John says he is not even worthy to untie the thong of the this mans sandals. The untying of a sandal was a menial task for servants and slaves of their masters so John is emphasizing the gap of power and authority between himself and Jesus, he is not even worthy enough to be a servant to him.
The one who is to come is to baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire. This lines up with the prophetic expectations the crowds were glancing over as espoused by the prophets Ezekiel and Joel who spoke of an outpouring of the spirit. This baptism of John is merely a preparation for this greater, divinely bestowed baptism of spirit and fire.
17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
We typically think of Jesus as being the initiator of the agricultural metaphors and parables but they are common in the Old Testament and are explicitly started in the New Testament by John. He begins this theme by saying the one to come has a winnowing fork in his hand. A winnowing fork is a tool used to separate the heavier grain from the lighter chaff by tossing it in the air, the wind blows away the unwanted chaff and the grain remains. This grain is then processed on a threshing floor and gathered into a storage place for grain, a granary.
This separating of people of good and bad, grain and chaff will be done by this one who is to come, the tool is in his hand and it is his threshing floor and his granary. It’s his world, you are just living in it. The chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire, this evokes the typical imagery of the judgement to Hell and generally divine wrath (see Isaiah 66:24). This points to the permanence of this moment of Judgement and Jesus is the Judge.
18 So, with many other exhortations, he preached good news to the people.
Luke summarises the rest of John’s ministry “with many other exhortations” we can assume this, like the tax collectors and soldiers, is direct advice to the many other diverse groups of people approaching John. He “preached good news” euangelizō to the people. This is where we get Evangelist or Evangelizer from. It means literally what it says, to bring good news or preach good news but in this context it is speaking of the grander, divine, cosmological Good News, that God is inviting his people back to himself. Typically it was used to announce a new earthly king at the time but this meaning in the modern day has dramatically changed.
19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodi-as, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done,
20 added this to them all, that he shut up John in prison.
Herod Antipas the “tetarch” (meaning ruler of a fourth) who John has rebuked for his scandalous marriage to his brothers wife and “all the evil things that Herod had done”, uses John’s popularity and preaching to great crowds as his extra cause for John’s arrest. His reasoning, as implied by the Historian Josephus, that John being freely able to preach could cause a rebellion. Something that the weak ruler Herod did not want.
This ends John’s ministry despite it having such a long standing impact, Eusebius records in his Church History that even in the fourth century there were many who considered themselves followers of the Baptist without ever hearing of Christ. Luckily many of these groups got to hear the full Good News, though as I mentioned earlier in this post, there are a few curious small groups in Iraq that still to this day, follow John and deny Jesus.
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