I confess that I struggle a bit with this week’s Advent text (Luke 3:7-18) in which John the Baptizer rebukes the people as “a brood of vipers.” I mean, nothing gets you in the mood for the arrival of the Christ-child quite like being called a snake, amiright?

Yet the longer I sit with this text, the more I’m struck by the final verse, in which Luke tells us that “with many other exhortations, he [John] proclaimed the good news to the people” (Luke 3:18). That is, despite the name-calling and the threats of unquenchable fire, Luke views what John is saying as fundamentally good news. Here in John’s rebuke is a glimpse into the essence of the Gospel.

Religion is No Protection

As the passage opens, the crowds have come out to John to be baptized by him. They have apparently heard that being baptized by John will save them “from the wrath that is to come” (3:7). We also know from John that the people believe that having Abraham as their ancestor also affords them some manner of protection (3:8).

I take all of this to mean that the crowds who have followed John out into the wilderness are good, religious folk. They gather to worship every Sabbath. They participate in all the appropriate rituals of their worshiping community. They take pride in their long religious heritage that can trace itself all the way back to Abraham.

But John rebukes the crowds as “a brood of vipers” because they seem to believe that their religious bona fides will allow them to escape judgment when God comes to restore justice to the world. They believe they can use their religion to hide their complicity in corrupt systems that maintain inequity and injustice in the world. They believe their religious practice can exonerate them their political and economic malpractice.

Bearing the Fruit of Repentance

But John isn’t having it. He commands the people to “Bear fruits worthy of repentance” and warns them that their religious observances alone will not save them (3:8). “Every tree that does not bear good fruit,” he tells them, “is cut down and throne into the fire” (3:9).

God doesn’t spare those who go to church regularly. God spares those whose lives bear the fruits of repentance. One cannot be baptized on Sunday and then participate in systems of injustice on Monday. Such people are, says John, a brood of vipers.

After hearing John’s warning, the people ask him what they are to do. First come the regular folks (3:10-11), then the tax collectors (3:12-13), and finally the soldiers (3:14-15). In each case, John’s answer is essentially the same—and it is fundamentally about economics. To bear the fruit of repentance, one must not take more than their share. To bear the marks of salvation, one must struggle for economic justice for all.

You Only Get One Shirt

When the common folks ask John what they must do to show repentance, John tells them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise” (3:11). The word translated as coats in the NRSV is the Greek chiton, which more accurately refers to a tunic worn close to the skin. It refers not to an outer garment used for warmth but to an inner garment for daily wear. In our vernacular, we might better say “Whoever has two shirts must share with anyone who has none.”

That is to say, John’s bar for what it means to have enough is perilously low. No one should have two shirts until everybody has one. No one should eat supper until everyone has had lunch. John’s vision of repentance is one of radical economic justice in which no one takes more than they need so that everyone can have enough to live.

When the tax collectors and the soldiers ask John what they must do, John tells them something similar. To the tax collectors he says, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you” (3:13). That is, do not economically exploit the poor. To the soldiers he says, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages” (3:14). That is, be satisfied with having enough and refrain from abusing power to take more than your share.

This, for John, is the fruit of true repentance. God doesn’t spare those who are religiously observant. God doesn’t spare those with the proper family pedigree. God spares those who live out their religious faith through the practice of radical economic justice.

The Messiah is Coming

When John at last declares the impending arrival of the Messiah (3:16-17), this is what he has in mind. The Messiah is coming into the world to separate the wheat from the chaff, and the difference will be measured by the fruits of repentance made manifest in economic justice. Those who give their second shirt to the poor, who share their food with the hungry, who refuse to exploit the economically disadvantaged, who refrain from using their power for selfish gains—those are the ones who will be gathered into the barn. The rest, John says, are destined for unquenchable fire.

So happy Advent, you brood of vipers. We’ve got work to do!