This is what the multitude (crowd) asked John the Baptist when they came to be baptized by him. (Luke 3:7)

John’s response to the crowds who came to hear him speak and be baptized was surprising. He said, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
If I had been there, I would probably have been expecting something like, “Welcome! Come and be healed.” But no, it was “You brood of vipers!” Hardly a welcome!

But you see he knew what these people were like in their everyday lives and he chastised them for it. So, they asked “What then should we do?” This to me means that the corruption was so commonplace that they did not recognise it for what it was, so John had to explain it to them.

“He who has two coats, share with those who have none.”

“He who has food, let him do likewise.”

To tax collectors, “Collect no more than you have been appointed.”  Meaning, no more than you should. (I believe it was commonplace for them to add a bit on and pocket it).

To soldiers, “Rob no-one by violence or by false accusation.” (obviously, it was commonplace for soldiers to barge into homes and take their possessions then falsely accuse any who objected).

It appears life had become ‘Dog eat dog’ as it still is in many places of the world, sadly! But John’s message was so different to life as they knew it, it probably seemed quite *radical.  Life was tough and to many, when life is tough, they rationalise theft and bullying as the only way to earn a living. Again, something that is happening more and more in our world today.

So, What should we do to avoid the coming wrath?

Turn to Jesus and **repent then change our ways from selfishness to selflessness. I.e

To be faithful to God

To be honest

To be kind to others

To look after the poor

To be content with what we have.

The last one is one we particularly struggle with nowadays because everyone is looking to move up the ladder, get better houses, better cars, better holidays etc etc. We are being conditioned to be unsatisfied with what we have, and the striving for what we think we should have stresses us out completely and often ruins relationships.

We should always take care about who we listen to and follow. Some ‘radical’ groups are not nice and preach hatred and revenge as everyday life. How do you think life would change if we all followed that course?

Jesus came to show us our wrongdoing and point us to our Heavenly Father. He did what he saw his Father doing, we should do what we know Jesus did - he is our example! If everyone followed Jesus, how do you think life would change?

For me, Jesus is the way. I cannot envisage a downside to everyone loving their neighbours and being considerate and caring for those around them.

This is how I understand my God. Read for yourself and see what you think.

*The word radical means;

1/ Relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something/far reaching or thorough.

2/ Advocating or based on thorough or complete political or social change/representing or supporting an extreme or progressive section of a political party.

3/ a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social change, or a member of a political party or section of a party pursuing such aims.

4/ A group of atoms behaving as a unit in a number of compounds.

Roughly speaking, in this context, I mean he was asking them to re-think and completely change the way they thought and behaved, which is similar to repenting. **Repent means ‘to express sincere regret or remorse at one’s wrongdoing.’ but more than that it means to change your mind and make changes to your behaviour, because if you truly feel remorse for bad behaviour, you stop doing it!