John refused to baptize certain people because he wasn’t sure that they were truly repentant and converted. He didn’t want to build a congregation for the sake of numbers only – to have a crowd wasn’t his concern. And he certainly didn’t want people claiming association to him in the same way that some were claiming association with Abraham. He didn’t want anyone later boasting that they had been baptized by the great John Baptist. If he baptized someone, he wanted them to later say that they had been immersed in the Jordan river, because they had repented of their sins and because they wanted to testify of a new heart. So he turned people aside, some temporarily and some permanently, demanding that they bring forth fruits meet for repentance.
“Fruits meet for repentance.” Let’s think about that statement for a few minutes and then try to make some practical application. I may be stretching the importance of a single letter, but I think that it has a proper Biblical lesson to teach.
“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” I made my girls giggle the other day, after I had finished mowing the lawn. The wind was blowing hard, and the blossoms on our little tree were blowing off. My comment was, “We aren’t going to get much fruit off our tree in the front yard.” The joke is that this tree doesn’t produce the kind of berries that anyone wants to eat, in fact they seem to be one of the last choices of most of the birds.
How do we know that a tree has made it through the winter – that it has life? It leafs out – it blossoms – and it eventually produces some kind of fruit. Over the last couple of winters we have lost several trees, and we knew it, because in the spring, they didn’t spring back to life. Not only do we know that a tree still lives, we can determine the kind of tree by the kind of leaf or fruit. John wanted evidence that there was genuine spiritual life in those he was baptizing.
The word translated “meet” – “meet for repentance” is “axios.” It is translated “meet” only four times out of the forty-one times that the Holy Spirit used it. Most of the time it is translated “worthy,” as in Matthew 10 – “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not WORTHY of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not WORTHY of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not WORTHY of me.” “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not MEET for me.” What John said was “Bring forth fruits WORTHY of repentance.” “Come back some other time with tangible evidence that you have a changed heart. Show me something – several things – which prove that you are a new creature in Christ.”
Now here is where I have inadvertently misquoted and possibly mistreated this verse – I have changed John’s words into “Bring forth therefore FRUIT (singular) meet for repentance.” Obviously, I have not considered this a major point, or I wouldn’t have said it that way. But upon closer reflection, I think that it might be a bigger point than what I first thought.
In the tiny yard behind our church building here we have three plum trees. In good years, we’ve gone out there after the services and filled buckets and bags with plums. We could say that the “fruit” of those trees has been plums. But wouldn’t it be incorrect to say that the “fruits” of those trees has been plums? One kind of tree produces one kind of fruit. To my recollection, I have only seen one tree which produced several kinds of fruits. It was in the Calgary zoo, in a special building, and it had been manipulated by its gardeners. It produced oranges, lemons, limes, and perhaps grapefruit as well. Several different kinds of branches had been grafted onto the trunk of the original citrus tree. Normally, the only way to have several kinds of fruit is to have several kinds of trees.
Working backwards, it seems to me that John was demanding more than just one item of evidence. He didn’t want one fruit worthy of repentance, but a whole farmer’s market of evidence. He didn’t want fruit, but fruits worthy of repentance. And the reason is because one piece of evidence is sometimes easy to manufacture. Notice that verse 10 corroborates my interpretation. “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” In this case he is talking about a single tree and therefore refers to one kind of fruit.
I realized that it might be argued that John could have been speaking to a crowd of people, and he was demanding fruit from each and every one, but I think that my application is still appropriate. And assuming that I’m correct, I think that we can talk about two radically different kinds of fruit. Just as there is a big difference between citrus fruit and non-citrus, we might look for different kinds of fruits worthy of repentance.
What were some of the fruits that John was seeking? What are some of the fruits that we should be seeking from professed new converts and believers? Less or no more hatred. “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.” “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” Less or no more anger, because uncontrolled anger is evidence of a lack of the Holy Spirit. “He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly.” “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.” “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” No more dishonesty. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” “All liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” The absence of immorality. Christ Jesus told the woman taken in adultery – “Go and sin no more” – never again. Less worldliness. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” People might argue about the nature of worldliness, but some direction is given to us in this verse. “The lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” The man who was full of himself and his accomplishments, when saved, should be less prideful. And he should be less lustful – less greedy – less covetousness.
There are lists of evil fruit in the scriptures, the absence of which could be called “the fruit of repentance.” “The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” John was demanding that those who had committed such things in the past prove that these things were gone – repented of. Paul went on in another place – “Fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”
I’m sure that we could extend this list considerably, but I’ve got another point to make. And there is a bridge to cross before we get to that point. And here is the mistake we might make in talking about “fruit” rather than “fruits” – There is a difference between “fruit” and “fruits.” It might be possible for someone to battle these negatives in his life. He might be able to appear to be less worldly, by dressing more conservatively. He might be able to hold his tongue for a while and hide his racism or his hatred. He might appear to be repentant when actually he is merely an Oscar-winning actor. Hypocrites can sometimes change their appearance in order to get what they want. And you should already be aware that the word “hypocrite” originally referred to acting a part.
John wanted to see “fruits,” rather than a single “fruit.”
There are several scriptures, especially in the epistles which go back and forth comparing the negative fruits of repentance and the positive fruits of the Spirit. “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
When John was putting demands upon his baptismal candidates, there were both positive and negative fruits. That was before their baptism. But what about us who were baptized so many years ago. As we look back on the last week of our lives, we should still see the evidence of these kinds of fruit. If John was here today, requiring that you be baptized, would he be willing to immerse you?