What Should We Do?
Luke 3:10-14
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
I like detailed instructions. I thrived as a child building Legos because their instructions were very clear. They walked me through each step until the completion of the project. IKEA furniture, though possibly lower quality than most, is fun for me because the instructions are easy to follow. I become very frustrated with ambiguity. My wife loves to dream and has a seemingly unlimited number of ideas for our house. Sadly, Kelly’s dreams do not come with a set of instructions like a Lego set or piece of furniture from IKEA. And so I appreciate this passage as John is very clear on what it looks like to be a disciple.
John the Baptist is busy preparing the way for the Messiah and it seems that many are being convicted. As their hearts are being moved, they ask the obvious next question, “What should we do?” John quickly begins to give very practical suggestions. We must understand at the outset that being a disciple of Jesus means a lifestyle of action. We are not talking about any kind of works-based salvation. Rather, our hearts have been changed and that transformation spills over into our everyday lifestyle. The call to repentance literally means a change of direction, a change of behavior.
Three different people groups approach John and ask the question, “What should we do?” First, the crowd, the general population asks John what this type of repentance ought to look like. John responds by calling the people to give to others who are in need out of their own excess. As Americans, we have a love affair with our “stuff”. We like to collect things, we have a gadget it seems for every chore so that said chore becomes easier, and we have instant access to just about anything we could dream of thanks to Amazon. As a teenager, I remember dating a girl who made sure she wore a different outfit to school every single day. John the Baptist would have had a field day in her closet! “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none.” A disciple takes their blessings and gives them to those who do not have them. Put plainly, there is zero reason anyone ought to go without clothing or without food. We have enough. We have plenty. Just give it away! Darrell Bock says, “Repentant individuals are not to worry about social separation or sacrifice; they are to care for the need of their neighbors.”[1]
The second group to come forward to be baptized and ask, “What should we do?” were the dreaded tax collectors. Time will not allow us to go into the complexity of the system of tax collection. Suffice it to say that there were multiple layers in the collecting of taxes leading to multiple surcharges on the actual tax. No one enjoys paying taxes and the distaste becomes even greater when the system is abused and creates extra charges. Jews hated those who took on the job of being tax collectors. The majority abused their position for their own personal gain. However, some have come to John, giving him respect by referring to him as “teacher”, and are looking for a better way forward. The foundation of John’s command is for them to not abuse their authority. John does not tell them to quit their job. He is not anti-tax or seeking to change a system. What John is calling these individuals to do is to carry out their duties in an ethical manner. Disciples of Jesus do not abuse people through any position of authority that they have.
The final group that comes forward is the soldiers. Bock believes that these men are Jewish and most likely connected to the tax collectors.[2] These men are examples of a high level of authority that can easily intimidate people for personal gain. John tells them “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” In our time living in Uganda, we sadly saw this far too often as this type of intimidation was much more open than here in the U.S.A. Let me be clear though, such intimidation exists here as well. One day in Uganda my wife was pulled over by a soldier because she was talking on her cell phone. A clear violation of the law but this soldier had no authority to issue any type of penalty. However, due to his uniform and gun strapped to his soldier, he was able to use intimidation to force a sum of money out of my wife’s pocket so that she could be let go. This is what John is referring to. Those in positions of authority are not to strong-arm someone into giving them money. Those in such positions are also not to bring on false accusations (deception), to obtain some sort of financial reward. Finally, these soldiers are to be content with what they are provided with. We also saw in Uganda that many soldiers and police were not paid well which leads to such intimidation tactics. This is a hard lesson from John. Even if you are not paid fairly, he calls you to be content with what you have. Intimidating others is not a proper response as a follower of Jesus.
I believe Bock summarizes it best for us what John is teaching us on discipleship, “…be compassionate, loving, and fair to fellow human beings and not to take advantage of another or leave another in destitution for one’s own gain. Rather, one is to be content with what one has. Look to meet needs, rather to aggravate them.”[3]
[1] Darrell Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 1994), 309.
[2] Ibid, 313.
[3] Ibid, 314.