NOTES for Luk 3:10

Those who came to John did not ask him by chance what they should do next. John spoke of the Messiah's imminent coming. The Messiah was expected in Judea then by many, if not by all. And many were sure they were ready to meet Him. There were even more who were not sure of their readiness, but were sure that they knew how to prepare. And the majority was sure that the Messiah's coming would be a feast for them, a feast of meeting God's Servant and a feast of the triumph of the Kingdom whose inhabitants they hoped to become.

And then a prophet appears who says that everything is not so simple. That the meeting may turn out not to be so joyful at all. That in essence there are practically no people ready for this meeting. And that very many, if not all, who wait for the meeting with the Messiah will have to prepare. In such a situation, the question of what to do and how to prepare was quite relevant. John spoke of conversion and cleansing. He spoke of them even to those who, in general, had no special grounds to consider themselves unclean. He spoke to those who already believed in the God of Israel. What else was needed?

Conversion presupposed some changes in life. What changes? This is what those who came to John and believed him asked. The prophet spoke of fiery cleansing, and those listening to him understood what he meant. A theophany can become for a person a fire that burns him up if the person proves unready for the meeting. Preparation was needed. And John tells the people who came to him how to prepare. He proposes nothing especially complicated. No long prayers, no special complex cleansing rituals.

The main thing is love for one's neighbor and openness to him. And the issue is not only that without such openness neighbors will inevitably suffer. It is also that without learning openness in communication with people, it is practically impossible to learn it in communication with God. The habit of openness is much easier to acquire while communicating with a person like yourself than while communicating with God, who is not at all like you. And John recommends this as the best preparation for meeting the coming Messiah. And as an anticipation of the experience of life in the Kingdom, where openness is one of the main principles.