In the Life of Christ
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. — Luke 3:10
That may be one of the healthiest questions anyone can ask after hearing the truth of God: What should I do now?
John the Baptist had been preaching repentance with enough force to shake people out of their comfortable religious assumptions. He had warned them that merely claiming Abraham as their ancestor was not enough. Repentance had to produce fruit. Then something encouraging happened. The crowd did not argue with him. They asked what repentance should actually look like.
John’s answer was surprisingly ordinary.
If you have two coats and someone has none, share one. If you have food and another person is hungry, feed them. If you collect taxes, do not collect more than you are authorized to collect. If you are a soldier, do not use authority or intimidation to take advantage of people, and learn to be content with your wages. Luke presents John’s instructions very concretely: generosity for the crowd, honesty for tax collectors, restraint and contentment for soldiers.
That tells me something important about following Jesus. Repentance does not remain inside the sanctuary.
It goes home with us.
The Greek word commonly translated “repentance,” metanoia, carries the idea of a changed mind that results in a changed direction. Biblical repentance is therefore more than feeling sorry about something. Sorrow may accompany repentance, but genuine repentance eventually becomes visible.
John the Baptist was preparing the road for Jesus, and Jesus would carry this same truth throughout His ministry. Christ repeatedly demonstrated that what happens in the heart eventually appears in the life.
Zacchaeus is a wonderful example. Here was another tax collector, and not merely a tax collector but a chief tax collector. After encountering Jesus, Zacchaeus announced, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (Luke 19:8).
Jesus did not tell Zacchaeus that such actions were unnecessary because only the heart mattered. Instead He said, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
Zacchaeus was not purchasing salvation with restitution. His restitution demonstrated that something had happened within him.
That is precisely the kind of repentance John preached.
John Piper observes that Luke’s inclusion of tax collectors and soldiers places the dangers associated with “power and wealth” directly before the reader. That is insightful because John does not simply say, “Stop being bad people.” He identifies how particular people were tempted to misuse the particular positions they occupied.
That makes repentance uncomfortably personal.
I can confess greed in general while refusing to examine the way I handle my bank account. I can confess pride while continuing to treat someone beneath my position dismissively. I can confess anger without considering how I speak to my family. I can confess selfishness without opening my closet, refrigerator, calendar, or wallet.
General repentance can sometimes become a hiding place from particular repentance.
Martin Luther famously began his Ninety-Five Theses by observing that when Jesus said, “Repent,” He intended the entire life of believers to be characterized by repentance. The study behind today’s reflection captures that beautifully: repentance is not merely the doorway through which we enter the Christian life; it becomes part of the road we continue walking.
And when I look at Jesus, I see why.
Jesus never used power selfishly.
The One who possessed all authority knelt to wash feet.
The One who could command angels allowed Himself to be arrested.
The One who had nowhere to lay His head continually gave Himself to others.
The One who was falsely accused refused to become false in return.
John was preparing people for a kingdom whose King would embody everything John was calling them to practice.
That also means our work becomes one of the most revealing places to examine our discipleship.
The Theology of Work Project notes that John’s instructions to tax collectors and soldiers relate specifically to their occupations: tax collectors were to stop padding collections for personal profit, while soldiers were forbidden from exploiting their power through extortion or false accusation. John did not tell them that repentance required abandoning every secular occupation. He told them to conduct themselves differently within those occupations.
That remains remarkably relevant.
The Christian business owner can ask, “Does following Jesus affect how I treat employees?”
The supervisor can ask, “What do I do with authority when nobody above me is watching?”
The police officer can ask, “Does my faith shape the way I exercise lawful power?”
The teacher can ask, “How does Christ change the way I handle the difficult child?”
The pastor can ask, “Am I serving people or using ministry to serve myself?”
The retiree can ask, “What responsibility comes with the time and resources God has entrusted to me?”
The teenager can ask, “What does repentance look like in the conversations I have when my parents are not around?”
John’s answer would probably remain essentially the same: Look honestly at where God has placed you, recognize the temptations attached to that place, and let repentance become specific there.
Jesus later illustrated this same principle when a lawyer asked Him about eternal life. Christ told the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25–37. The Samaritan saw a wounded man and acted. Compassion moved from emotion into inconvenience, expense, interrupted plans, and personal involvement.
That is what living repentance does.
It opens our eyes.
When John tells the person with two tunics to give one away, he is teaching something larger than charitable distribution. He is saying that the kingdom of God changes what we see when we look at what we possess. Before repentance, I see two coats and think, “I have choices.” Afterward I may see two coats and realize, “God has given me enough to become an answer to someone else’s need.”
Repentance changes the question from What do I own? to Why has God entrusted this to me?
And none of this earns our place with Christ.
It flows from having encountered Him.
When grace becomes real, generosity makes sense. When we realize how merciful Christ has been toward us, mercy toward others becomes less unnatural. When we remember that Jesus refused to exploit His authority, we become more careful with whatever authority we possess.
Repentance is therefore not simply turning away from something. It is turning toward Someone.
Toward Christ.
That is why I find the crowd’s question so valuable this morning: “What should we do then?”
Perhaps that should become our prayer.
“Lord, You have shown me truth. What should I do now?”
Maybe the answer will involve something dramatic.
More likely, it will involve something remarkably ordinary: apologize, return something, forgive someone, share what you have, stop exaggerating, refuse to manipulate, make the phone call, correct the dishonest practice, become content, notice the person in need.
John’s ministry reminds us that Christ does not merely call us to believe differently.
He teaches us to live differently because we believe.
And sometimes the strongest evidence that repentance is genuine is not what happens on Sunday morning.
It is what happens on Monday.
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