Luke 3:8-9

3:8 Therefore produce ¹  fruit ²  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ³  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ⁴  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁵  3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, ⁶  and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be ⁷  cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 8:14-15

8:14 As for the seed that ⁸  fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but ⁹  as they go on their way they are choked ¹⁰  by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, ¹¹  and their fruit does not mature. ¹²  8:15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing ¹³  the word, cling to it ¹⁴  with an honest and good ¹⁵  heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. ¹⁶ 

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¹ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

² tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).

³ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

⁴ sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.

⁵ sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.

⁶ sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).

⁷ tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.

⁸ tn Grk “What”; the referent (the seed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

¹⁰ sn That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.

¹¹ sn On warnings about the dangers of excessive material attachments, described here as the worries and riches and pleasures of life, see Luke 12:12-21; 16:19-31.

¹² tn The verb τελεσφορέω (telesforew) means “to produce mature or ripe fruit” (L&N 23.203). Once again the seed does not reach its goal.

¹³ tn The aorist participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally, reflecting action antecedent (prior to) that of the main verb.

¹⁴ sn There is a tenacity that is a part of spiritual fruitfulness.

¹⁵ sn In an ancient context, the qualifier good described the ethical person who possessed integrity. Here it is integrity concerning God’s revelation through Jesus.

¹⁶ sn Given the pressures noted in the previous soils, bearing fruit takes time (steadfast endurance), just as it does for the farmer. See Jas 1:2-4.