“Master, what are we to do?”  Luke 3:12

Luke 3:7-14

Crowds of people came out to be baptized by John, and he said to them: “You vipers’ brood! Who warned you to escape from the coming retribution? Then prove your repentance by the fruit it bears; and do not begin saying to yourselves, “We have Abraham for our father.” I tell you that God can make children for Abraham out of these stones here. Already the axe is laid to the roots of the trees; and every tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire.”

The people asked John, “Then what are we to do?” He replied, “The man with two shirts must share with him who has none, and anyone who has food must do the same.” Among those who came to be baptized were tax-gatherers, and they said to him, “Master, what are we to do?” He told them, “Exact no more than the assessment.” Soldiers on service also asked him, “And what of us?” To them he said, “No bullying; no blackmail; make do with your pay!”

Repentance: What is the word in Luke’s original text? *

Thoughts on seeing the whole picture – Donna Ross

The poor, as Jesus will tell his disciples, are with us always (see Mark 14:7). Since the poor are all around us, does Jesus mean we should walk by them without seeing them? Should we make a practice of helping at least one poor person on our way to our own work? Should we try to stop for every poor person? Or should we stop to look, not just at one person or several, but at the whole picture, and commit ourselves to working with others to make adequate space for everyone in our world?

* Repentance:

In Biblical Hebrew, the idea of repentance is represented by two verbs: שוב (shuv, to return) and נחם (nacham, to feel sorrow). In New Testament Greek, the word is μετάνοια (metanoia). Metanoia combines ‘meta’ (beyond, after), with ‘noia’ (to perceive, to think). Metanoia is therefore not just sorrow and a plea for forgiveness; it is primarily a change of consciousness. Only a new way of thinking will lead us into a new way of acting.