Repentance: A New Allegiance
Discovering the meaning and implications of "repentance” in Luke 3:1-20.
He’s dressed like an Old Testament prophet. He’s in Galilee, the most Jewish part of the country. He’s preaching away from the villages and cities, out in the country near the Jordan River. He’s fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy about “a voice of one calling in the wilderness” preparing people for the arrival of the Messiah or King (Luke 3:4).
John’s got one sermon and it’s really simple: repent.
I want to offer one piece of cultural background to help us understand repentance the way John and his audience did. Then, I want to make three observations from this passage about repentance.
Cultural Background for Repentance
First, some cultural background. In the ancient Near East, when a king won a victory, he might send messengers to the defeated army with an offer, a choice: pledge loyal allegiance to the victorious king or be imprisoned or worse. This shift in allegiance was called repentance.
Soldiers who repented didn’t just make some kind of pledge; they took up arms for a new king and advanced a new kingdom. When their allegiance changed, so did their actions.
That’s a helpful way to understand what John the Baptist is calling for in Luke 3. John is preparing the Jewish people for the arrival of their Messiah or King. He’s calling them to shift their allegiance from the kingdoms and comforts of this world to God.
This change of allegiance will change everything about their lives.
Repentance leads to participation.
Now, a couple of observations from this passage about repentance. First, repentance leads to participation. John gets really practical about what this allegiant life looks like. He tells the crowd, “If you have extra clothes or food, share with someone who doesn’t” (Luke 3:11). He tells tax collectors to stop overcharging people and tells soldiers to stop extorting and abusing others (3:12-14).
True repentance impacts how we treat others, especially the most vulnerable. Allegiance to Jesus makes us participants in His mission to restore and heal. True repentance leads to participation in what God is doing in the world.
Repentance is required.
Second, repentance is required. Some Jews listening to John’s sermon had come to believe that because they were related to Abraham they were in good standing with God. The Messiah was coming to destroy their enemies, provide for them and protect them! God was on their side! All because they were related to Abraham.
But John isn’t having it. He cuts straight to the point in verse 8: “Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones. God can raise up children for Abraham.”
This was a radical statement. It’s a wake-up call, dismantling the belief that ethnicity or ancestry can substitute for repentance and allegiance to God. Nothing is a substitute for genuine repentance and faithful allegiance to God. Repentance is required.
Repentance is for everyone.
Third, repentance is for everyone. A relationship with God is open to anyone who repents and turns to God.
This radical inclusivity is found throughout Luke’s Gospel. Again and again, we see Jesus welcoming outsiders: tax collectors, Gentiles who aren’t related to Abraham, the poor, and notorious habitual sinners. For various reasons, these were all people that some Jews believed couldn’t be in a relationship with God. Jesus consistently eats with people like this, touches them, and forgives them, and welcomes them to join his mission of restoration and healing.
A relationship with God is available to anyone who surrenders to Jesus as King. Repent and believe this good news.
So, to put all this together, John called people to shift their allegiance to God. If this repentance is genuine it will impact every dimension of who we are and how we live. The truly repentant will invest all they are and all they have in the mission of God to restore and heal—holding nothing back. The invitation to join God in this mission is open to everyone.
