3:7
John was not afraid to speak the truth, nor did he kowtow to power. So when the religious leaders came out to him he did not give them a warm welcome! Presumably they had just come out to see hat was happening, and possibly to discourage the common people from going to John. For if they had been going out to repent and get baptised he would have been somewhat more welcoming. We see here the wrath of God mentioned. The wrath of God is a concept that occurs throughout the Bible. Those who seek to erase the wrath of God are themselves a “brood of vipers”.
3:8
“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance”. This might imply that the religious leaders did actually want to be baptised. Whatever the case, it seems that they were definitely not into repentance! And we see here that the mere ritual of baptism is worthless. There needed to be genuine repentance, and genuine repentance produces fruit.
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