Study of all 4 Gospels at the Same Time - His Message (John the Baptist) - Matthew 3: 7 - 10; Luke 3: 7 - 14 - Post 15

The Message of John the Baptist was very harsh.  He was telling the Jews, that their worship of the Lord was sending them to damnation.  He said that they have "no fruit", meaning they know what God wants them to do, but refused to do so.  This is very hard for the Jews to hear, because the Scriptures tell them they are the chosen by God.  Now John the Baptist is telling them it is not enough.  John could be talking directly to us today.  You can imagine this did not set well with a large number of Jews, and they would go back to the Temple in Jerusalem to complain to the religious authorities.  When John the Baptist saw the Pharisees and the Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them "You offspring of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Therefore produce fruit that proves your repentance, and don't think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as out father.'  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!  Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3: 7 - 10)!  Who are the Pharisees and the Sadducees?  The Pharisees, were the Levitical Rabbi's that were teaching the people in the Synagogues.  The Pharisees were of the house of Aaron, and could work in the Temple as well.  The Pharisees believed in the Resurrection, but were not sure which form the resurrection would take.  
The Sadducees, were the Levitical Jews that lived in the Southern part of Israel and worked in the Temple.  The Sadducees were the political group that did not like the Roman occupation, but they were willing to work with them, and took a more liberal view of interpreting the Scriptures.  The Sadducees also did not hold to the resurrection teachings of the Scriptures.
The Jews believed very strongly in keeping their family lines pure.  This is one of the reasons, Jews hated the Samaritans, even though they were related to them.  I will talk more on this in later blogs in this study.  When John the Baptist tells the Pharisees and the Sadducees, that God could turn these stones into "Sons of Abraham."  John was telling them their special treatment of God and their worship was lacking.  This is a hard thing to hear for anyone.  How about you reading this blog, are you Christian?  Do you remember when you became a Christian?  Has your life shown any change?  If you can not see any change in your life for the better; maybe you should look at where you failed to change.  This was John the Baptist's challenge to the Jews of his day.  And This is the same challenge we are under today.  Where are you??