tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19733180.post2179746508352170106..comments2024-03-24T07:56:33.811-05:00Comments on Allan R. Bevere: Sometimes, It's Best to Get the Offering Before the Sermon...: A Lectionary Reflection on Matthew 3:1-12Allan R. Beverehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07903011101108437513noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19733180.post-28699291828765466962019-12-04T10:48:55.450-05:002019-12-04T10:48:55.450-05:00Note that John launches into this diatribe when &q...Note that John launches into this diatribe when "he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism". The Pharisees and the Sadducees, the epitome of self-righteousness in that time, with a surrounding culture which often reinforced that sense of self-righteousness. They *needed* to be told that they were something other than the righteous, upstanding people that they envisioned themselves to be. Jesus also often treated the self-righteous this way, and I think this is actually grace. Being confirmed and comforted in their self-righteousness is the last thing they needed. That sense of self-righteous insulated them from seeing their own sinfulness, which would keep them from repentance and salvation. Olorynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17042191530693591797noreply@blogger.com