Friday, August 01, 2008

What?

Matthew 3:7: "But when he [John the Baptist] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?'"

I'm confused. Is John mad? He goes on to remind them that being part of the Jewish tradition does not protect them from judgment, and that they ought to "produce fruit in keeping with repentance" (3:8) so it seems to be just part of a larger context of giving an (albeit less than friendly) exhortation to the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Quotations from the NIV.