Will we turn ourselves towards God and his Kingdom, knowing that we cannot help ourselves but desperately need the Christ to change the world and our hearts? Because the axe is laid at the root of the tree that does not bear good fruit.

I wonder if you’ve ever cut down a tree? I’ve done a few small ones over the years, and it’s a hard job.

We’ve mostly gone the route of chopping off all the branches with a big pair of loppers or a reciprocating saw, so that you’re left with a tall trunk in the ground to use as a lever. Then you go at the roots, exposing them with a mattock and going through them with mattock or axe, before levering out the trunk and stump.

I’ve never tried the approach most of us would picture—taking an axe or chainsaw to the side of a tree to fell it and leave a stump behind. Partly because I don’t the right kind of axe for that, partly because I’ve only ever done small trees you can lever out, but mostly because who wants the stump of a tree left in their garden? They’re a pain, so you’ve got to take the roots out first.

There’s a spiritual analogy here some of you might be familiar with: if you’re engaging in deliverance ministry it’s helpful to cut out all the roots before you actually cast out the demon—essentially so that they don’t have anything left to cling onto. In practice this means less dramatic exorcism scenes and more gentle counselling while Jesus heals wounds and gifts forgiveness and repentance.

There’s a wider analogy though too, the axe of Advent. John the Baptist is the Advent figure par excellence, the desert prophet wild with the fury of the heavens telling of a great light to come. He bids us repent in no uncertain terms, but cries that “the axe is laid at the root of the tree” (Matthew 3) and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down for firewood.

John is using a common Biblical picture of people as trees, seen in Genesis 2 but clearest in Psalm 1 and then the prophets (e.g. Isaiah 5, Jeremiah 2) and saying that the brood of vipers he addresses—the Pharisees and Sadducees—will be judged by their fruit.

Advent’s axe is Jesus, who appears immediately afterward. We think of Christmas as a time to meet Jesus the baby, God condescended, God in weakness and meekness. In Advent we encounter Jesus the Judge of the world, apocalyptic King who came with a sword to divide. How do we prepare for Jesus’ coming? John tells us to repent. How we prepare in Advent, today, for his return? John tells us to repent.

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