“What, then, should we do?” This question is asked three times in our gospel reading – by the crowd, the tax collectors and the soldiers. To put it another way… “how, then, should we live?”

Last week we heard John the Baptist’s voice crying in the wilderness, calling for repentance. Today he is a force of fury, threatening axes, fire and judgement, and questioning the genuineness of the people’s repentance.

Imagine John the Baptist standing here on the Cathedral steps. He has been in the wilderness, eating locusts and wild honey. He is strong and imposing, with wild hair. He wears a tunic of camel hair with a leather belt. His staff raised high, he points to people, loudly shouting, “You BROOD OF VIPERS!