Luke 3:1 In the fifteenth
year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of
Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and
Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene-- 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of
God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
"A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him. 5
Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked
roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all people will see God's salvation.' "
Advent week 2. Regardless of which of the 3-year lectionary
cycles we're on, weeks 2 and 3 belong to John the Baptist. The forerunner of
Jesus and his prophetic message loom large in Advent.
In introducing this,
the last of the Old Testament style prophets, Luke in essence borrows a page
from the Hebrew scriptures. Compare Luke's introduction of John with the
introductions of these OT prophets:
1 The word of the
LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz
and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash
king of Israel (Hos 1:1)
1 The word of the
LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah--the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
(Mic 1:1)
1 The words of
Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa--the vision he saw concerning Israel two
years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of
Jehoash was king of Israel. (Amos 1:1)
1 The words of
Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of
Benjamin. 2 The word of the LORD
came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of
Judah, 3 and through the reign
of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the
eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of
Jerusalem went into exile. (Jer 1:1-3)
Something pretty
important is happening here. The introduction of the prophet and the details
surrounding his call unequivocally state the God is acting in human history; that God is inserting himself and making our
story HIS-story. Of course any study of mythology reminds us that every
culture had stories about the gods or their gods inserting themselves into the
human story, but in those cases the settings were always fantastical: Mount
Olympus, or mystic islands, etc. etc. The prophets, however, have their story
set decidedly in the real world...
and that's precisely where Luke sets the story of John the Baptist. In other
words, he does not begin by saying "once upon a time." He wants to
stress to us that everything he has to say is REAL; it all REALLY HAPPENED; the
word of God came to this latter day prophet just the way it had in the olden
days.
But speaking of the
olden days, there's another fascinating thing to be said about the call of John
the Baptist. The people of the day could be forgiven if there was some doubt or
skepticism because it had been so long
since a prophet had arisen in Israel. The previous prophet had been Malachi,
whose prophecy ends with the promise that God will: send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of
the LORD comes (Mal 4:5). In other words, Malachi implies that the next prophet to come will be
"Elijah." What follows, however, is silence; 400 years of
silence. During the period of the Maccabees, many questions arise--for instance,
what to do with the altar that had been profaned by the Seleucids. It was
decided that the best course of action would be to dismantle it, lay the stones
aside, and WAIT for a prophet.
Taken together, the
picture that emerges is that YES God does act in human history, he intercedes
and makes our story HIS-story, but he does so at his own time. The more I think
about it, the more it seems to me that the people who maintained their faith
during those periods of extended waiting (the Egyptian captivity, the period
between Malachi & John the Baptist, etc.) are true heroes of faith.
But the point Luke is
making is that NOW THE WAIT IS OVER... or at least, nearly over. At long last,
here's the prophet they've been waiting for. God is stirring; God will once
again be found at work among his people, and this time will be the ULTIMATE...
the CULMINATION... what the writer of Hebrews refers to as "these last
days" (aka the final epoch).
This Sunday's prayer of
the day says: Stir up our hearts,
Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son. By his coming give to all the
people of the world knowledge of your salvation; through Jesus Christ, our
Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever. Amen. In the text, John comes onto the scene to "stir
up" people's hearts; to announce the waiting is over; to announce the Savior
is here; and to urge radical reaction on the part of his hearers. Nature, in
his prophetic narrative, RESPONDS! Valleys rise up to see him coming; Mountains
bow low in deference. Their hearts are
stirred up. Are ours?
Cheers,
TM
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