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 and 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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