Whew, sorry about the length of that pit-stop, I really didn't think it would last that long, but just when I thought it was time to get back on the road Luke needed some more snacks and to use the little's boy's room. But we are finally back in the car and we can now continue our road trip.
I don't know if you ever realized before but the first couple chapters of Luke feel a bit like a teeter-totter. We go from John to Jesus to John to Jesus to John to Jesus. So we follow up the Christmas story by returning to John, this time as an adult in an out of the way place acting out of sorts, at least according to those in charge. You see John is out in the desert preaching against the old religious ways, calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the waters. Interestingly enough John seems to mainly be talking about monetary repentance.
I say this because He starts by talking about religious people needing to bear fruit and then when people ask for more explanation he tells them to give away their extra shirts and food, when tax collectors ask they are told to stop overcharging people, when soldiers ask they are told to not extort money and to be content with their pay. According to John bearing fruit looks a lot like being fair, being generous and being content with the things we have and the way we treat people. The rulers, both religiously and governmentally, found this to be problematic. Unfortunately too many still do.
John, and then later Jesus, preached generosity, but the voices in our lives speak more about what is yours and how someone, somewhere is trying to take what is yours. John, and then later Jesus, preached about being fair with others, you know, doing unto them as you would want done unto you, but the voices tell us that we better get our chunk of the pie before someone, somewhere else does. John, and then later Jesus, preached about being content with what we have, and even living in joy with less, yet the voices tell us that we should want more, that we should Just Do It, that we should YOLO...of course later on Jesus will say something along the lines of if you seek your life you will lose it and if you lay it down you will gain it.
So, John goes out to the desert and preaches and baptizes and does such a good job that people begin to wonder if John is the promised Messiah. John sets the record straight on that one, saying that the one that is coming will baptize with fire, all John has to offer is water. John says that he isn't even worthy to untie the sandals of the one that is coming, which is funny because the one that is coming would have had no problem untying John's sandals if John needed them untied. Even to the one who was speaking in the wilderness, preparing the way, didn't quite understand who or what the Messiah was actually going to be. [This is a thought that we will hash out much more in the coming weeks, months, and if I keep this current writing pace up, years]
Luke then puts a comma in John's story, saying that he preached using other fiery language until he spoke out against Herod and was subsequently thrown in prison [spoiler alert: his prison sentence doesn't end well]. But then he backtracks and realizes that he forgot some rather important details, Jesus came to be baptized by John. John baptizes, Jesus prays, a Holy Spirit dove descends, and the voice of God speaks, saying, "This is my son, in whom I am well pleased."
From here on out Luke is decidedly a Jesus story.
Until next time,
Pastor K
No comments:
Post a Comment