The Coming of a Messenger of Repentance and Forgiveness—Lectionary (RCL) Reflection for Advent 2C (Luke 3:1-6)
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| Bruegel, Pieter, 1564-1638. Saint John the Baptist Preaching to the Masses in the Wilderness, |
Luke 3:1-6 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler 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 region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
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We
arrive at the Second Sunday of Advent, also known as Peace Sunday. The message
here is one of preparation. On the First Sunday of Advent, the Revised Common
Lectionary took us to Luke 21, where we read of Jesus’ apocalyptic message of
the coming realm of God. In that first reading, Jesus, preaching in the Temple,
warns the people to “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with
dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day does not
catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.” (Lk 21:34-35). We think of Advent as
a time when we get ready for Christmas. We sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and
then we’re ready to sing the carols. But there is more to Advent than getting
the church ready for Christmas Eve. In fact, Advent has a dual focus—the birth
of the Messiah and the return of the Messiah. The reading for the Second Sunday
doesn’t speak of either the birth of the Messiah or the return of the
resurrected Messiah. Rather, this is a reminder that while Advent is a season
of preparation, the rest of the year is focused on the birth, ministry, and
then the death and resurrection of the Messiah.
Malachi
speaks of the coming of a messenger who will prepare the way for the coming of
the Lord (Mal. 3:1-4). It is a similar message to that of Isaiah, who speaks of
a voice crying in the wilderness (Is. 40:3). The Gospel writers, including
Luke, also speak of one who will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.
Luke draws not from Malachi but from Isaiah. In Luke’s vision (as is true of
the synoptic gospels), that messenger is none other than John the Baptist.
John
the Baptizer arrives in the story (as an adult) in chapter 3 of Luke. We
already have the infancy narrative and the story of Jesus’ boyhood, stories
that include mention of John (in utero). That portion of the story need not
catch our attention, because it is the adult John who appears here. According
to Luke, John the Baptist’s ministry began in the “fifteenth year of the reign
of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was
ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and
Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during
the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas” (Lk 3:1-2). This is the cast of
characters who will come and go during the rest of Luke’s story of Jesus. The
mention of Tiberius and Pontius Pilate reminds us that Rome occupies the
territory, though Herod and the others mentioned here serve as vassals to
Caesar. That is true, in many ways, of Annas and Caiaphas, the high priests. The
fact that Luke mentions the context of John’s appearance is a reminder,
according to Mariam J. Kamell that “God’s promises come to fulfillment within
the context of physical history. Both John and Jesus, unlike mythical heroes
from Greek mythology, for example existed in historical time and space and
functioned with a specific cultural situation” [Feasting on the Word, p.
45].
Luke
introduces John as the one to whom the “word of God” came. This word came to
John in the wilderness, after which John began his ministry in the “region of
the Jordan.” This word about the wilderness reminds us that John identified
himself with Elijah. According to 1 Kings 19, Elijah fled to the wilderness
after confronting the kings and priests. As James McGrath points out, Luke portrays
John “as a prophet standing in the long line of those who had been sent to
God’s people with a message. Luke further specifies that John’s public activity
was carried out in all the region around the Jordan. This included places in
Transjordan that were at the very least close to locations that feature in the
story of Elijah, and perhaps where Elijah was originally from” [Christmaker,
p. 33].
Having
received this prophetic calling and seemingly identifying himself with Elijah,
John proclaimed a message of baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Later in chapter 3, Luke describes Jesus’ baptism (Lk. 3:21-22), but that is
not yet a matter of concern. The point here is that John received a prophetic
calling to preach a message of repentance and forgiveness of sins while in the
wilderness and that he operated throughout the region around the Jordan (and
not just at one spot on the Jordan River).
Luke sets
John’s prophetic calling in scripture, pointing us to Isaiah 40:3-5. Whereas
the reading from Isaiah 40 concludes with a word about seeing the glory of God,
here the word is that after the way of the Lord is made smooth, “all flesh
shall see the salvation of God.” While the wording here differs from the text
of Isaiah 40, the meaning is the same in many ways. To see/experience God’s
salvation is to experience God’s glory. John’s message of repentance and
forgiveness of sins prepares a person to see God’s glory (experience
salvation/wholeness).
For
Luke John’s calling involves pointing to the coming of the one who reveals God’s
glory/salvation. That would be Jesus, whom Luke connects in chapter 1 of the Gospel
to John through their mothers, who are said to be cousins. Thus, according to
Luke, John, and Jesus are cousins, though there are holes in this theory since
Jesus is said to be a descendant of David (tribe of Judah), while John comes
from a priestly family (Levi). [For more
on John’s origins see James McGrath’s Christmaker: A Life of John theBaptist]. Since this is Advent, we will focus on Luke’s portrayal of John
as Jesus’ waymaker. Thus, he is the one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the
way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” As such, “all flesh shall see the
salvation of God.” The Gospels are clear that John is not the Messiah or the
Savior. That need not diminish the life and ministry of John, which has its own
integrity. But for Christians, he stands as the one who prepares the way.
As we
ponder John’s role in revealing God’s realm, it is possible, as James McGrath
has pointed out, that Jesus might have been a follower of John and then his
successor, carrying on John’s mission of proclaiming God’s message of repentance
and forgiveness. John’s baptism would serve as a foundation for Christian
baptism, even if it developed further. While Jesus surely learned from John
many things, including John’s ethical vision, Jesus was also an innovator who
pushed beyond John’s vision. Therefore, in Luke’s presentation of John’s
ministry, the Baptist lays the foundation for the coming of God’s agent of
salvation. In Isaiah’s vision, the waymaker/Christmaker flattens out the earth
so that everyone can see God’s agent of salvation.
One
thing we need to take note of is the context in which both John’s and Jesus’
ministry take place. This is an age of violence and oppression. Several of the
political and religious figures mentioned here will figure prominently in the
executions of both John and Jesus. That Luke implicates both political and
religious leaders in the deaths of these two figures is a reminder that “church
and state” often get intertwined, such that religion gets coopted into the
state’s ambitions. Here, that involves the Roman occupation of Israel. While
John and Jesus received their calling from God, Annas and Caiaphas owed their
jobs to Rome, not God. These priests were creatures of Rome, entrusted to keep
the populace quiet and compliant. While Caiaphas and Annas were committed to
keeping the region peaceful and quiet, John and Jesus tended to upset the
status quo. Therefore, they found themselves arrested and executed.
As we
continue our Advent journey, John calls on us to pay attention to what God is
doing in the world. John announces an alternate realm from the one that Rome
and its clients offered. It’s the same message today. John points us toward the
revealing of God’s salvation. That salvation comes through Christ, not political
systems that are easily corrupted. So, the question for us is whether we have
the eyes and ears necessary to see what God is doing in our midst. John points
us toward the realm of God, but that realm already exists. Might we embrace
that possibility and live accordingly, such that God’s will might be done on
earth as in heaven.
So, we
sing:
O come, Desire of nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind;
bid envy, strife and quarrels cease;
fill the whole world with heaven's peace.
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