I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones

 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

*  *  * 

 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages." 

- Luke 1:1-4; Luke 3:1-14

In recent readings, we have been in John chapter 12.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.  And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.  I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.  For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.  And I know that His command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."  Today the lectionary moves to Luke's Gospel.

 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.  This is Luke's Preface to his Gospel.  Luke wasn't a disciple from the beginning, but has perfect understanding of the gospel of Christ as his own sources were the apostles themselves, who were the eyewitnesses of Christ.   His Gospel is written to Theophilus, a prominent Gentile who had received Christian instruction (see also Acts 1:1)  My study bible quotes St. Ambrose, who notes that Theophilus can simply mean any "lover of God," and therefore writes, "If you love God, it was written to you."

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene . . .   Luke is very careful to set his Gospel in a distinct historical setting which gives us a precise date.  The Romans rule Judea and those who are allies of Rome rule as "royalty."  Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, is the son of Herod the Great, who ruled as king of Judea although he was a non-Jew.  My study bible cites the prophecy of Jacob which indicated the Messiah would come when a king ruled who was not from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).

. . . while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  Caiaphas was now the sole high priest, says my study bible, but people also recognized the continuing power and influence of his father-in-law Annas.  Annas was a previous high priest who was deposed by the Romans.  Luke's first chapter tells us about the birth of John the Baptist and his mother Elizabeth and father Zacharias, intertwined with the story of Jesus and his mother Mary and earthly father Joseph (see Luke 1:5-80).

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"  The call to repentance is the traditional call of the Old Testament prophets, of which John is the last and the greatest.  His baptism, says my study bible, did not grant remission of sins finally and fully, but it does prefigure and prepare people for the baptism of Christ to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  As a figure of the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit or "put away" sin.  Both John and the Law point to the Christ as the One who can remit sin.  John quotes from the great prophet Isaiah before him;  in John 1:23, the Baptist identifies himself as the voice who cries in the wilderness. 

Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."   My study bible says that while parents and ancestors help impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself -- as John says here -- does not make one worthy of God.  Each person in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance.  Stones symbolize the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18).  St. Peter calls those who follow Christ, the cornerstone, in faith "living stones" (see 1 Peter 2:4-10).   The term brood of vipers indicates John's scathing characterization of those who are now coming to him even from Judea and Jerusalem, and tells us how popular his ministry has become at this stage.

So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do then?"  He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."  Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"  And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you."  Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?"  So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."   John's response tells us something about the people who are now coming to him, and whom he addresses.  They are people of some status and means, as his first teaching is about charity and giving to those who have none.  The tax collectors are taught to refrain from common corrupt practices of collecting more than is due; the soldiers are also taught to refrain from abuse of their power for purposes of extortion. 

John brings light into the wilderness, preaching a baptism for repentance, and preparing the people for the Light that is coming (see Saturday's reading, above, in which Christ tells all the people in Jerusalem during Holy Week, "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."  Jesus' words above include a warning about Judgment, even as do John the Baptist's, when he says that "even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."   This preparation has been a long time in coming.  John's words about repentance indicate the importance of a change in behavior, a way to live in righteousness or right-relatedness, a scathing warning about abuse of power and status, and the exploitation of the weaker for material gain.  But Jesus will broaden and deepen meanings of faith, of interior life,  of the fullness of what it is to have life itself.  John is the voice of one crying in the wilderness in preparation for this faith that will expand what it means to be truly righteous into the "God-like."  But he warns us what keeps us from this light, the behaviors that keep us trapped in a kind of darkness, a way of thinking that says that what we "have" is all there is to life at all.  His words speak profoundly about the power of God, that absolute power of life itself, that could "raise up children to Abraham from these stones."  Our prophet in the wilderness, for all his 'wildness' and roughness, has the depth of knowledge of a great mystic and theologian.  He encapsulates something of what Jesus will teach when He promises, in John's Gospel, that He has come that we may have life, and have it more abundantly.   John makes it clear that this life that awaits us, this salvation that is coming, is not limited by who our ancestors are, by what we have and what power and wealth we can acquire.  There is something more awaiting, a power that surpasses all that we can imagine, a source of life that gives more than we know.  How do we prepare for that?  What gets in the way of that life?