Teacher, what shall we do?

 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 3:1-14

In our recent readings, the lectionary has given us John's Gospel, and specifically the events of the Last Supper.  We have read through Christ's Farewell Discourse to the disciples, and also what is known as the High Priestly Prayer.  In yesterday's reading, He concluded this prayer:   "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.  And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.  O righteous Father!  The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 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 writes with an orientation toward a Gentile audience.  He is very careful to place the Gospel in a worldly, historical setting, establishing for us the dates in the story of the ministry of Christ.  This Herod is Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great.

. . . while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  My study bible says that Caiaphas was now the sole high priest, but people also recognized the continuing power of his father-in-law Annas, a previous high priest who was deposed by the Romans.  The setting of the Gospel in its historical time and place, midst the power and authority of the Roman Empire, assures a faithful Gentile audience that this, indeed, remains a setting in which the word of God comes into the world, to the holy ones who desire to receive it.  John is, of course, John the Baptist.  He is in the wilderness, set apart from the world in total devotion to the word of God; his radical poverty for the love of God will be a model for the early desert monastics.  Many of Christ disciples were first disciples of the Baptist.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, . . ..  My study bible says that the call to repentance was tradition for prophets.  John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all.  But it was a preparation and prefiguration of the baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).   John, my study bible says, is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit (literally, "put away") sin.  However, both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.

. . . 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 Baptist fulfills one aspect of the prophecy of Isaiah, from which he quotes (see Isaiah 40:3-5).  He ascribes to himself the role of the voice in John 1:23.

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 notes that while parents and ancestors help to impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself doesn't make one worthy of God.  Every person in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance, as the Baptist emphasizes here.  Stones are symbolic of the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18, see also 1 Peter 2:4-6).

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 emphasis is on relatedness and community, as the Law also emphasized as its goals.  He addresses those who "have" (two tunics, food) and how they treat the "have nots."  He addresses the tax collectors, who would commonly use the power of the Roman state to extort additional monies for themselves.  Soldiers come to him also, and again John's emphasis is on ceasing to use violence and manipulation to extort, being content with their wages and just to the people.  Hidden within these questions to John is the conflict between serving or doing business with the Roman state and being a loyal Jew, which will also figure in Christ's Crucifixion.  In his responses, John gives them a fair and just "way" to live their lives in accordance what is understood as righteous in the Law (as opposed to nationalism), as Christ will also, and emphasizes repentance and change of sinful behavior.  It is a profound testimony to the figure of John the Baptist that these people (the well-off, tax collectors, soldiers) come to him for repentance and preparation for the Messiah.  It also teaches us how strongly the Jewish nation felt the fervor and desire for the Messiah, and how high expectations really were, the setting in which Jesus will begin His public ministry.

In our time and place we have our own conflicts between seeming to serve what we might consider an "evil" entity, and being loyal Christians.  If the state in which we live also commits errors, or what we consider to be sin (such as, for example, unjust war, extreme violence, extortionate taxes, unfair and discriminatory polices, extreme penalization for wrongdoing, oppressive or corrupt practices), is our option purely political?   That is, do we serve the good by various means of political resistance?  Let us presume, for a moment (and purely for the sake of hypothesis), that we live in a state we consider to be hostile to our faith.   Should we never take a government job?  Should we isolate ourselves from such government, not obeying its regulations and laws?  What role does our citizenship play in our lives?  John the Baptist takes us out of such a dilemma by emphasizing the truth of the Law, the holy and righteous behavior which the Law sought to emphasize and through which the Law sought to create community among the people of God.  Our duty, in such a model, and through John's advice, is first to God.  That is, we consider the commands we have been given, what we already know to be the good, and the desires of God for our holiness.   We have just finished reading the High Priestly Prayer of Christ, found in chapter 17 of John's Gospel (see the final reading in the prayer above).  Christ's overwhelming emphasis was on a kind of community that surpasses all other community.  This is the community of the love of God, found first is the love of God the Father, to which Christ's life and ministry is a testimony, and the gathering up of the people of God into this communion of love.  This is where we start and where we finish.  When we have a question, when we have a problem, we take it to that place in the love of God, where we know we are held and loved beyond all measure of worldly or selfish love, and we seek that place for guidance -- because  it is in that kingdom that we wish to take our true identity and meaning for all of life.  This is our true direction.  Let us consider the struggles of John, of the people, the wealth and power of a state which knows nothing of the history of the Law or the people of God, and the depth of God's love that reaches to all of us, all the time.