And all flesh shall see the salvation of God

 

 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 

 

Recently, we have been reading through Christ's High Priestly Prayer, which followed His Farewell Discourse to the apostles, at the Last  Supper.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus concluded the 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 . . .  Just as in the beginning of his Gospel, Luke gives the historical setting as context by naming these various officials and leaders of the time and place.  Here, my study Bible reminds us that an ancient prophecy of Jacob indicated that the Messiah would come when a king ruled who was not from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).  As Herod the Great, father of Herod (Antipas), Philip, and Lysanias, was a non-Jew who called himself the king of Judea (Luke 1:5), the expectation among the people is that the coming of Christ was surely at hand.

 

 . . . 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.  John the son of Zacharias is known to us as John the Baptist (see Luke 1:57-80).

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins . . .   My study Bible comments that the call to repentance was traditional for prophets.  John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but rather prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  It notes that John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, John denounced sin but could not remit (literally "put away") sin.  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.'"  John quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah (see Isaiah 40:3-5).  My study Bible notes that in John 1:23, John the Baptist ascribes to himself this role of "the voice of one crying in the wilderness."  Thus he is also part of the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, meant to comfort a people in captivity regarding the time when the Messiah would come out of Israel.  

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 comments that while parents and ancestors help impart piety and holiness (such as through the faith and piety of John the Baptist's parents Elizabeth and Zacharias, who were "righteous before God" - see Luke 1:6), ancestry in and of itself does not make one worthy of God.  Each person in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance.  Here stones symbolize the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18).  

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." Let us note how seriously people take the prophesy of John the Baptist, and revere his holiness.  The tax collectors were Jewish but they worked for Rome, often collecting extra for themselves, which John addresses here.  Note also that the soldiers would be equally involved in working for Rome, and John addresses them regarding similar issues of extortion practices.  Each response from John affirms a concern for the well-being and spiritual health of community, the preparation of the community for the Messiah.  

 

 When we read John the Baptist's instructions for repentance in a modern framework or mindset, we think of such instructions as meant for individuals, and the responsibility of individuals.  But within the framework of the time, and to the community he addresses, this would have been understood and accepted in quite a different way.  Yes, it is individuals who repent and make up community, who choose practices that please God, and thereby also build community.  But we have to understand the foundation of what it meant within Israel that there was such great expectation at this time for the coming of the Messiah, and what that meant for the people as a whole.  As we can read in Isaiah, the coming of the Messiah was looked upon as the revival of Israel's fortunes, the culmination of the return from captivity, the true comfort of the nation.  Isaiah's chapter 40, from which John the Baptist draws his quotation of prophesy, begins, "Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" says your God.  "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins."  So this is a time not only of possible coming judgment, not only a reconciliation for sins within the majesty of the Messiah, but of rehabilitation for the nation, the Deliverer coming to restore Israel.  And if we understand this, then we understand the power in John the Baptist's baptism for the remission of sins as preparation for this time, and for the whole community.  This would be heard by each not only as an appeal to their sense of themselves and identity in that individual sense, but rather to identity within and as the community of Israel, of the nation.  That is, the identity of her people, the people of God.  In a pluralistic society, one formed and shaped within modern governments and social awareness, it might be difficult to understand for some of us what this appeal to community really means.  But if we regard ourselves as those who must prepare, for the sake of all of our own people, our own nation, for something upon which rests all of our hope (as both community and nation), then we might start to get a better picture of what is going on in today's reading.  This truth is central to an understanding of what it will mean to be called children of Abraham, of what Christ will bring to this table, even of notions of what it means to be a people and community, and therein our responsibility to God.  When we think of the approaching Messiah, of Christ's advent into the public eye and His public ministry, let us understand what this coming of the Messiah means to the people, right down to the tax collectors and soldiers, for all those who hope for Israel and her fortunes.  We must consider especially what this communal context means for our own understanding of righteousness and of holiness.  For therein we might find ourselves, not simply as individuals, but members of something much bigger than that.  It is there we find the hope for the life of the world, the salvation of God.

 

Who are you?

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

"Make straight the way of the LORD,"'

as the prophet Isaiah said."

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

 

- John 1:19-28 

 

 Yesterday we read what is called the Prologue to John's Gospel:   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

 

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"   Here the theological Prologue of John's Gospel ends, the focus of the Gospel shifts to the beginnings of Christ's worldly ministry, the testimony of John.  That is, the witness of John the Baptist.  We are given, beginning with today's reading, seven consecutive days, paralleling the creation story in Genesis, just as John's Gospel itself began similarly to the opening of Genesis, with "In the beginning" (see yesterday's reading, above).  The next several readings with continue to parallel Genesis by describing seven consecutive days in the beginning of Christ's ministry.

 

He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."   John the Baptist is a prophet, but not the Prophet, meaning the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3.  He is the herald of the coming Messiah, and he understands himself and his position in the history of Judaism, and the story of salvation.

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.   Here we are given the events of the first day of John's Gospel and Christ's ministry.  In a parallel to Genesis, on this first day, John the Baptist bears witness to he Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of the Jews (that is, the witnesses sent from Jerusalem, these Pharisees).  This parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  

John calls the people to "Make straight the way of the LORD," quoting Isaiah.  This is a call to repentance, and it was a traditional call for prophets.  My study Bible explains that John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come.  It notes that John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, John denounced sin but could not remit (or literally "put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.  John says, "I baptize with water, but there stands one among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."   He is aware that in the coming baptism of Christ, there is more than only the element of water, and his comparison of Himself to Christ is apt.  He speaks of himself as a slave unworthy even to unloose or carry another's sandals; this is John's humble comparison of himself as prophet to Christ who is the Messiah.  And it is John's humility that stands through the centuries as the image for imitation of all who follow and would be disciples and faithful to Christ, especially for those who have gone into monastic vocations.  Humility is, first of all, considered to be the gateway to all of the spiritual virtues.  St. Paul names many of such virtues when he writes of the fruit of the Spirit:  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).  It is through humility that the development of such virtue, and receipt of the teachings and leading of the Spirit itself, becomes possible; and pride, the opposite of humility, blocks the way to repentance, change, transformation through grace.  But there is a deeper teaching here in the actions and character of John the Baptist, this last and greatest of the prophets in the Old Testament lineage.  John teaches us that it is in our relationship to Christ that we truly find ourselves and our identities.  Much is concerned in modern popular culture with the finding of the "true self," and the questions we might have about who we are.  But the world cannot really give us the answer to that, for the answer is that we are not simply material nor even social beings, but that we are material and spiritual; we have a mind and a heart, a body and a spirit and a soul.  We have a consciousness capable of asking such questions.  The answer to such questions about who we are is found in our deepening relationship to Christ, our deepening dependence upon our faith.  This is because even notions of who we are cannot be answered except through a deeper and broader being, something (or Someone) greater than we are, a leading into an awareness of true self which also runs much deeper than consciousness and is -- like God, in whose image and likeness we're created -- a mystery of depth whose limits we don't know.  At heart, we have depths we don't know about; and so, the answers to who we are can only be found in the depth of relatedness and journey of faith of knowledge and growth toward the infinite God.  If that sounds a bit high-minded, simply consider that it is in the trusting humility of John that John knows himself and who he is in the fullness of salvation history -- and it is there in which we will also be able to find ourselves, and to grow in that knowledge of who it is God calls us to be and to become, through grace and through faith.  Let us consider our place before the Light.

 

 

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father"

Grape harvest detail, 4th century, mosaic.  Nave of Santa Costanza Church, Rome 

 

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 them?"  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, we have been covering Jesus' final hours with His disciples.  We read His Farewell Discourse (beginning with this reading) and also His High Priestly Prayer (starting here).  Yesterday, we read the last verses of that 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 . . ..  Today the lectionary starts readings in Luke's Gospel.    Luke is careful to establish dates, times, places, and the people of the historical setting to the story of Jesus Christ.  Herod the tetrarch of Galilee is Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who was king of Judea at the time of Christ's birth.  (Herod the Great ruled Judea from 37-4 BC.  My study bible notes that there was an ancient prophecy of Jacob which indicated that the Messiah would come when  king ruled who was not of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).  Herod was a non-Jew who called himself the king of Judea, a sign that the coming of Christ was at hand.)  At the time setting of the beginning of Luke chapter 3, both Jesus and John the Baptist are mature adults.

. . . while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  At this time 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 had been deposed by the Romans.  

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 a traditional call of the prophets.  John's baptism does not grant remission of sins once and for all, but was a prefiguring and preparing people for Christ's baptism which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).   It adds that John is a figure of the Law, in the sense that, like the Law, he denounced sin but he could not remit (literally "put away") sin.  (The word for remit here is the same word found in the Lord's Prayer, when we're told to pray for forgiveness as we offer forgiveness -- see Luke 11:1-4, Matthew 6:8-15.)

. . . 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.'"  John ascribes himself the role of the voice of one crying in the wilderness in John 1:23.  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3-5.

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 comments that while parents and ancestors help to impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself doesn't make a person worthy of God.  Each person in every generation needs to bear fruits worthy of repentance.  That is, to come to God in a dynamic living relationship.  Stones in this context are symbols of the Gentiles who would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18).  

 

 So the people asked him, saying, "What shall we do them?"  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, through the responses of John the Baptist, gives us images of fruits of repentance:  to share or give alms to those in need when one has abundance, that tax collectors and soldiers do their work justly, and not commit extortion (a common practice).  

I find it very interesting that John the Baptist does not tell the tax collectors or soldiers to stop doing their jobs, to find other forms of employment.  Instead, he counsels them to be just in doing their work:  the tax collectors to collect no more than what is appointed for them, and the soldiers to refuse to intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and to be content with their wages.   Clearly it was common practice for tax collectors and soldiers to use the power of the Roman state to extort by either claiming someone owed more taxes or by intimidation and false accusation.  We know the tax collectors were Jews appointed to do this job among fellow Jews, and it seems quite clear that the soldiers seeking repentance in preparation for the Messiah are Jews as well.  But John does not tell them they should not be tax collectors, and he does not tell them they should not be soldiers.  What this means is, first of all, he is not separating people along political lines.  He doesn't tell people that repentance consists of refusal to work for the Romans.  Similarly to Jesus, the emphasis here is on the soul and one's place before God, the judgment brought near by the Messiah, and preparation for that reality.  Apparently, nationalist or other politics plays no role in that for John.  This also speaks of John's great faith in the Messiah, for if those issues need be addressed, surely they will be addressed in the coming of the Lord.  We know, however, that this is consistent with Christ, who did not preach politics as salvation.  Neither does John assert that to be a soldier or a tax collector is evil in and of itself.  He does not assert that the violence and power of the Roman state makes those who work for the state automatically ineligible for membership in the kingdom of God or able to prepare for the coming of Messiah.  And in this context, we must remember that tax collectors were despised by the people and seen as sinful, as no doubt were the soldiers who might back them up and do their own predatory practices against the people and prop up the hated occupiers as well.  John the Baptist's focus is redemption, and the preparation for a Messiah who will be capable of offering the remission of sins.  Therefore his preaching is perfect preparation for Christ Himself, who will not be counted with the rebels like Barabbas, but who will offer a different sort of Kingdom for the remission of sin, and a different sense of justice.  What John preaches instead is righteousness, and personal righteousness, the responsibility to do what is just in one's own life.  He preaches a personal responsibility to God, even among tax collectors and soldiers of the Roman state.   He preaches loyalty to God.  To be a child of Abraham is to be like Abraham, loyal and obedient to God, and humble before God, aware of where one is asked to go and what one is asked to do in this dynamic relationship of love.  To be a child of Abraham is to bear fruits worthy of repentance, to take on personal responsibility for our place before God, not a slogan and not a political solution to all evils.  John's baptism is a not a collective effort, but one that recognizes the heart and soul of the individual as the place where the preparation for the kingdom of God must take place.  It is a sense in which justice and righteousness must exist within a person first, a right responsibility to God.  Let us remember that at the time described in the historical setting, there were all kinds of rebels and rebellious sects seeking to overthrow the Roman rule, but this is not John's preparation for the Messiah.  John tells them "do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' "  It is not pride in ancestry that saves, but rather a clear focus on the knowledge that it is God who creates God's children, a living and dynamic communion.  Let us consider in our own hearts, and our own time, what this means for us.  What does it mean to take on righteousness as a personal expression of our place before God?  What would it look like to be a true child of Abraham, one who is prepared to leave all to follow where God asks us to go, and what God asks us to be?  What is it to take full responsibility for righteousness, and not a political side or a slogan?  These questions remain important, in every generation, just as every generation -- as my study bible says -- and each person in it, must consider what it means to bear fruits worthy of repentance.

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

 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

Yesterday we read Jesus' final words in the High Priestly Prayer in John chapter 17:  "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, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.   Luke gives us the historical setting, pinpointing an date in which these things took place.  The sons of Herod the Great rule Galilee and other regions.  It was an ancient prophecy of Jacob that the Messiah would come when a king ruled who was not from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).  Herod the Great was a non-Jew calling himself the king of Judea at the time of Jesus' birth.   In actuality, Caiaphas was the sole high priest; however, people recognized the continuing power of his father-in-law Annas.  Annas was a previous high priest deposed by the Romans.  The lectionary begins our readings in Luke here, but earlier chapters have told us about Zacharias and Anna, the parents of John, and their relation to Mary, Jesus' mother; also about the birth of Jesus.

And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins . . .   John behaves characteristically as a prophet, giving a call to repentance which was traditional for prophets.  His baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but prefigured and prepared people for he baptism of Christ which was to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  John, says my study bible, is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit (literally, "put away") sin.  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.'"  John quotes from Isaiah the Prophet (Isaiah 40:3-5).  In John chapter 1, the Baptist declares himself to be the voice crying in the wilderness (John 1:23). 

"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 can help impart piety and holiness, ancestry itself doesn't make a person worthy of God.  Rather, each person in every generation must bear fruits worthy of repentance.  Stones, it says,  symbolize the Gentiles would would become children to Abraham through faith in Christ (Romans 4:16-18).  See also 1 Peter 2:5.  John warns of judgment in the coming of the Lord.  Having just read through the lectionary readings in John, we recall Jesus' words in the farewell discourse about the sending of the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who will "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (see John 16:8-11).  In our next reading, John the Baptist will allude to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the connection to the judgment of Christ.

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."  Here are the teachings of justice, and they reflect the understanding of the Law.  All who come for repentance are instructed by John in acts of repentance, in preparation for judgment and the coming of the Lord.  These teachings remain instructional for all of us.

John fulfills his prophetic role as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord."  We have to think about what it means to "make His paths straight."  In a very strong sense, there is a kind of timelessness and seamlessness to the early chapters in Luke.  Time seems to fold and bend and reflect upon itself.  It's not clear what time period begins when.  Ironic it is that Luke sets down so carefully the worldly historic period of his Gospel and the events in it, because interwoven in these events are great periods of time that seem to constitute one time.  Isaiah prophesied of the voice crying in the wilderness in the eighth century before Christ.  John the Baptist comes calling himself that voice, prophesying the coming of the Lord.  And the Gospels go on to tell us about this life of Jesus.  But John's words will also allude to the Holy Spirit, even as Jesus told the disciples more explicitly about the coming of the Helper in the farewell discourse in John (see chapters 14-17, beginning with this reading from last Monday).  But somehow, all is interwoven.  Jesus will come as fulfillment of the Law, and thereby the things that John has to teach those who come to him to learn about repentance still apply and still make good sense to us.  Christ initiates a time period in which the Holy Spirit will come, to "convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" and we still live in this ongoing period in which all of this is happening -- but how often are we aware of this "fire" of the Holy Spirit that is at work in all of us and all around us?  John will teach in tomorrow's reading about this fire.  But the patterns of warning and prophesy, the coming of the Lord and Christ's revelation of both Himself as Son and the presence of the Father, His teaching about the sending of the Helper and the Helper's work in the world, all blend into one.  These moments of revelation are all present with us here and now.  They don't belong only to the past or to a fixed date in historical time.  That is the nature of revelation; it brings into the world something that is eternal and always present with us.  But we, in each moment of our time, have time to reflect and to understand and to recollect what these truths are and what they mean at each moment in our lives.  In such an understanding, each moment can serve as period of reflection, just as the tax collectors and soldiers and those who come from Judea and the whole region ask John what they shall do.  So we, with even greater revelation at our hand, ask what we should do.  The eternal is present with us in Father, Son, and Spirit abiding with us, and the communion of saints which includes the Baptist.  Each moment serves as portal to remind ourselves and to understand, and to consider our role in this great story of God's love for us.   In the words of Saint Peter, what does it mean to be a "living stone"?