| Malachi 3:1-4 – See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.
Luke 1:68-79 – Zechariah. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
Philippians 1:3-11 – I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
Luke 3:1-6 – John the Baptist: As written in the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord.’"
Having Luke 1:68-79 as a reading/canticle in lieu of a psalm gives me permission to rummage around a bit in Luke’s first few chapters. First, rather than reading the "Song of Zechariah" (The Benedictus) you could use Canticle 2 in the LBW, Hymn 226, 250, or 552 in the ELW, or the Gospel Canticle from Matins on page 303 of the ELW. If I used the Gospel Canticle from Matins, I would have a cantor sing the verses and have the congregation come in on the refrain; but I think that 250 ELW is the most doable. Now, on to things theological…
The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke is the story of Elkanah and Hannah from 1 Samuel 1. As Samuel is the last of the judges and the anointer of kings; so John is the last of the prophets and the forerunner of Jesus. "The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed…" Luke 16:16
 |
| Samuel Annoints David by Maitia Preti |
However, Luke goes to great lengths to show that, unlike Samuel, John is the forerunner; not the anointer. Jesus is in no way dependent upon John’s activity or endorsement. Peter’s sermon in Acts 10 (authored by "Luke") points out, "That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power…" And, of course, Luke does that subtle "textual finesse" in Luke 3:20-21 from which one could conclude, based on Luke alone, that John was already in prison when Jesus was baptized.
The narrative structure of Luke makes the same point:
- 1:1-24 = Annunciation of John
- 1:25-56 = Annunciation of Jesus
- 1:57-80 = Birth of John
- 2:1-52 = Birth of Jesus
- 3:1-20 = Ministry if John
- 3:21-34:53 = Ministry of Jesus
In the narrative, John is always the forerunner. He is always preparing the way; never the One. What does this mean? To me it means – if we can get our heads around this – that very late in the first century (Luke written 95-100 CE?) the disciples of John were still very active and of much influence. It means that there still must have been some intra-Jewish debate going on as to whether John or Jesus was "the One." No one spends that much time and effort to make a point unless there is a point that MUST be made! And it all goes to the truth that we are not reading "objective history" in any modern sense. We are reading theological argument, testimony, and apology wrapped in the swaddling bands of narrative.
 |
| John the Baptist by El Greco |
Finally, people often read the following text as though John needed an answer to a question. No, the truth is that the early Jewish/Christian community needed a question answered,
So John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ When the men had come to him, they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" ‘ Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind. And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’ Luke 8:18ff
 |
| The Kingdom of Heaven
by God Knows Who |
What does this mean? It might be worth exploring, "What detracts us from thinking Jesus is the One?" And, if we do believe that Jesus is the One, from what does he want not want us to be detracted? It seems to me that Jesus is concerned about the kingdom of God. Now when you Google images for the kingdom of God, you get all sorts of pastel gauzy ethereal pictures like this. (I liked this one because it has a unicorn!)
But I find it interesting that the first time kingdom of God is used by Jesus in Luke is when he says, "Blessed are the poor; theirs is the kingdom of God." And check out Luke 17 and the rest of its usage in Luke. The kingdom of God is the upside-down reign of God on earth. But I get ahead of myself…
On to the texte du jour. Just for the record, Lysanias was not ruler of Abilene (circa 40 BCE) during this time; and, to wade into Luke 2:1, Quirinius was not appointed governor of Syria until 6 CE. So much for the "orderly account." Just sayin; let’s be cognizant of what we really have here.
 |
| John the Baptist, by Caravaggio |
I think Luke’s thrust is that, after reciting this list of who’s who on the world’s stage of political and economic power, "the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness." The word of God shows up where least expected. This is a theology of the cross: that God is often most present where God seemly ought to be most absent. And this fits well with Luke’s message about the Gospel going to the least, the lost, and the lowliest.
One of my favorite verses is from Acts 17:6, "When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city authorities, shouting, ‘These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also…’" The Gospel of Jesus Christ is turning the socio-economic pyramid of the Greco-Roman world upside, down. Give a listen to "Canticle of Turning" based on the Magnificat; 723 ELW.
Luke then rolls out a more extensive quote from Isaiah 40 than Mark uses, ending the citation by adding Isaiah 52:10. Point? Again, in the midst of the intra-Jewish Lukan question, "If Jesus is Messiah, then what about the Gentiles? What about people that ain’t like us?" The resounding answer comes: "All flesh [sarx] shall see the salvation [soterion] of God."
 |
| John the Baptist, by Valentin de Boulogne |
(This also gets played out in the genealogy in Luke 3:23-38. Matthew’s genealogy traces Jesus’ line from Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. However, Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus’ lineage back to Adam, the father of all people, and to God, the maker of all things.)
A word about "the salvation of God." In Luke, being saved – experiencing the soterion of God – does not equate to "going to heaven when you die." The salvation of God, the salving power of God, is about wholeness, healing, dignity, integrity, freedom, restoration to community, and all sorts of other "fleshy" stuff. As Krentz suggested in last week’s post, Jesus’ vision for his ministry and the kingdom of God is laid out in his inaugural sermon at Nazareth,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’
Of course, after that sermon they tried to throw him off a cliff. The kingdom of God – once stripped of ethereal pastel gauziness – is not always a very popular idea; at least not to those that are on the upside of down. (Like me!)
And so, these Baptizer texts for this week and next are exciting and more than a bit terrifying. There is a voice crying in the wilderness of the world. The Lord is coming. Jesus is coming. The One is coming. He comes bringing his kingdom with him and there will be a whole new world; sooner or later, a whole new world. It’s "Olly, olly oxen free! All come home!" But, will there be room at the inn? |
