Listen, man, or Son of Man as you call yourself, we’re thinking you need a little help here. You are such a novice at this sort of thing. Like when you tried to launch your message. What were you thinking using that weirdo JTB, a guy who worked out of a limestone desert, as your advance team?

Desert Wilderness

Ok, think about it. Sure, John the Baptist was not your usual influencer. But given the political climate, it was likely good strategy to locate away from the Roman ruling party. Tiberius Caesar was no guy to mess with, and the rest of the rulers, Pilate, Herod Antipas with his brother Philip, and Lysanias, knew better than to allow popular figures to last very long.

Factor in also that John was clearly seen to be a prophet. Somehow though, the religious powerbrokers missed that memo. Whereas his parents were from ancestral lines of priests, JTB walked away what could have been a good life and position in the Temple to sweat it out in the wilderness and preach from there.

Again, this is shrewd. The people were ready for a new movement. Rebellions had sprung up from time to time, but none were successful in getting the Jews out from under the strongarm of oppression. From their heritage, they remembered that in these places of extreme solitude, away from how the way world usually works, God was known to appear and lead them.

Yet, what they heard from John the Baptist was different. From this place, separate from the rest of the world, their vulnerability was exposed. Danger was heightened for you never knew what might be blurred in the blinding light of day or lurking in the deep shadows of the night. In these places, people had no choice but to learn a new dependency on God.

Ok, so the crowds did come out to see what he was about. Not that his message started out as heartwarming. Evidently he was a shouter. That certainly added to the circus, we’re sure. But he seemed to have in mind what people needed to hear.

Prepare the Way

John’s proclamation though was not feel-good, you’re trying your best, and everything is going to be ok. Parroting the old scriptures with high energy may make for an emotional ride, but it doesn’t last. People need what they can hold close and carry away with them.

JTB delivered what God had done, was doing, and continues with more. Not a stagnant, hear this and go home message. The movement the people hoped to see happened, lived, appeared in, came to be and upon them in the prophet’s message from God.

“Prepare!” he called to them. “Make the roads straight and smooth!” It was a call to get ready. When great rulers and sovereigns were traveling, the people would clear out the rocks and fill in the potholes that not only made a ride easier but also travel faster. The people were looking for someone to come, and this someone they’d been waiting for a long time. Of course, they would want him to get there as soon as possible. Thus, they were even willing to go all the way into the desert wilderness hoping the wait would not be long now.

Granted, that works. Out there in the middle of nowhere, the multitude would see there was a need for better infrastructure. Let the setting reinforce itself in the context where they were standing. Good move there. Let them get to work. Here’s though where things start to get messy. This guy who is as bizarre as they come tells people they need to change? What’s this, a do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do line he’s feeding them? Run, guys, run! This dude is going to lose it big time!

“Repent!” That’s a loaded word for sure. Yes, it was the center of his message, but it had meaning beyond the surface. Oh, they’d heard this enough in their familiar religious settings. But he asked for something besides just being sorry for the mistakes of life.

It wasn’t because they had not followed the restrictive, life sucking tenants of the law their priests had put on them. To repent means to turn from, reverse in your heart and soul the false values, insidious thought processes, the lies, and injustices in which you rest your life and lifestyles. Repent of all the ways you have failed to love God with all you’ve got in mind, body, soul and strength. Acknowledge how you have not loved both neighbor and enemy as you have loved yourself. Move out of this hopelessness in which you live and turn to new ways of thinking, living, even loving.

Prepare a new road in yourself that will lead to something better. See ahead the beauty, justice, truth, and dawn in a new day.

Again, nice. Take the old message, (you say they had heard this before in their ancient writings?), and reframe it, make it mean more. They have something new to wrap their minds around. That’s good for you, Son of Man. You can build on that kind of thing. If only he’d stopped there. No, your friend (distant cousin? that makes sense), really stretches it out from there.

Baptism

Repentance means there will be a change, and to be baptized required a physical change, a move from desert place to a river known as the Jordan. Around rivers there is life within the water and along the shore. Rivers provide hydration, a cooling of the bodily core after arid heat has burned your skin, and a soothing flow of current to massage the physical frame. With immersion in the water and rising out of it comes a sense of renewal, a cleansing from what life and choices have laid on you.

Preparing to live in straight smooth roads of life, repenting, and turning from the old ways brings revitalization. Forgiveness and acceptance by God rest in that cleansing with a sense of rebirth. It’s ongoing work.

Peace in Turmoil

All right, but let’s bring this home. Two thousand years later, hope is thin. Political upheavals, almost daily, have drained us of too much. The road we’ve traveled has thrown us curves no one saw coming. Wildfires, flooding storms, droughts, and now the start of bitter cold have us ducking for what’s to come next. Just when we thought we’d gotten through the worst of what might happen, personal challenges of health, family, security slam and give us another steep mountain to climb. God, this is a rough road we’re on.

Right. Life is uncertain. So prepare for it. Keep your eyes wide open for what might still happen. Repent and give up what brings you to that which sinks you into despair and hopelessness. Allow God to wash over you in expectation of new understanding even in this too-long season when turmoil is the new normal.

The prophet’s vision extends beyond this time and place. This Son of all Humanity is Son of God whose life brings a redemptive love and power. Make ready, reverse, and live it.

What never recedes is this promise of peace:

When it seems the worst could or has happened, that’s when God shows up.

Luke 3:1-6

The Trouble with Jesus: Considerations Before You Walk Away by Constance Hastings Available wherever you get your books or Click Here to support local independent bookstores!

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