Gotta Get The Message

This is the time of year when we always bring up John the Baptist. John, the announcer, the promotor, the musty, dusty, rustic looking guy who knew probably more than any Jew or holy person in the Middle East, that something amazing was about to happen, and we all needed to get our acts together, to be ready for a huge change in our spirits, our philosophies, our faiths.

Luke sets the environment by naming who was in charge in the neighborhood. He makes clear that it was the 15th year of Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, his brother was ruler of the region of Ituraca and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was ruler of Aibelene, all during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. Most of these would be participants in the life of Jesus. But people didn’t know that at the time. They only had John, son of Zechariah, who was wandering in the wilderness when he received the word of God. That meant John immediately needed to get on the road and visit all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming the need for a baptism of repentance, asking God Almighty to forgive all the sins of men and women as he anointed them one by one with water from the river Jordan.

No one really knows HOW or WHEN John the Baptist stepped away from his home and began to tour the area, cleansing people willing to be cleansed of their sins, and teaching them that there was someone greater than he, than any man, than any king, prince, pharaoh, ruler, who was about to appear along the banks of the River Jordan.  Somehow, he knew these things. Somehow, God had poured into John what was about to happen, and God trusted him sufficiently to be the messenger, the one who would open the pathways of cities and towns to create baptism in the waters of rivers, (and eventually little cups of holy water blessed and crossed to the young and old alike as the ages walked by.)

John the Baptist, whose image was a little off kilter with the norm, his attire and hair and appearance were not one of status or class or correctness. But if one is going to live in the forests and deserts, which were probably unbearable, then he dressed for the occasion and didn’t worry about his wardrobe or appearance, hoping the people who counted, who understood the baptism by water as a way of cleaning out the soul and the spirit, of getting a fresh start in doing things right. He seemed to not have been bothered by his attire. In fact, it was sort of a way to identify him for those who had heard about John and who wanted to be gifted with his baptism, it didn’t matter what he looked like. Simplicity was primary. Anyone could come to him and not be worried about appearance, sins, or problems, nothing that might have thrown them in jail if it were part of the hoy poloi of the government. John had no fear of living and wandering in the wilderness. Well, there really were wildernesses isolating the world with giant stones and desert dust and only a few palm trees dropping coconuts and dates now and then. If you go to the River Jordan, you are not shaded by trees. You are hot as you can be and a dip in the holy water would solve a whole lot of problems.  I can see them shedding their sandals and rustic robes, the sands of the deserts, but no placards protesting or pronouncing like we often see in movies or our own confused and violent streets today.

John the Baptist was older and set in his ways and beliefs, but he knew he was a messenger beside Baptist to open the eyes and ears and hearts of the frustrated, confused and rejected,  to open in their hearts and hopes, kind of like sins that needed to be discarded and cut out of sore places, because times were changing and God, Yahweh, the Father and Maker of us all was on them, with them, and calling them to righteousness. Isaiah had shouted out “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

I don’t know if they knew him as father before Jesus His Son arrived - whether they could consider the three Triangle. It was sort of a scary, very powerful spirit that few saw (like Moses) but all feared and knew they could be punished for sins and misalliances and mistakes. Already the prophets had opened the door. There had been warners about what was to come, though most didn’t pay attention, but those peddling on the streets that a Savior was coming, so get self together.  Time was a wastin’!

Remember that Isaiah had warned them that every mountain and hill would be made low, and the crooked should be made straight, and rough smooth, and all flesh - every human being and animals too - would see the salvation of God. So, get ready. Get one’s soul cleaned out of sin and hatred and all that was negative, because through this man, John called the Baptist, they could be pardoned and saved through baptism, either by water or by spirit. God never forgets his people on earth. God never gives up on us either. We are so very blessed!!

 ~ Rev
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