Your Light Has Come

Isaiah 60: 1 - 5 (January 3, 2010)

1) The Text

60Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. 3Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 4Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. 5Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

2) The Context

This book can be divided into two (and possibly three) parts. Chapters 1 to 39 were written before the exile, from about 740 BC to about 700 BC. These were difficult times for the southern kingdom, Judah: a disastrous war was fought with Syria; the Assyrians conquered Israel, the northern kingdom, in 723 BC, and threatened Judah. Isaiah saw the cause of these events as social injustice, which he condemned, and against which he fought valiantly. Chapters 40 to 66 were written during and after the Exile in Babylon. They are filled with a message of trust and confident hope that God will soon end the Exile. Some scholars consider that Chapters 56 to 66 form a third part of the book, written after the return to the Promised Land. These chapters speak of hope and despair; they berate the people for their sin, for worshipping other gods. Like Second Isaiah, this part speaks of the hope that God will soon restore Jerusalem to its former glory and make a new home for all peoples.

Chapters 60-62 are the heart of the third section of Isaiah (56-66). The community of returned exiles struggled to believe that God was still working in their midst (see Where is God? Isaiah 59:1-21). The promises recorded in the second section of Isaiah during the exile (40-55) pointed to a great future for God’s people (see The Turn Toward Hope: Isaiah 40:1-15). They had regained possession of the land as promised. But they were barely existing. The community of God’s people was in no condition to be a light to the nations (42:5-7).

Throughout these chapters, prophetic interpretations of actual historical events are interwoven with visionary descriptions of the working out of God’s purpose in history. The language in this chapter is highly poetic, painting a glorious word picture of the restoration of Jerusalem (note Micah 4, Ezekiel 40). The exact setting of the chapter is not certain. Historical events unfolding in Israel during the fifth century BC likely provide the background for the passage (see The Unity and Authorship of Isaiah).

3) Interpretation

Scripture readings for Epiphany include both this passage and Matthew 2:1-12 (i.e., the Three Kings visiting baby Jesus). The name Epiphany comes from the Greek verb epiphaino, which means ‘to appear, give light’. The noun means ‘appearing, appearance, or coming’, and the adjective ‘glorious’. No ordinary appearance is indicated but one that brings light, both literally and metaphorically, in theological terms ‘revelation’ of some kind.

The feast of Epiphany is associated with the visit of the wise men from the east who have come to Judea in search of the new born king of the Jews. They have observed his star or portent at its rising. His coming has been ‘revealed’ to them, and in the star light has literally shone forth. We can, therefore, see why this passage is set for Epiphany. It is also understandable that the Old Testament reading set for Epiphany is today’s passage which begins ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come’, and continues telling of the glory of the Lord coming upon the people. Lots of light and plenty of ‘seeing’ fill this passage.

More broadly, Isaiah 60 is concerned with the glorification of God’s house, the temple, in the new age. The chapter is addressed to the city of Jerusalem, which is here pictured as a woman forsaken and hated but who is now promised a new, restored life. This woman will be adorned and have her children restored to her (cf. Isa. 49:14-26). The chapter moves toward a crescendo, building up an image of great glory coming to Zion. After an introduction (vv. 1-3) the chapter divides into three sections, each ending with an aspect of the praise of God.

The image from Isaiah is not dissimilar to that given in the story of the wise men in Matthew’s Gospel. That story stands at the beginning of the Gospel to point the way to the end; to reveal at the start that Jesus is the king who has been awaited, and that in him a new light has dawned. But just as the wise men do not understand in the story at first what that means fully, so we do not fully understand it until we hear of the sign above Jesus on the cross. His kingdom is not of the type we might normally expect, one marked by power, strength and authority. It will in the end be marked by a cross, a tool of oppression and injustice meant to indicate failure and rejection. As we read of the crucifixion we are reminded of the wise men’s testimony and hope, and we read with new insight.

Isaiah’s story is like their story. It points to a truth which will shape how the events to follow will be understood, a truth that will help the people of Judah and Jerusalem face disappointment and hardship. Isaiah’s wonderful vision of the light coming, the light which in the end is the Lord himself (v. 20) helps maintain their hope, and shape the way they will live their life. The story of the birth of Jesus the Christ can easily be seen in and of itself as an end, an end of the waiting of Advent, the coming of the one expected. It is just that, for Jesus is Immanuel, ‘God with us’. But it is more. It is itself a light that points us toward another end, the fullness of the kingdom of heaven as Matthew calls it and it helps shape how we live our life toward that end.

4) Thought Exercise

In what way did new light come to you this Christmas season?

How can this light shape your life in the year to come?

Prayer and Persistence

Luke 18: 1 - 8 (December 27, 2009)

1) The Text

18Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” 6And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

2) The Context

This teaching on prayer follows directly on Jesus' teaching on the coming of the Son of Man. Here, Jesus instructs his disciples with a parable, a story to make a spiritual point. Luke reveals the point of the parable in advance: "that they should always pray and not give up" (18:1b). The word translated "always" is Greek pantote, "always, at all times."[1] The word "prayer" is the common Greek word proscheuomai, "to petition deity, pray."[2] Jesus is teaching continual prayer, again and again, rather than continuous, non-stop prayer. To "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2:13; 5:17; 2 Timothy 1:3) is to pray repeatedly, time and again.

I've heard Bible teachers say that once you've asked God for something that is displays lack of faith to ask for it again, since you ought to believe you already have received it (Mark 11:24). But Jesus teaches clearly that we are to continue to pray until we receive the answer. That continued pray is not a sign of little faith, but of persistent faith.

The danger is that we get discouraged and quit praying. The word translated "give up" (NIV) or "faint" (KJV) in 18:1 is Greek enkakeo, "to lose one's motivation in continuing a desirable pattern of conduct or activity, 'lose enthusiasm, be discouraged,' "[3] from en, "into, entering into" + kakos, "base, wrong, wicked."

3) Interpretation

Through his parables Jesus disturbed the comfortable and comforted the disturbed. Parables are stories that would seem to point to an obvious conclusion, but then jolt us by an unexpected ending. In the parable of the Good Samaritan the priest and the levite were the obvious people to help the man who was left half-dead by robbers. However, it was not them but the despised Samaritan who did the caring thing. We would expect the good Jesus to associate with good people and shun sinners, but instead, we find him associating with and including sinners. Through parables, Jesus upsets us by challenging conventional wisdom. He so upset the leadership of his time by his stories that they eventually had to eliminate him through crucifixion.

The parable in today’s gospel is particularly intriguing as it is itself capable of being turned upside-down. It is introduced as a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart. It tells about an unjust judge who had neither fear of God nor respect for people. In the same town there was a widow who kept on coming to him saying, “I want justice from you against my enemy!” For a long time he refused but at last he said to himself, “maybe I have neither fear of God nor respect for people, but since she keeps on pestering me I must give this widow her just rights, or she will persist in coming and worrying me to death.”

The normal interpretation is to say that as the unjust judge heard the widow because of her persistence, and not because of the merits of her case, so too God will hear us if we persist in our requests. We find a strong endorsement in the story for our prayers of repeated petition.

My seminary scripture professor pointed out a few difficulties with this interpretation. Is it not a bit strange to identify God with the unjust judge: to identify God with someone who has no concern for justice? Is it not strange to promote an understanding that petition is answered because of nagging God into action without any concern for the content of the petition itself? Is it not true that in the Old Testament, and in the Bible in general, God identifies frequently with the widow and the orphan? So, he would have us turn the parable upside-down and interpret it in this way.

We ourselves are the unjust judge who neither fear God or respect people. We are dominated by our egos and generally looking for what is in it for us. We are really stubborn in our self seeking. But God is persistent in love for us. God is the hound of heaven who wears us down, like the widow, by persistently pursuing us. Eventually, we wield and let God enter our lives and guide us to do the right thing. In this interpretation we see God as persistent in trying to break down our defenses. We see prayer as allowing this pursuing God to enter our lives and challenge us to change our self destructive behavior.

I much prefer this second interpretation because I think it gives us a better picture of who God is and of what prayer is. The spiritual life begins with God’s gracious gift. This gift often comes in strange wrappings. Sometimes it comes in a sermon or a religious book. More often it comes through a difficulty, failure, sickness or maybe a widow that comes to us looking for help. The gift comes from a God who is humble, who knows truth but who does not coerce us into accepting him or his gift.

To pray continually and to never lose heart is just to be in an attitude of openness. It is having no predetermined demands to make on God but to be continually ready, alert, and listening to the demands that God may be making on us. Christian meditation is this kind of prayer.

4) Thought Exercise

Reflect on the following questions this week. Take one area in your life and place it in God's hands. Make the same petition every day. At the end of the week, look back on your petition, not for an outcome, but for the way the petition affected you.

First, is our prayer petition centered on ourselves or upon God's will? In other words, are we willing to seek God's will in our lives? Only then, we will be able to sustain faith.

Second, if our prayer petition is centered on God's will, do we have the persistence to pray constantly for his will? Is our faith strong enough to trust God with an unknown future?

Third, are we willing to patiently wait for God to act? Will we remember that God sometimes acts at the last minute, but always the right time?

Reversal of Fortune

Luke 1: 39 - 45 (December 20, 2009)

1) The Text
39In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

2) The Context

This gospel reading precedes the Magnificat, or Mary’s Song, said or sung today. An angel has appeared to Zechariah in the Temple, and later the angel Gabriel has come to Mary. Zechariah has been told that his wife Elizabeth will bear a child in her old age; Mary has heard that she will bear a son to be called Jesus and “Son of the Most High” (v. 32), of God. God will make him a king of David’s line; he will rule Israel for ever.

Now Mary visits her “relative” (v. 36) Elizabeth. A scholar tells us that the Greek words translated “with haste” (v. 39) can be rendered very thoughtfully. In telling us that “the child” (v. 41, John the Baptist) “leaped” in Elizabeth’s womb, Luke intends us to understand that John recognizes his Lord, Jesus. Elizabeth’s reaction, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is to praise Mary.

V. 43 translates a Semitic idiom: today Elizabeth might say: How can I be thought worthy of being visited by the mother of my Lord? V. 45 portrays Mary as the model believer: she trusted that God would keep his promise made through Gabriel, preposterous as it sounded.

3) Interpretation

The assumption here is that these passages, as in other parts of Luke, are more than simply the recounting of historical event. While there is no question that historical event lies behind the narrative, the theological message of Luke lies more in how he tells the story, in what shape he gives to the events, and what aspects of the tradition he emphasizes. As such, we need to follow the story and listen carefully to the texture of the narrative as it unfolds and as it engages us in the journey that will wind from Bethlehem to Nazareth to Jerusalem, and on to Rome and beyond.

A sense of impossibility, of endings, of dead ends, is a major feature, not only of Luke, but of the entire Gospel tradition, because in the theological confessions of Scripture human impossibilities, human endings, human dead ends are only the arena in which God works possibilities, new beginnings, and new paths!

At that very point of barrenness, as often happens in biblical narratives, Zechariah was confronted with the messenger of God and given a wonderful promise of something quite extraordinary that would unfold, the birth of a child who would fulfill a special role in bringing newness not only to Zechariah and Elizabeth, but to the entire world. The narrative then moves to the Annunciation (1:26-38), in which a similar promise of newness is given to Mary. She will also bear a special child who will play an even larger role than John. While Mary is not barren, she is a virgin, which underscores the impossibility from a human perspective of any of this happening.

The result in Luke’s narrative is clear: the whole focus of the story now revolves around these two women, one old and one young, both powerless, and a new future that each represents. Why does Luke, uniquely among the four Gospels, bring these two women together in mutual celebration?

Introducing the theme of the reversal of fortune serves to place the impending births in the context of a reordering of the world. This anticipates not only the immediately following features of the narrative, for example when shepherds are the first to receive the news of a Savior born in the city of David, but also the role of the new community of Faith that is emerging in the world.

With this expression of the Advent in terms of subversions of power, of the reversal of fortunes of the weak and hungry and oppressed, there is clearly a call to the early church to participate in this subversion. That does not mean a call to militancy of any kind; but it means a call to live out the implications of accepting a God who defines Himself in terms of the weak and oppressed, who has chosen to work in the world among lowly handmaids and barren women. It is not that we must work to earn such newness as much as it is, like Elizabeth and Mary, to believe the newness and embrace it as a defining characteristic of what it means to be faithful to God.

To embrace this newness is to confess with Mary in joy, faith, and submission that "the Mighty One has done great things for me." It is to acknowledge that the powers of this world are not the powers that matter most, and that God is the great leveler of all human structures of power that oppress and control. It is He who brings down the exalted and elevates the lowly. We are called to nothing less than to view the world in terms of that potential of God’s ordering of worth and value, not in terms of our own ordering of worth and value.

4) Thought Exercise

Where in your life do you look for a reversal of fortune?

Where in the lives of others can you help facilitate a reversal of fortune?

The Way of Love

Philemon 4 - 7 (December 13, 2009)

1) The Text

4When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God 5because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. 6I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. 7I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

2) The Context

Philemon is the shortest of the epistles written by Paul. He sends Onesimus, a run-away slave and recent convert to Christianity, back to his master carrying this letter. Paul does not address the general question of slavery as a social institution, but he does plead with Philemon, on the basis of love, to take Onesimus back and treat him as a fellow Christian. Many centuries later, it was on this same basis that slavery was abolished in Western societies. While the ideas are the same as in other epistles, here we see Paul being delicate and tactful. At the time of writing, Paul was in prison - probably in Ephesus.

Although this appears to be a personal letter to Philemon, a slave owner, it is also addressed to “the church in your house” (v. 2). In the first century, the Christian community gathered at a member’s house. It is likely that the letter was read during worship. Paul writes not using his authority as an apostle (as he does in other letters) but as a “prisoner” (v. 1). (Perhaps “Apphia”, v. 2, was Philemon’s wife and “Archippus” his son.) It opens as letters usually did: from Paul, to various addressees, followed by best wishes (v. 3). Paul wishes “grace” (the Greek greeting) and “peace” (the Jewish) as well – from God.

This opening is followed, in verses 4 and 5, with a thanksgiving for news of Philemon's generosity. Paul thanks God because of Philemon's faith (rather than his faithfulness) in Christ, and its inevitable consequence, namely, his love of the brotherhood. Paul often used the word "saints" to mean his fellow Jewish believers, but here Gentile believers are probably included.

The meaning of verse 6 is difficult to arrive at. Translators add the "I pray" to make sense of the text. If Paul is picking up on the thought of prayer in v4, his prayer is for a living out of Philemon's faith ("sharing" here means fellowshipping, not witnessing). By living out faith in Christ, the believer grows in their knowledge and this leads to a closer union with Christ. The reading ends with verse 7. Clearly, Philemon has given practical care to the "saints" in the past and so now Paul recognizes his charity. Many have been "refreshed", encouraged and comforted through his love.

3) Interpretation

The Way of Love

In exercising leadership, we usually rely on people management skills and charisma. Very rarely do we rely on the type of management criteria applied by Paul in his letter to Philemon. Of course, Paul could have relied on his trump card and made his request to Philemon an apostolic command. Yet note, in the opening verse of the letter Paul has left out his usual title, "apostle". Paul does not make his appeal on the basis of his authority. So, on what basis does Paul make his appeal? He makes it on the basis of love. Love allows a request to be made and accepted. So, Paul makes note of Philemon's love and it is on this basis that he later makes his appeal, "I appeal to you on the basis of love", v9. The love upon which Paul made his appeal is Christian love - brotherly love, the love of the brotherhood.

Such love is a bonding union between the individual believer and Christ, and the individual believer with other believers. It is a care, a compassion, for the needs of other brothers and sisters within the framework of the fellowship of believers. Such compassion finds its dynamic in God's compassion toward us in Christ.

This quality of love, this divine characteristic, this ultimate compassion, is a special kind of loving. Such love images the nature of God, for "God is love."

We can describe this love in the following ways:

Christian love is not a sensual love, it is not sexual, yet it is like passion, but without the need for sexual union.
Christian love is not the love of a friend, yet it is like friendship, but without the need for compatibility.
Christian love is not the love of family, yet it is like family bonding (blood is thicker than water), but without the need for common genes.
Love should be the prime motivator for leadership or service. Hormones wane, interest declines, obligations are soon forgotten, but love endures forever, growing stronger and stronger.

Christian love motivates us for Christian service. It is not a tool for manipulation. When we encourage others to serve Jesus, let it be for the kingdom of God, and not our own little kingdom. The business of living in the world is the responsibility of each individual. The rule-of-thumb for survival in the world is you get back what you put in. Yet, mutual ministry in the Christian fellowship depends on another criterion. Our appeal to one another is best done on the basis of divine love, of God's love for us enlivening us to love.

Getting things done for the kingdom is best done through love.

4) Thought Exercise

In what ways can we demonstrate the Christian love described in this passage?

Is this a way to build heaven on earth?

In-Between Time

Luke 21: 25-36 (November 29, 2009)

1) The Text

25“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

29Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 34“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

2) The Context

While we typically live with a fairly linear view of time – one event coming after another – the church's liturgical and lectionary calendar is cyclical – patterns of events repeating themselves. For this reason, the church year that begins in Advent puts in front of us passages about the end of history before moving in later weeks to prepare us for the coming of the Christ child and the dawn of a new age.

The message recorded by Luke in this passage greatly resembles the scene in Mark on which it is probably based (13:24-37). The subtle differences, however, offer a picture of the circumstances of the Christian community Luke is addressing. In particular, it is clear that Luke's community is also wrestling with the question of time or, more accurately, timing. In particular, the question at hand is when the promised return of Jesus and consummation of history will occur. Whereas Mark seems to tie these events to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Luke – writing nearly two decades later – distances the promised end of history and the Temple's destruction. Luke is, in fact, down right vague about when Jesus will return, refusing to offer any hint of a timetable. Instead, Luke asserts that, just as budding fig leaves unmistakably herald the advent of summer, so also will the signs of the coming kingdom be transparent to the Christian community. The emphasis therefore shifts from when these things will happen (21:7), to the proper disposition of the discipleship community (21:34ff.).

3) Interpretation

Apocalyptic texts often come across as alien, strange, even off-putting. Truth be told, whatever worries we may occasionally harbor about nuclear or environment holocaust, most of us express little day-to-day concern about the end of the world and even less about Jesus' second coming. In this respect, we may feel that we live at a great distance from Luke's audience.

At the same time, we are as intimately acquainted as they were with the challenges presented by waiting for an event that seems late in coming. We may be waiting for an event on a national or global scale like economic recovery, an end to war in Iraq and Afghanistan, or concerted international action to reduce pollution. Or we may be waiting an event on a personal level like the results from a biopsy, a letter from an estranged child, or the safe return of a loved one from a tour of duty. Whatever the case, we know the challenge of waiting, the stress of waiting, the anxiety of waiting.

In this context, Luke offers us a perspective that, while it will not remove our waiting, it may affect its character. We live, according to Luke, between the two great poles of God's intervention in the world: the coming of Christ in the flesh and his triumph over death. In this regard we should not forget that these verses serve as the hinge between Jesus' teaching and his passion – and the coming of Christ in glory at the end of time and his triumph over all the powers of earth and heaven. This "in-between time," though fraught with anxiety, is nevertheless also characterized by anticipation and hope as both the beginning and the ending of the story of the Church – and therefore of our story –which has been secured by Christ. We are therefore free to struggle, to wait, to work, to witness – indeed to live and die – with hope because we know the end of the story.

From Moses to Martin Luther King, Jr., history is full of examples of those who, because they had been to the mountaintop, had peered into the promised land, and had heard and believed the promise of a better future, found the challenges of the present not only endurable, but hopeful. We, too, amid the very real setbacks, disappointments, or worries of this life, can "stand up and raise [our] heads" because we have heard Jesus' promise that our "redemption draws near."
Anxiety and anticipation do go together. They are two reactions to a life under pressure. But one sees only darkness and despair. The other sees light and hope.
We can never fully predict disastrous events, but we can prepare for them. We can live a high moral life, as if tomorrow does matter. And we can pray for the strength to live through the darker days. Ultimately we can live as if Jesus is fully present. We can live with hope fully present.

4) Thought Exercise

Choose one area of your life that makes you anxious. How can faith turn your anxiety in this area into anticipation?

How can God give you hope?

Repentance

Luke 3: 1 – 6 (December 6, 2009)

1) The Text

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

2) The Context

The chronological data of these verses reflects the conventions of Greco-Roman historiography as well as a pattern found in some Jewish prophetic books (Jer 1:1-3; Ezek 1:1-3; Hos 1:1; Isa 1:1). Luke seeks to place his "orderly account" (Lk 1:1) within the context of "world" history. In addition, this writing, addressed to "Most Excellent Theophilus" (Lk 1:3), places the events within the context of the rulers and times (and some historiographic forms) that Theophilus would know. It is likely that he was some type of Roman official.

What is the significance of this information? First of all, it indicates that the historical context was important to Luke. Secondly, I think that Luke tries to show to Theophilus (and all Roman rulers) that Jesus and the Christians were not subversive to Rome. The charges that Jesus was putting himself up against Caesar were created by Jesus' enemies (see Lu 23:2; compare to 20:21-25). Thirdly, Luke seeks to speak in a form (language) that Theophilus will understand. He places his Gospel in the form and in the historical context that will make sense to his audience.

Finally, in contrast to previous passages, Luke pulls out all the stops and names not just one or two historical figures to anchor his story, but rather lists seven leaders both secular and religious. Along side this august company, John is nothing, the son of a small town priest. Further, he is nowhere, out in the wilderness. But readers of the biblical saga will recognize that this is the setting for prophecy, as it is to this John, rather than to the mighty, to whom, as Luke narrates simply, "the word of God came."

While Luke gives less attention to John's garb or diet than Matthew or Mark, he nevertheless also sees him as a – and perhaps as the last and culminating – representative of the Old Testament prophets. He was of priestly lineage on both sides of his family (1:5), is named by the angel Gabriel as having the spirit and power of Elijah (1:17), and fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah (3:4-6). Similarly, John, moved by the word of God, plays two characteristically prophetic roles: (1) He calls for repentance and, indeed, proclaims a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and (2) he also precedes, prepares the way for, and foretells the coming of the Messiah, the one who is the salvation of Israel.

In this way, John serves as the hinge of history, drawing to a close the age of the law and the prophets and inaugurating the age of redemption when, in the words of John's spirit-filled father, "by the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us..."(1:78).

3) Interpretation

When was the last time something that didn't make sense catch your attention? Did its image have contradictory messages? Humor and advertising have something in common. Both rely on contradiction to make a point. The humorist will take a commonly shared experience and will look at it in a new way. Voila. The contradictory nature of the experience is laid bare. Everyone laughs because they see the absurdity though the eyes of the humorist. The same is true with advertisements. Place two contradictory images together, according to the logic of the advertiser, and the public will stop to look.

Before the public appearance of Jesus, a hermit preached in the desert. The preaching and the place created a sign of contradiction and a way to catch the imagination of the people.

Luke presented a contrary sign as proof of God's activity: a cryer of news in the desert. A news cryer was an urban activity. People gathered in the marketplace to hear the news from the traveling cryer. But, the desert (literally, deserted areas) was no place to announce news of import. Such a place hid many dangers and traps. Only the hermit endured such environs. Yet, the combination of the two images (cryer in the desert) recalled the Exodus experience and the prophetic tradition. If there was a place to hear news from God, it was the desert.

John the Baptist stands out in the scriptures as a person who knew where he was and where he wanted to go. It is interesting how Luke tells us that John was "preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." Baptism is not so much done, as preached or proclaimed. Luke also tells us that the substance of this proclamation is the gospel. The gospel proclaims that in the face of the coming day of judgment, forgiveness, and thus, acceptance by God of the sinner, is available to all those who repent.

On the surface, it seems that repentance is an act of turning away from self toward a life of neighborly care. Yet, the substance of repentance is certainly not good works. Repentance is a turning to God for mercy and acceptance. It is something the sinner does in search of salvation. Repentance is the cry: "Lord have mercy on me a sinner." Only then, having received God's mercy, can we respond by showing mercy.

4) Thought Exercise

How do you seek forgiveness?

How can we use God’s mercy to show mercy?