URC Daily Devotion 26 November 2024

St Luke 3: 1 – 20

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, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,as 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.
Every 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;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”’

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.  Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’

And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’  He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’  Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done,  added to them all by shutting up John in prison.

Reflection

I wonder if Luke is having a little joke at this point in the gospel, as he describes John’s threats of unquenchable fire as ‘proclaiming the good news’!  But if we read back a little, Luke quotes Isaiah, implying that John is the voice crying out in the wilderness, promising that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

In politics and public affairs people sometimes talk about ‘flying kites’ or ‘rolling the pitch’.  A story might make it into the newspapers that ‘No. 10 sources are considering such and such a change’ – and depending on how the idea goes down, it might die a death if Ministers judge that overcoming opposition wouldn’t be worth the effort – or it might get developed further.  Alternatively, in order to make the case for a change that might seem unpalatable, leaders might spend time underlining the problems with the status quo, and explaining why apparently easy options don’t work, so that a later reform proposal isn’t coming out of the blue.

What is John’s role in the gospel story?  We may be used to hearing readings like this in Advent, with a strong emphasis on preparing for Jesus’ coming.  But are we diminishing his message to merely pitch-rolling?  The vision Luke quotes from Isaiah goes further than just ‘doing the right thing’, despite John’s answers to the tax-collectors and soldiers – Isaiah sees the whole landscape being reshaped!  If this is what John means by bearing ‘fruits worthy of repentance’, then what fruits should we be bearing?

Prayer

Lord, we give thanks for your servant John.
We remember that people who remind us about right and wrong don’t always please the powerful.
Help us to hear their challenge, 
and bear true fruits of repentance, 
that in our lives we may reshape the landscape of our world
that your people may come closer to your kingdom.
Amen