Matthew 14:13-14 SOLITUDE

Yesterday we read about the last moments of John the Baptist’s life. And even as I read of his last moments and actually took time to think about that tragic death, I felt a tinge of sadness. This world can be cruel and the innocent die all too often. And if you, like me, find yourself wondering how Jesus reacted to the news of his earthly cousin’s unjustified execution, Luke tells us: “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” Jesus chose to get away and be by himself for what seems to be a time of reflection and prayer.

That’s one of the ways to react to such heart-breaking news. I remember a few years ago when I received a phone call at the office of my former congregation that my older brother had passed from this life suddenly and unexpectedly. I walked into the darkened sanctuary and just sat there by myself for a while. As bad as my heart ached, there was something comforting about that solitude. It gave me a change to cry – to pray – to remember.

I certainly don’t pretend to understand why Jesus got on that boat and went to a deserted place to be alone. Just because I felt that need for solitude certainly doesn’t give me a deep insight into our Savior’s thinking at that moment. But I can’t help but wonder if Jesus sat there in that remote location and mentally relived some of the special moments that he had shared with this man he called cousin, but whom others referred to as “the Baptizer.” Did he think about going out in the waters of the Jordan and having a debate with John as to why John should go ahead and baptize him instead of vice versa? Did he hear the echoes of the voice of the desert-dweller crying out: “Prepare the Way of the Lord,” or when he shouted: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Or did the Lord chuckle to himself about times they shared while they grew up and families visited – memories that we aren’t privy to at this point?

In any case, the solitude didn’t last long. It rarely does for us, and it certainly didn’t for Jesus. The crowds tracked him down without giving it a second thought that he might want more time to grieve over the death of his cousin and friend. And yet Luke tells us: “When Jesus saw the large crowd, he had compassion on them.” There was work yet to be done. Though it is no stretch to say that Jesus was saddened by a world where a “righteous man” like John meets a violent end (think of the weeping that Jesus displays later at the death of Lazarus in John 11), he knew a couple of crucial realities that helped him move on and continue the mission before him. First, Jesus knew that John was even now living in the presence of the living God. The executioner’s blade could not sever the relationship that John had with the Lord he served. Second, Jesus had come to confront those powers of darkness cast from sin and Satan’s shadow. Were he to stop at the grave of the Baptizer, and refuse to move on with the things he came to accomplish, how could the unholy trinity of sin, death and the devil ever be defeated?

And so Jesus greeted the crowds with compassion and his healing power. He refused to cower to the powers that be among both the religious and palace powerbrokers. He knew that one day, he too would face arrest and the wrath of those who held a grudge against him. There would again be manipulations toward a sentence of death. He too would stand before this same Herod who would again revert to his drunken banquet ways – seeking entertainment more than truth. He too would face a violent end. It would be nails instead of a sword. But in the end, Life would prevail. Darkness would not conquer the Light. And the “Word that became flesh” would be “the Lamb of God who has taken away the sin of the world” and reigns forever (Rev 5:12).

Mark 6:21-29 MANIPULATED

Yesterday we explored the background that helps explain the events we encounter today. John’s been thrown in prison. He spoke out against the King, and even though Herod felt pressured to arrest him, personally he’s been sparing his life because he believes John is a righteous man (even if he doesn’t understand the spiritual truth that he has preached to him). Herodias, Herod’s illegitimate wife, has a different – more violent plan for this desert-dwelling baptizer.

These two wills collide at a birthday bash for Herod and all his palace buddies. (This of course was before the more recent advent of Monday Night Football to hang out with the guys.) Instead Herod and the boys are eating a lot and drinking even more in the banquet room. And in comes the entertainment for the evening – Herod’s own stepdaughter, who proceeds to dance for all the guests. (We have no certain knowledge of the exact dance style she used, but the context would imply it wasn’t a well-clothed version of Swan Lake.) Her movements to the music appear to be of a more sensual nature and capture the attention of the male guests.

In any regard, Mark tells us that her dance “pleased Herod and his dinner guests.” The fact that young lady was his own stepdaughter didn’t seem to phase Herod in the least. At this point he wasn’t thinking straight. Between the wine and how shall I say it – the rush of certain hormones, rationality gave way to a toxic mixture of pride, power and animal instinct, and he found himself taking an oath to the in-house exotic dancer, saying: "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you. Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."

When Herodias’ daughter, came to her mother and repeated what Herod said, Herodias was quick to seize the opportunity and devise a plan to take care of her hated prisoner. She carefully rehearsed the words that her daughter would take back and announce before Herod and all his inebriated cronies. So she returned to the banquet turned raucous party, looked her step-father in the eyes, and said, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter.”

The moment those words gracefully rolled off the dancer’s tongue with ease, they slapped Herod out of his drunkenness and in an instant he knew that he was trapped. What would he do now? He had made a vow to give her whatever she requested. He didn’t want to execute John, but how would he explain his refusal to all those gathered around him? To not grant her request would make him appear to be a weak and spineless ruler, and that kind of news would spread not only throughout the palace court, but pour out into the streets just as quickly. Yes, he would gain the support of the masses who believed John was indeed a prophet. But what good was that? They had no power – no influence. He did the calculations in his head quickly. He would be publicly emasculated and in his estimation, there would be no recovery.

Long story short, though he realized he had been manipulated like a puppet, backed into a corner, and trapped by his own lack of wisdom, he succumbed to the “realities” of the situation (or at least that’s what he told himself) and gave the order to have John beheaded. (See why I didn’t include this as the devotion for December 24th?) The end result was that John, the man chosen to prepare the way for the coming of Christ, met a violent end at the hand of King Herod Antipas. (I guess you could say like father, like son – see Matthew 2:13-18 for Herod the Great – Herod Antipas’ father – and how he tried to do away with the infant Jesus.) It’s amazing how the evil one (or those modeling their actions and intentions after the evil one) can manipulate us into things we can never imagine doing. But John clung to the One who is “greater than the one who is in the world.” When we live in the light of Christ, we begin to see the devil’s maneuvers and instead, follow the leading of the Savior who trampled over the powers of darkness. When we do, we find ourselves maturing, rather than being manipulated; growing instead of giving in; moving forward instead of looking back.

Mark 6:14-20 GRUDGE

As we begin this last week of December and move toward the new year to come, we shift from having a “John the Baptist” Christmas into a time of endings and beginnings learned from the rest of John’s story. To be honest the next couple of days don’t really fit into the celebratory tone of Christmas week.

As we had read a few weeks back, John had been put in prison by King Herod – a different King Herod than the one who reigned at the time of Jesus’ birth. It was King Herod the Great who ruled over Judea and Galilee at the time that Caesar Augustus was issuing his decree of taxation and the magi were journeying from the east to see this child who was born King of the Jews. It was Herod’s son, Herod Antipas who now threw John in prison because the desert preacher continued to condemn his illegitimate marriage to his own brother’s wife – a woman named Herodias.

It is Mark’s Gospel that sheds more light on John’s arrest, incarceration and subsequent condemnation. According to Mark, there was division in the palace’s master bedroom on the fate of John. On the one hand King Herod obviously wasn’t happy that John was publicly calling him down in front of the thousands who came out to hear him preach and be baptized in the wilderness. Such condemnations among a morally conservative nation like Israel were a political liability to his reign. On the other hand Mark supplies us with the interesting detail that Herod actually protected John in prison because “he knew him to be a righteous and holy man.” In fact Mark goes on to tell us that while John’s passionate words “puzzled him, he liked to listen to him.”

With this being the case, how does John go from religious and political prisoner to yet another martyr for the faith? Enter Herodias – the above mentioned illegitimate wife of Herod Antipas. It’s clear that she liked her exalted status as queen, and was furious that some backwoods self-proclaimed prophet had the nerve to air her dirty laundry for all Judea to see. The key phrase that clues us in on what’s about to go down in John’s story is when Mark writes: “So Herodias nursed a grudge and wanted to kill him.”

Now I’m going to gently tread water here and bring my wife into the subject for a moment, because if I say what I’m about to say, I’m sure I could be accused of being yet a “male chauvinist pig.” But in talking with my beautiful, intelligent and very much female wife about this very subject, she gave her opinion that while women may not typically be as outwardly aggressive as men, they really know how to nurse a grudge. There she said it. It may match my experience as well, but I’ll gladly defer to her obvious expertise in all things womanly.

And if it is indeed the case that this grudge of Herodias is key to what’s about to happen, then what does that leave us to say about Herod Antipas? I’ll use my own observation here and say: “Herod was whipped!” The truth of that statement is about to be played out at an upcoming birthday party. Herod will back himself into a corner and be masterfully manipulated by the very woman to whom he has pledged his love. There will be a moment when he must make a key decision – a life and death decision – and at that very instant, will he stand for what God wants or the “god-substitute” whom he has married and allows to have more influence in his life than any other? We’ll find out tomorrow. In the meantime, we might want to ask ourselves: “Are we listening to the true and living God in our lives, or the god-substitutes of our culture and their lies capturing more of our attention and allegiance?

John 1:6-9, 15-18 AFTER

On the one hand, after a month of preparations, you may be ready for it, but on the other, there’s a bit of sadness that accompanies every step. But it’s time to get those boxes out and start putting those decorations away. It’s time to carefully remove the ornaments from the tree and unwind the lights from the branches. It’s time to go to the mantle and remove the nativity figurines one by one – including baby Jesus and put them back in the tub to wait until next December.

Get the idea? Another Christmas is done. And whether the decorations come down on the 26th or the 31st or you try to navigate it in between bowl games on the first of the new year, they are coming down. I won’t even try to sell you on the twelve days of Christmas that was a part of the Church’s true celebration of Christ’s coming (running from the 25th through January 5th), long before it was best known for its seemingly never ending song about geese a-laying, swans a-swimming, golden rings, French hens and a partridge in a pear tree.

Let’s just work with the culture around us for the background of today’s devotional thoughts. We have moved into the AFTER Christmas season. We’ve unwrapped the gifts, sung the carols at the services, consumed far too many Christmas cookies and food in general, welcomed and said goodbye to friends and loved ones, and survived the whole holiday rush (well sort of any way). Now it’s after Christmas and we’ll be returning to the “normal” life we live most of the other eleven months of the year.

So what do we do with this whole “John the Baptist” Christmas we’ve talked about over these past three and a half weeks? Do we simply put him away along with Advent wreath and leftover Christmas cards? It may not come as a surprise to you that my answer to this question would be “no.” In fact I believe we need this “John the Baptist” Christmas more than ever on December 26th and beyond. After all, at just six months old, John wasn’t even known as “the Baptizer” yet as the time of our Savior’s birth. On that holy of holy nights oin Bethlehem, John was just John the six month old cousin of Jesus (although I’m certain that Zechariah and Elizabeth still referred to him as their little miracle baby).

So John’s life calling to be “a witness of the Light” didn’t really get started until long after the stable was commandeered for a make-shift birthing room and the manger converted into a crib. And so all these aspects we’ve talked about to prepare for a “John the Baptist” Christmas are never meant to be lived out during the month of December alone. These are all characteristics of what it means to live as a follower of this Savior “who conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried, He descended into hell, The third day He rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

In other words, there is an AFTER – an important AFTER. And we live out this AFTER as our “John the Baptist” Christmas becomes a part of our “normal” lives in January through December and then do we do it all again. We live in the AFTER!

Note: Though it won’t be a called a “John the Baptist” Christmas next week, I’ll be sharing one more week of devotions to tell the rest of John’s story in the Bible.

John 1:1-5, 10-14 WONDER

John’s Gospel (the disciple of Jesus – not the baptizer) begins so majestically – so cosmologically. Instead of Mark’s Gospel that begins so quickly, Matthew’s Gospel that begins so genealogically, and Luke’s Gospel that begins so methodically, John gives us the big sweeping picture that ties together Genesis - with all it’s dazzling displays to of the Creator – with a humble arrival of that Creator come in the flesh of a baby lying in a manger in the remote town of Bethlehem.

And yet in the middle of John’s poetic telling of how the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, there is the baptizer named John (though we’ll technically dig deeper into those verses tomorrow). John the Gospel writer uses simple word pictures like the “Word” or the “light,” and yet these words were packed with meaning far beyond their common usages we tend to think of in our own experience.

And when you tie the grand imagery of the Apostle John with the work and mission of the John the Baptist, what you end up with is one simple word: WONDER. First of all I find myself WONDERing how much this baptizer named John, who spent his ministry seemingly somewhat isolated, could have understood John the Gospel writer’s first verses of the book of the Bible that shares his name. If the wilderness preacher had read the first fourteen verses from the first chapter of John, how much would he have understood? Would he have grasped that the Word who was with God, and was God, was Jesus? Would he have connected the light that gives light to all humans, with Jesus as the Light of the World – God’s Son come in the flesh? Or would much of these verses simply have flown right over the locust-eating preacher’s head?

Now I’ll admit that if we simply try to answer those wonderings of mine from these same fourteen verses of John’s Gospel, we’d have our opinions and your answers to those questions might even answer mine, but I’m not sure they’d have solid Biblical backing. So let’s move beyond these fourteen verses to other sections of the Gospel writers telling John the Baptist’s story, and I believe we can significantly to this discussion.

For example in both Matthew’s and Luke’s telling of the beginning of John’s public ministry, John the Baptizer says: "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16 but Matthew 3:12 says basically the same thing). And then further into the first chapter of John’s Gospel, John the Baptizer cries out: "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' (John 1:29-30). A man who comes after me (Jesus is born six months after John, but he was before me – because John understands Jesus is God’s eternal son.)

What all this tells us is that John the Baptist would not have been puzzled by all this “Light of the World” or “Word became flesh” talk at all. Instead he would have responded in the same way that God desires us all to respond - with WONDER. No longer are we talking about our random or not-so-random thoughts and questions, but we’re talking about marveling at the story of God’s sending of His Son to be our Savior. To have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to get swept up in that very WONDER.

Luke 20:1-20 THERE

Okay, so I’ve never seen one. But I think I’ll come up with a way to create one. I realize that this may not be an easy task. I’ve never even seen what I’m looking for and that could be a problem. You have your angel, shepherds and magi (always three, but that’s a whole different story) and of course Mary and Joseph – all with necks and faces bent to look down at baby Jesus lying in the manger. But where’s John? I have yet to see a manger scene with John waiting in the wings – getting ready to begin his life’s calling to “prepare the way for the Lord.”

Of course if I manage to find some way to add John to the nativity set that I place on the mantle over my fireplace, then I’d have to add John’s parents - Zechariah and Elizabeth – considering that John was only six months old at the time of Jesus’ birth. And I’m sure that having a second infant present would only confuse nativity sets around the world. And then there’s the small detail that Zechariah, Elizabeth and the six month old little baptizer weren’t physically present in Bethlehem the night that the angels sang to shepherds and the Son of God came to be among us as He was born of the Virgin in a stable “because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Even with all that aside, I know that John was THERE. He may not be cast as a nativity figurine, but he was there nevertheless – not in physical terms, but definitely in terms of the plan of God. As the Father and Son knew from before the creation of the world that humans would choose the death of sin over life with God, there came the plan that one night in Bethlehem there would be a young maiden who would give birth to a her firstborn, who would also be the Father’s only-begotten son, come in the flesh. And in that plan to rescue a lost and rebellious race, there would be a forerunner who would point to his coming when it was time for a public ministry among these lost and rebellious humans. And we have been invited to open up the book and read that story and in doing so – to learn that this forerunner’s name was John. He was there. He was (and is) part of this incredible true tale of how a merciful God would not turn His back on his sinful children, who in their desire to be god, didn’t even want to acknowledge Him as their Heavenly Father.

But this whole idea of John being there shouldn’t really surprise us, because I would propose that you and I were THERE as well. No, I’m not suggesting that you take a small picture of yourself and paste it on the face of one of the shepherds or magi – though that would be kind of cool too. What I mean is that we are ultimately meant to be a part of this unending story of God’s salvation. When the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14), the truth of the matter is that He came for you and me as well. We are part of the reason that He was wrapped in tattered cloths and placed in a feeding trough. You are I are part of that of lost and rebellious human race He came to save. Maybe we should write a Christmas edition of the great spiritual song, “Were You There”? Because to have a “John the Baptist” is to realize that we don’t simply read about the Christmas Story, we are part of it. We live because Christ-With-Us is the reality from which we receive life now and life forever.

John 3:26-30 LESS

Less. Now there’s a word you don’t hear very often in December. Can you picture a child writing Santa and saying: “When you come to my house on Christmas Eve, can you bring me less presents than last year?” Can you imagine the advertising gurus down on Madison Avenue getting together and coming up with a ad campaign promoting buying less this holiday season? And personally I can’t ever recall myself standing in front of the dessert table at Christmas get-together and saying, “Now remember, my goal is to eat less Christmas goodies than I did last year.”

Nope – “Less” has a hard time making a living during December each year. Now January – that’s a different story. People across the country are opening January credit card statements and mumbling to themselves how they wish they’d spent less on the presents that Santa didn’t supply. I join the ranks of millions of Americans who decide that eating less come January is a necessity to make up for the holiday season of big meals and sweet treats. And the advertising gurus of Madison Avenue? Well they are the sly ones. They make their living in January with commercials showing us how to spend more to eat less. But any way you look at it, “less” is not an easy word to sell.

John the Baptizer can tell you that first hand. He takes the word “less” to a whole different level as he responds to the jealous complaints of two of his disciples. The new Gallup Poll was out and it showed that Jesus was now the number one draw among the people of Judea and Galilee. The stream of people who used to be headed out to John was significantly less, while the people going to hear Jesus was significantly more. This rise in popularity had certainly caught the attention of John’s disciples and now they were there ready to hear yet another fiery sermon from the one they called “Rabbi” (or Teacher). But that’s not what they heard coming from John’s mouth. He talked about the role of a best man at a wedding and how the best man doesn’t get jealous that the groom gets more attention than he receives. Then at this point, John spoke the words that had to have hit his disciples hard: “He must become greater, I must become less.”

Talk about something that is hard to sell among us humans. When it comes to our self-centered natures, “less” is definitely a four letter word. Unless you’re talking about less self-control or faith or Jesus, our sinful hearts consistently and aggressively go after the word “more” as if it were second nature to us (which in reality – it is!) We love linking words to the word “more.” How about: “more power,” or “more pleasure,” or the ever popular “more money?” But “less” of me? That would go over about as well as selling swimming pools and patio furniture in December in Cleveland.

But that is exactly what John is talking about with his two disciples. And it leaves me asking myself (and through this devotion – you) this question: “What if we took seriously a ‘John the Baptist’ Christmas where it’s all about Jesus becoming greater among us and through us, and less of you or me? I really believe our celebration would look a little different, and in fact, I think we’d experience more of the love, hope, joy and peace that Christ came down to earth to restore in our lives. I can’t answer for you, but I find myself praying for “less” me this Christmas, and a “greater” dose of Him.

John 1:29-37 BEHOLD

One of the sections of Scripture where I personally prefer the King James or New King James version of the Bible over other translations (besides Psalm 23 and Luke 2:1-20) is in this very section of the first chapter of John. For example the NIV says: “Look, the Lamb of God …” while the NKJV says: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

I’m sorry, but in the context of what’s happening at this moment in the life of John and Jesus – and for that matter the whole human race, “Look” just doesn’t get it. This is a time that definitely calls for a “Behold” if you ask me. You can use the more common and mundane “look” for a variety of experiences in our lives. “Look, there’s a squirrel climbing across that power line,” or “look, at that platter of Christmas cookies,” or maybe even: “look, doesn’t that snow bank look like DaVinci’s “Last Supper?”

But “Behold?” It’s a way of making it crystal clear that we’re pointing to something that doesn’t occur on the average day. This is something to cast our eyes upon that pushes the edge on the significance meter. This is something to burn in the memory banks so that when asked: “where were you when you heard John introduce Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world?” you’ll be ready in a split second with your answer.

We have a lot of “look” moments each Christmas. “Look, I’m about to plug in the lights on the Christmas tree for the first time this Christmas” – only to hear a few moments later: “look, half of that light strand isn’t working.” Or your teenage son saying, “look at what great aunt Bertha sent me for Christmas,” only to be followed up by his mom saying: “Look honey, I’ve never seen a crocheted Frosty the Snowman sweater – complete with three dimensional top hat and stuffed carrot nose. You can wear that to school on the first day back.” There may be a time or two when you hear, “look at who sent us a Christmas card. We haven’t heard from them in years.”

But what are the “Behold” moments will we have this Christmas? Does it only happen if you have a big red bow wrapped around a brand new car in the garage? Or does it take some “Walton-like Christmas miracle” of making it home through the blizzards before it qualifies? Or does it take a small filled ring box, a bended knee, and a special moment of nervous popping the question in order to make the “Behold” list?

I would suggest that we can also gather together with family and friends and share a “John the Baptist” Christmas moment as we listen to this powerful voice from the past as he once again cries out: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” And then we can build on that “John the Baptist” Christmas “Behold” moment as we do what two of John’s disciples did after hearing those words spoken that day near the banks of the Jordan. They began to follow Jesus and to find out for themselves what John meant when he gave him such a profound title. I’m sure they viewed it as a “Behold” moment for the rest of their lives (and the next). Wouldn’t our new year look and live differently if we came out of this Christmas with a new love for this “Behold” moment and made it a part of how we lived and loved in 2009 and beyond?

Luke 7:31-36 WISDOM

“Everybody’s a critic.” “Just do something.” These are phrases that we often hear in our culture that seem quite divergent from each other, but in reality are very much connected. And then there’s the heading of “Wisdom” for this devotion. How does wisdom fit with the other two? But bear with me for a minute or so before you take out your critic’s pen.

In terms of being a critic of everyone and everything, we are a society where Monday morning brings a variety of self-proclaimed experts who knew (or at least claim to have known) what the coach should have done, or the president or should have done, or -you fill in your favorite blank here – should have done. We have web sites set up to give out the “everyone’s a critic” award of the week. And certainly the proliferation of blogs have only expanded the ability of any one of us to gripe to the whole world about whatever ticks us off at the moment. (Side note – see my other blog at ilikecomplaining@selfabsorbed.com to see what I’m talking about – just kidding – well sort of.)

In this respect, the religious elite of John and Jesus’ day were way ahead of their time. They had this whole God-thing figured out to the nth degree. And it was to this stubbornness of heart and mind that Jesus now turned his attention. These were the same group of Pharisees and Sadducees who had come out on a so-called fact-finding tour into the wilderness to hear John preach (Matthew 3:7ff), But in reality, it was just an excuse to go and assure themselves that they were right in their preconceived notion that John was a self-deluded fraud. Now they were quickly getting the hang of rejecting Jesus in the same way (see Luke 5:17-26).

So Jesus begins by pointing out the inconsistency of their reasoning on this whole matter. When John came – he came living out that Nazerite vow of not drinking wine and basically possessing a personal make up that favored a more serious side of the faith. Therefore the religious leaders claimed he was too much an ascetic or as we might think – a gloomy Gus in his behavior. On the other hand, Jesus was being accused of being a party-guy, because he was known to drink a glass of wine and hang out with an element of society that these holier-than-thou types lumped together and labeled as “sinners.” In other words, when it came to how John and Jesus acted, neither could win with these guys. That’s the point of the whole illustration: “I played the flute, but you didn’t dance; I sang a dirge, but you didn’t cry.” Nothing – or at least nothing but criticisms was all that Jesus and John would get from them.

As Jesus points out the inconsistency of their arguments, what he is really doing is making it clear that there’s something in common behind both rejections. What it really came down to is captured in the verses right before this section. In verse 30 it says that these religious leaders “rejected God’s purpose for themselves” and wouldn’t be baptized. Have you ever heard much sadder words: “they rejected God’s purpose for themselves”? They reasoned that since they had this whole system of religion figured out, who was John or Jesus to tell them anything different. They weren’t about to listen to these pretender preachers. So they’d do nothing.

But other lives were being changed. There was a new direction and new hope springing up among the people who repented and recognized that God was doing something incredible here. Christmas was arriving and they embraced it with all their hearts. Or as Jesus put it: “Wisdom is proved right by all her children.” In other words, to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to realize that “Wisdom” has come in the flesh and is walking among us in the person of Jesus the Christ. So there’s a time to sing and celebrate and a time to weep and sing the sad songs. There’s a time to put your faith into action. There’s a time to demonstrate wisdom.

Luke 7:24-28 IMAGE

The images of Christmas are many and varied in their nature. We think of the religious images of Advent wreaths, a star of Bethlehem, or the many manger scenes with all their figurines – including a variety of baby Jesus’. But in our culture the list of images have grown over the years to include Christmas trees with a seeming endless variety of ornaments, lights of every sort, bows and tinsel, Santa figures and reindeer, and the list goes on and on.

But the image we’re talking about with this John the Baptist Christmas is of a different sort. Jesus uses two in this section of Luke’s account. Having sent John’s disciples away with a response for the now captive baptizer, Jesus uses these illustrations to describe the man who prepared his way. These two pictures are not meant to be damage control from a public relations “spin doctor.” They were images – spoken from his heart – which Jesus used to describe John. Both were framed within questions to get the people engaged and thinking about what this prophet from the wilderness was all about in his life and mission.

Jesus asked: What did you go out in the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?” It’s a rhetorical question of sorts and the obvious answer for anyone who had more than a cursory knowledge of John was: “NO!” He was definitely not a guy who was about to be swayed by public opinion or whatever is considered fashionable by the current culture. John was a force to be reckoned with because his strength and message were drawn from a God who says of Himself: “I the Lord do not change.” (Malachi 3:6 – Note: Malachi 3:1 is the verse that talks about sending a messenger ahead of the Messiah to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.)

Then Jesus continues with a second image and a second set of questions: “What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes?” Again the obvious answer is: “No way!” John was not selling out his beliefs to make a fortune in the religious game. He was a man of integrity – a prophet who spoke when God moved him to speak. He didn’t care who he was telling either - obviously not since he was in prison at this very moment for taking on King Herod publically over his relationship with his own brother’s wife Herodias. Both of these images say one thing about John. He was a man whose public and private life portrayed a consistency of faithfulness to God.


So in the midst of these questions posed to the crowd concerning John, a question is implied for each of us to ask ourselves. What image fits us in terms of our celebration of Christmas? When it comes to the birthday of Christ in the middle of a culture intent on removing the power of the story of Christ and replacing it with a Santa-like, commercialization of this “holiday,” are we a reed swaying in the wind? Are we content to cover ourselves with the finest that Macy’s, or J.C. Penny has to offer, and fail to order our lives around a child wrapped in “swaddling clothes?” If a photographer were to follow any one of us around and fill up a memory card with our moment by moment celebration of the Lord’s birth, which image would he or she say best captures the essence of how we relate to this Babe of Bethlehem? To have a “John the Baptist” Christmas centers on an image of each human bowing down on our knees and looking into that manger and worshipping our Savior. I find myself praying for knees that bend and a heart that worships.

Luke 7:18-23 FAITH

You can search these six verses and the word “faith” is never used, but it’s at the heart of every sentence. Although Luke’s account of this incident in the life of John doesn’t make it clear, the parallel telling of this story in Matthew 11 lets us know that John was still sitting in prison. As Luke 3 also told us, Herod had thrown John in jail for daring to speak out against his soap opera-like life and unholy union with his own brother’s wife.

In the meantime the public ministry of Jesus has been growing exponentially. The crowds are coming his way in even bigger numbers than John had experienced. Just previous to this, Jesus had healed many – including a Roman Centurion’s servant via long-distance (at the soldier’s request). Then in the town of Nain, Jesus had raised the only son of a widow. In other words, Jesus was the talk of the town now. And where was John? He’s behind bars for being a faithful prophet and denouncing the public sin of this unbelieving king.

That’s the backdrop to the sending of two of John’s disciples to see Jesus and ask him a question. The baptizer honestly wanted to know: “Are you the Christ or are we to expect another?” Considering that John is the same one who had previous declared Jesus to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” we may legitimately ask the question: “What’s going on here?” The most reasonable answer is that John is struggling with his faith a bit at this point. He had to be thinking: “Something’s not right. Jesus is going all over the place performing miracle after miracle, and here I am – incarcerated for faithfully proclaiming God’s Word? This isn’t fair. Why doesn’t Jesus use his power to spring me? Wouldn’t I be more effective in pointing others to him outside these prison walls?”

Given the circumstance, aren’t these the same kind of questions we would ask in the same situation? In fact, aren’t these pretty similar to the kinds of questions we ask when our life situations seem to run counter to our expectations? Some Bible commentators argue that John wasn’t having doubts, but a few of his disciples were, and so he sent those same disciples to Jesus to have their misgivings surgically removed by the Divine Healer. But I don’t buy that line of argumentation. I believe there were plenty of doubts to go around among John and his followers. In fact the more I think about it, I find myself wondering if this question wasn’t even as much a question as it was a plea. In its own way, it was John saying: “Hello? Jesus? Just in case you’ve been too busy to notice, just wanted to let you know – I’m still here. A little help would be appreciated.” But maybe that says more about me. I do find that when I’m sending up this kind of question heavenward, they are not mental exercises that I came up with in my meditative times. My inquiries tend to add up to one third question, and two thirds request.

Of course Jesus’ handling of John’s question is also telling. He instructs the two disciples of John to go back and report to him that the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, etc. Here Jesus is not only quoting the predictions of the work of the Messiah (or Christ) as given by the prophet Isaiah, but he’s living that impressive list out each day among the people.

And yet, it was those very miracles that prompted John to ask the question in the first place. So did his question get answered? Yes, but not exactly the way John wanted it answered. Basically Jesus is saying: “Look – I am the Christ and I will do what I have come to do as the Savior, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get to dictate what you’ll face in your life. In your case, it doesn’t mean you’ll get out of prison (or for that matter – that he won’t die at the hands of Herod). But trust me – when it comes to forgiveness and life forever, I will not let you down. So blessed is anyone “who does not fall away on account of me.”

So I for one find it comforting that to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas does not mean that I’ll never have questions or struggle with doubts, but that when I do, I go back and focus on what Jesus has done for me, as well as what He promises to do in my life. After all, isn’t that what living out Christ-with-us is all about?

Luke 3:15-20 POWERFUL

Words can be powerful. John demonstrated that in his life. How else can you explain the reaction of people to his words? These powerful words were the magnet that drew people out from the city to come and hear the Baptizer in the middle of the wilderness. These powerful words were the catalyst of so many being moved to stand in the shallow waters of the Jordan and desire this baptism for repentance. These powerful words put John on the radar of the religious elite and caused them to send out a delegation (a.k.a. spies) to check out this dominating desert deliverer of mesmerizing messages. These powerful words even brought a reaction from the powers that be - even within the government itself. When John continued to call out Herod on the immorality of taking his brother’s wife, even this king responded with seeming equal force and had John arrested and thrown in prison.

Whether you loved John, hated him, or feared him, everyone seemed to agree that he was the bearer of powerful words. His powerful words had to be behind the rumors and wonderings among the masses that John might well be the long-awaited Messiah himself. But it is here that John shows his true power – the power of humility. Such conjecture and speculation could have easily gone to his head, but John would have none of it. Instead he made it clear that the power of his words did not come from some sort of inner strength he had developed and manufactured. In fact, the power of his words didn’t come from him at all. It came from the One who was coming and who was more powerful. John told them that this was the one - “the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” That’s some pretty powerful words in and of themselves. John wasn’t going to take credit for the effects of the words he spoke. He knew better. God had chosen him and sent him with one purpose – not of getting himself elected Messiah, but of truly preparing the way for the Christ who would come and leave people amazed, “because his message had authority.” (Luke 4:32)

Most (if not all) of us may have a little trouble relating to powerful words when it comes to the messages that make their way out of our own mouths. Every parent has had the experience of talking to a son or daughter and then wondering, “Am I speaking in a foreign language here?” Every wife has had the experience of sharing something with her husband, only to end up asking herself if a single syllable made it past the sports commentators or newscasters and registered in the consciousness of the man she loves. (As I husband I can say with certainty that we catch every word – oops I shouldn’t tell fibs in the middle of a devotion on the power of words.)

So to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to realize that we too have powerful words to share. These are not words that we have to create from scratch but a message that has been handed down from the prophets of the Old Testament and one in the wilderness near the Jordan River. It’s sung by angels over a Bethlehem hillside, and shouted by shepherds as they run up and down the streets of the town of David. It’s the message that Christ the Savior is born – that he died and rose again, and will make a final appearing to take all who believe in Him home. And these words are given to you and me as we share what it means to know the true meaning of Christmas. Don’t take them lightly. These are powerful words. Paul says this same thing emphatically in Romans 1:16:

I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

John 1:19-28 IDENTITY

“Who are you?” That’s the question John heard most often as he began his ministry of baptizing in the wilderness. Of course many who asked were interested in his answer – not because they wanted to get to know him, but so that they could label him. The religious leaders were always on the lookout for upstart “prophet” or “messiah” wannabes. And with the attention and attendance John was getting, their move to send out inquirers was predictable.

They had their list in hand as they approached the popular preacher who seemed to have it in for them (although we’re not sure whether or not John’s description comes after Matthew’s version of John calling them a brood of vipers). So the typical questioning included the following:

Are you the Christ? That was the biggie. Ever since Genesis 3 and the promise to the now fallen and found-out Adam and Eve, that there would come a child who would be the Savior, faithful Jews had prayed for and longed for the coming of the Messiah (or Christ). Could the crowds be right, or was this just another guy in the wilderness with a Messiah complex?

Are you the return of the prophet Elijah? Ever since Elijah was swept up in the fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11) and the promise was made of his return to put all things in order (Malachi 4:5), faithful Jews had waited for his return (including the empty Elijah seat at the Passover meal). Could this fiery speaker in the desert who speaks of baptizing with fire, be him, or just another false hope?

Are you THE Prophet? Ever since Moses predicted that God would send a prophet who would open up the hearts of God’s people to His Word in a powerful way (Deuteronomy 18:15,18), faithful Jews had looked for that answer to that promise. Could this one who speaks with such an air of authority really THIS Prophet, or just another hermit style religious fanatic rambling in the summer sun?

And so they asked, but John was not a man who confused his identity. He could answer “No” to each of these popular guesses among the masses who came to see him. But a “no” wasn’t good enough for these reporters from TNN (i.e. Temple News Network). “Then what do you say about yourself?” they demanded, and John obliged them with an answer: “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

John knew his identity. He wasn’t out there trying to fill the vacant position of “Christ” and he wasn’t out there to be a pop star – waiting for the movie of his life to be played out on the big screen. He was a man with a calling. He was fulfilling the Isaiah prophecy and getting people ready to welcome (or reject) the One whose sandals he wasn’t “worthy to untie.”

Yes, John knew his identity – an area we all struggle with at different seasons of our lives. We try on all the typical identifiers that the culture around us asks us to model. We appeal to our ethnic backgrounds, or family make-ups, our current position at work, or our status symbols that we drive or wear or call home.

But to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to understand that our identity is meant to be wrapped up and flow from the One to whom John spent his life pointing the way. To be a son or daughter of the King and to live a life that reflects His. That’s really Christ with us.

Luke 3:7-18 FRUIT

Fruit? John was all about fruit. Yes, I know. He’s the creator of the locusts and wild honey diet craze of the first century – an early precursor of the Adkins diet (there’s no carbs in locusts are there?) No, we’re not talking grapes and apples and figs. We’re talking about a different kind of fruit altogether.

Luke’s account of John the Baptizer gives us a broader understanding of what John taught the crowds of people who were making their way out to hear him in the desert. They heard about the kingdom of heaven being near (Matthew 3:2) and the summary of his message - according to Luke - is that he preached a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” There’s that word “repent” again. John keeps bringing it up. His assessment of the human condition goes like this – we are ALL sinners who need to turn away from our sin and turn toward the God of forgiveness. There is no doubt that John’s message was that we can’t make up for the sins we’ve committed against God or our fellow human inhabitants of planet Earth. The only hope we have is in a God who can forgive us and give us a new beginning. That’s what this baptism of repentance for forgiveness is all about.

But the whole fruit thing grows from a simple question to be asked after all of this. That simple question is: “SO NOW WHAT?” John knew that this Good News he was bringing to the people he was sent to prepare, is more than a simple vacuuming of the guilty conscience or a simple pat-on-the-back to those who are discouraged by their moral failures. It is a complete change of life through a connection to the One who is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

So now what? That’s a legitimate question and John heard it asked over and over again. If you are to summarize his response, it goes something like this. Now that you have experienced the forgiveness and new life given to you by God, your life is meant to be lived differently. John then gives some pretty straight-forward answers to the people who were asking. If we were to look for the common threads in them, the first thing he talks about is being more giving in our lives (for example, the one with two tunics – give one away). The second area he addresses is refusing to misuse or abuse with the power you’ve been given in your life (i.e. for the tax collector only collecting the required taxes, and for the soldiers refusing to exhort money or more from the people who are helpless to defend themselves from them). I’m sure this wasn’t the extent of the examples, but in my estimation, being more giving and content instead of greedy and abusing our power or position (hey, like maybe offering a senatorial position to the highest bidder?) is pretty huge.

So now what? I guess it comes down to this: to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to bear some fruit in this season and all the seasons to come. It may be the middle of winter, but the growing season is year long with this kind of fruit. These life changes don’t come so that we can earn a spot in that kingdom of heaven, or so we can brag about the fruit we’re producing, but only because John is pointing us to the One who is “the firstfruits” of all who live forever with Him (I Corinthians 15:20).

Luke 3:1-6 SMOOTH

We move from the image of stones from which God could raise up children of Abraham, to the jagged stones that made up the interstate system of the days of the prophets and Jesus. As we delve further in the words of John the Baptizer, we turn to Luke’s thoroughly investigated and detail oriented Gospel of Jesus the Christ (see Luke 1:1-4). Both Matthew and Luke build on the words of the prophet named Isaiah, but it is Luke’s detailing of John’s ministry that quotes a bigger picture. In chapter forty of the book that bears his name, Isaiah uses the imagery of a king coming to a distant country, and how the roads to that place must be upgraded before his arrival.

I remember seeing this kind of preparation laid out before our very eyes while Anette and I were living in New Orleans during July/August 1987-88. I was on my vicarage (pastoral internship) and Anette was teaching fourth grade in the Lutheran school there. As soon as we arrived, the buzz was all over city. No, it wasn’t the excitement of having us moving to New Orleans for a year. It was the excitement building (especially among the heavily Roman Catholic population there) around the impending visit of Pope John Paul II that September. We immediately saw what impact the pope’s visit was having on the Interstate 10 that runs from the airport area (close to where we lived) down into the heart of New Orleans. When we arrived in our Ford Escort wagon, pulling a U-Haul trailer behind us, the maneuvering on the roads was tricky to say the least. From New Orleans’ reputation, you might think I’m referring to people driving who have had a few too many Hurricanes to drink (and that happens too), but I’m not. What made it a harrowing course are the potholes on the highway that could swallow a 1982 Ford Escort – trailer and all. But by the time of the pope’s visit, every pothole was filled and brand new sheet of asphalt (or whatever mixture they use in that part of the country to withstand the oven that is New Orleans in the summer). That road was smooth.

But Luke points out that these verses now are fulfilled in the coming of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus the Messiah. John is sent to do some road construction, but not quite the way many would expect. John’s task is not to head up the road crew sent to smooth out the road that Jesus would eventually take from Bethany to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. His calling was to proclaim the Word of the Lord that could prepare the hearts of people for Jesus’ arrival.

When you think about it, these word pictures given from Isaiah and now fulfilled in John’s work are powerful. Listen to them again:

"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
The rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God's salvation.'"

As these words echo again deep within us, it’s time to reminded that to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to have hearts that are prepared for Christ’s coming. It’s amazing that when those self-focused, winding, crooked, rough and jagged roads meet the One the who traveled the road to Calvary for us, the result is obvious … SMOOTH.

Matthew 3:7-12 STONES

John had a fiery personality to say the least. He shared a common characteristic with the prophets who had declared the Word of the Lord before him. He was someone who told it just the way He saw it (or more importantly – just the way God saw it) So when the Pharisees and Sadducees began showing up along with the crowds coming out to see the Baptizer in the wilderness, he wasted little time in going on the verbal offensive. He said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Yep, that course on winning friends and influencing others was really paying off.

At first glance these words might seem a tad harsh to us – especially since John is addressing the religious leaders of the day (not child molesters or drug dealers). Such biting words might even leave us wondering – “Aren’t they all on the same team?” To really get the picture of what’s going on, it might help to remember that the Pharisees and the Sadducees, while outwardly seeming quite religious, all suffered from a major attitude problem. Pride in their own accomplishments and personal agendas ran rampant among them. The more you study this story, the more you realize that their journey out to see John was not from a desire to hear his message, but to gather evidence to support their preconceived judgment that John was not worth listening to in any fashion. They were masters in circular reasoning.

In other words, they were totally closed off from what God had to say to His people – including them. So John took a rather dramatic approach to try to break through their hardened hearts. The “brood of vipers” was certainly an attention grabber, followed by a call to change the direction of their lives and their religion. John made it clear that it was foolish to blindly trust that their relationship with God was based on their genetic line. In fact, John pointed to the stones that lay everywhere in the desert and told them: “

And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'
I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

Like I said, John wasn’t one to mince words. He made it clear that to have a relationship with the living Lord means a life of repentance and turning to the Lord as one’s Savior. Of course, these words appear to have been lost on them and most of the religious leaders simply concluded that John had spent a little too much time out in the desert sun. (In other words, they reacted to him the same way they would soon be reacting to Jesus.

So by now are you wondering if I’m going to tell you that to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas, we had all better sharpen our tongues and let the words fly like stones from David’s slingshot. Maybe we can update the “brood of vipers” talk for something more fitting to the twenty-first century? I don’t think so.

No, I would suggest that to have a “John the Baptist” Christmas is to take to heart what John was trying to communicate. Our relationship with the Savior is not based on the blood line we carry through Christian parents or grandparents. After all, God can still raise up some stones from Northeast Ohio (or wherever you live) to be “genetic” Christians. No, we are called to journey with the God who has taken on flesh to walk among us. That journey involves getting our false pride out of the way through repentance and living in the power and new life of the Savior who died for us, rolled away the stone, and trades our “hearts of stone” for “hearts of flesh.”

Matthew 3:1-6 VOICE

As Matthew quotes the prophecy of Isaiah, so John is described as “A voice of one calling in the desert.” You can’t help but picture a big, booming Moses-like voice crying out at the top of his lungs: “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” Can you even for a moment John sounding like actor Gilbert Gottfried? I certainly can’t. I don’t know who’s voice you hear that voice in your head when you imagine John crying, but I can tell you about the voice I hear in my head. (This is different than hearing voices in your head by the way). That voice sounds a lot like Pastor Ed.

Pastor Ed is a pastor I had the privilege of working with back in my Nashville days. He was a retired pastor who had moved into the area with his lovely wife and he ended up being a member of our church there. He also ended up being a mentor to me. When you’re a young pastor with a lot of passion for ministry, but little patience (and maybe a deficiency in common sense at times), a mentor pastor is pretty well a must (unless you enjoy the hot water you place yourself in with a seeming weekly regularity). Ed has one of those voices. It has a definite bass tone and can reverberate to the back wall of any sanctuary.

Since Ed helped with our traditional service, I would look forward to hearing him read this Gospel lesson each Advent. When he read those words of John the Baptizer, it always grabbed my attention. And that’s a real good thing, considering how many voices are vying for our awareness at this time of the year.

There are the voices of the relentless stream of advertisements thrown at us. There are the voices of over-stuffed schedules with things we should have said, “No” to, but we didn’t. There are the voices of those who are spewing out their complaints about the season, as well as the voices asking for one thing after another from you. There is even the voice in your own head telling you such helpful things as: “I thought this year was going to be different.”

With all these voices around us, how much more important is it have the prophetic voice of John, calling us back to understand the real meaning of the coming of Christ. When we give our ears over to the voice of John, we have a chance to move past the other voices that seek to pull away from the manger, and instead, lift up our own voices in the wilderness we find ourselves in today. While describing the coming of the Christ to save God’s people, Isaiah calls out:

Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops. (42:11)

So raise your voice. The Lord has come. In the middle of this holiday wilderness that has so cluttered this season, that the Christ child is hard to see, let’s have a “John the Baptist” Christmas and announce it to the world. Everyone needs to kneel beside that manger in wonder.

Mark 1:1-8 LOCUSTS

This week we’re going to explore the first three Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) as they give us the most details on the ministry of the one we call John the Baptizer. It is interesting that in Mark’s Gospel, the work of John is mentioned by the second verse of the first chapter, whereas, both Matthew and Luke wait until the third chapter of their respective Gospels to talk about his work out in the Judean wilderness. Mark’s Gospel, is really the “action” Gospel – spending more time on what Jesus did, rather than what he said. It may be for this reason that Mark gives none of the details of what took place in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. The first verse simply says: “The Beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” And then we move into the action of John’s voice calling out in the wilderness to “prepare the way for the Lord.”

There is much to talk about in terms of what John did and said that attracted large crowds out of Jerusalem into the desert. They were drawn to hear what he had to say, and to act upon his powerful message with the baptism for repentance that he offered to them. But before we get into all of those aspects in subsequent days, let’s begin with the characteristics of John that visually make their way into our memory banks. We may or may not remember the key words spoken here: “Prepare the way for the Lord,” but if there is something John is most known for, it would have to be his appearance as it related to his choice of clothing and food.

Ask any Sunday school student who’s been through these lessons a time or two and he or she will give very similar descriptions about John. They might mention the bushy hair on his head and beard on his face. How do they know this? Is it just because that’s how Sunday School lessons picture him? No, there’s more evidence than that for this description. In Luke 1, Gabriel tells Zechariah his son is to be dedicated to the Lord’s service – never taking alcoholic drink. This is called a Nazirite vow (see Numbers 6:1-8 for more details) and says that in addition to the lack of alcohol consumption, no razor was to be taken to his hair. So the kids have that detail exactly right. Next up – John’s clothing. Obviously he didn’t pick out his wardrobe at the Jerusalem Gap. He was wearing the garments of Old Testament prophets like Elijah, but it was also the clothing of those who lived in the wilderness. He wore camel’s hair clothing as his outer garment with a leather belt around his waste.

Finally comes the eating habits of this long-hair, camel’s hair wearing, man of God. It says he ate wild honey, but it’s the locusts that we may find hard to swallow. For some cultures, eating these large grasshoppers are considered a delicacy - but not in ours. We hear this detail of John’s life and we jump to the conclusion that John is a bit odd to say the least. How else can you explain this strange choice of food? It makes us think of the new breed of adventurous TV personalities who travel the world in search of exotic foods – eating things that turn the typical American stomach.

But the reality is that in John’s day this was a common food for the poor who lived out in the wilderness where survival made for some strange food and drink. In fact, locusts were considered acceptable food on the Jewish list of kosher foods. As disgusting as the thought of eating locusts may be to us, it was not his choice of food that made him unique (a.k.a. odd). He simply ate what others around him would have eaten. No, it was his singular and passionate focus on the coming of the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 3:2) that set him apart from others. It was this focus that caused him to live a life of pointing others to Christ. But when you think about it, isn’t that a pretty powerful Christ-with-us way to live?

In fact, to have a “John the Baptist Christmas” means that we live a unique life in the middle of a culture of self-focused, self-indulgent, men and women, boys and girls, all calling out: “Look at me! Look at me!” But we are called to live a life that says: “Look at Him! Look at Him!” And that is a life worth living!

Luke 1:67-80 SONG

Zechariah had nine months of being unable to talk, but that left him with plenty of time for thinking. I know if I had met up with an angel, I might spend more than a moment or two going over every word that this holy messenger had spoken to me. Can’t you picture Zechariah pouring over the words he heard that day in the temple, like a good attorney examines the testimony word by word and line by line? Key phrases kept popping into his mind over and over again. Gabriel said his son would be: “great in the sight of the Lord” and “filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.” He would bring back “many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.” He would “go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children – to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Trust me, words like these were not lost on the aging priest. They were phrases that touched upon prophecies from the prophets of old, and it would appear that Zechariah used these months to explore them once again. Why do I think that? Because in the end, with his voice restored, Zechariah broke out into a Christmas song which had been forming during all those months in his heart and soul. No, it wasn’t a rousing version of Jingle Bells or Santa Claus is Coming to Town or even a candle-lit version of Silent Night. In church circles Zechariah’s song has become known as the Benedictus – a word meaning “blessed” for the first line of the song, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.”

Just like someone who has poured over the promises of God to send the Messiah, Zechariah spends the first half of his song rejoicing over Christ’s coming. He uses phrases and word pictures from the Old Testament like the Messiah being the “horn of salvation from the house of David” – a way of saying that He would have the power to save. Then Zechariah turns his attention to the role that his son will play in preparing the hearts of men and women and children for Messiah’s coming. It’s obvious he has spent time in book of the last Old Testament prophet, Malachi. Contained in this prophet’s four chapters is the prophecy of a Messenger who would come and prepare the way for the coming of the Lord (see Malachi 3:1 ff.). In the song Zechariah sings of how “the rising sun will come to us from heaven.” Compare this phrase to Malachi 4:2, which describes how “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing on his wings.”

Imagine the joy of knowing that his own son would be that messenger. And picture yourself being John and growing up, hearing this song over and over again. It had to have a special place in his heart, and I have to believe that he may have sung it a time or two while he was out in the wilderness. Speaking of the wilderness, one line I almost missed is verse 80 that says that John grew up “and became strong in the Spirit; and he lived in the desert.” Although the details are not given, it is obvious that both Zechariah and Elizabeth passed from this life while John was still young, so he ended up growing up in the desert among the poor who lived there. When you think about that, how much more would John have treasured this song that rolled from the lips of his father on this day? That song reflected the direction of the Psalmist who tells us:
Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things;
His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

So it’s clear as we seek to celebrate a John the Baptist Christmas, there is a song to be sung - a new song - a Christmas song, to praise God for sending Christ with us!

Luke 1:57-66 TALKING

The time has arrived. Elizabeth goes into labor and gives birth to a son. There is rejoicing in Zechariah’s household. There is celebration in the whole community. It isn’t every day that a woman of Elizabeth’s advanced years gives birth. Comparisons to Abraham’s Sarah are no doubt made. And then comes the eighth day. As was the custom of that day, this was the time for the circumcision of every Jewish male and the official naming of the child. The friends and relatives are all ready to call the squirming bundle of arms and legs: “little Zechariah.” And that’s when Elizabeth speaks up and says: “No, his name will be John.” And there is a gasp among the friends and relatives and more talking.

Now it’s not that John is a bad name or a shocking name. It’s not like the Old Testament prophet Hosea who was directed to give his children names like: Lo-Ruhamah (“not my beloved”) and Lo-Ammi (“not my people”). In fact the name John means “The Lord is gracious,” – a fitting name to be sure. The problem was that if you looked among Zechariah or Elizabeth’s family, there was no one who had that name. And that was a big deal in those days. So after unsuccessfully attempting to talk Elizabeth out of this radical departure from social custom, they went to Zechariah in a last ditch attempt to get him to intervene in the naming of his long-awaited son. To this Zechariah called for his first century B.C. etch-o-sketch and proceeded to spell out: “H-I-S N-A-M-E I-S J-O-H-N.” And when the last letter was spelled out, the long game of charades ended and Zechariah’s voice returned. After nine months of silence, he had plenty to say. For the first time, they all (including Mary who according to verse 56 stayed with Elizabeth until the birth of John) heard the full story of the angelic visit in the temple and the promise of a son whom they were to give the name: “John.”

Zechariah was talking. Elizabeth was talking. All their friends and relatives and neighbors were talking. They were talking about what God had already done so far in this wondrous story and they were talking about what things God would do soon through this special child born to the beaming parents (though they were old enough to be grandparents). It’s nothing new that when God acts, people talk. In fact the writer of Psalm 78 puts it this way:
We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. So the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to do some talking about such things this December? The reality is this - There’s more to talk about than a slow economy or holiday bargains or rating holiday parties. To have a real “John the Baptist” Christmas is to realize that One John pointed to is worth talking about – again and again.

Luke 1:26-45 : LEAP

Now well into her pregnancy, Elizabeth (and Zechariah) welcomes a visitor. She opens the door to yet another woman who is with child. But this woman is more than half her age. A now pregnant Mary walks in and in response to Mary’s greeting, a soon-to-be-born John, leaps for joy in his mother’s womb.

But that is far from the only leaping going on in verses 39-45. There’s a question that that keeps nagging at me as I meditate on this account of Mary’s visit to the “hill country of Judea.” I find myself wondering: “How did Elizabeth know so much about the child whom Mary would bear?” I mean, Mary gets the report on Elizabeth’s pregnancy from the angel Gabriel (v 36), but when he appeared to Zechariah in the temple, he didn’t make any mention about Mary being the chosen virgin to give birth to the Messiah. So how did Elizabeth know to say to her much younger relative: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear?”

In our day, we easily slip past this question mark - taking nearly instantaneous communication for granted and having a tendency to read that kind of availability back into ancient times. One thing’s for sure, Mary hadn’t updated her Facebook profile before she headed out to see Zechariah and Elizabeth. And Mary’s mother hadn’t given Elizabeth a heads up as she chatted with her on her cell phone while in check-out at the Nazareth’s supermarket. Add to this scenario that Elizabeth’s pregnancy was no insignificant happening as well. How come this pregnant woman – well advanced in years, spends all her time heaping praise upon Mary and her child who will be called Jesus?

In my way of understanding, there’s a whole lot of leaping going on in this section of the nativity story. Not only is Jumping John leaping for joy in the womb, but both Elizabeth and Mary are jumping for joy with one another as they can freely praise God for the gifts of the sons that are growing within them (well as much leaping as two pregnant women can safely manage). Elizabeth doesn’t have to endure the shocked stares and snickers as people in her village point to the “old woman” who’s having a baby. Mary doesn’t have to endure the innuendo and rumors that are already circulating about her in Nazareth. They have free reign in this household to laugh, cry, and silently stare at each other in wonder as they reflect on the angelic visits and the promises made for each of the sons they will give birth to soon enough.

God is definitely at work here. As Gabriel told Mary, “With God nothing is impossible.” That’s what we see as these two women praise the God who has blessed them in such a profound way. And the two have more than an inkling that God will use these two song to bless so many others. The prophet Isaiah described Christ’s coming in similar language when he wrote in verse six of chapter 35:
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Maybe we could all use a little more leaping for joy to help not only our cardio readings, but our spiritual lives as well. It’s a great part of having a “John the Baptist” Christmas.

Luke 1:18-25 CHARADES

So Zechariah has heard it directly from Gabriel – an angel of the Lord God. He and Elizabeth are going to have a son. That son’s name is to be John. He’s going to grow up and be the promised messenger who will prepare the way for Messiah’s coming. Enough said. Right?

Wrong. Like so many others who hear the Word from the Lord, Zechariah is full of questions. The gist of them centers on: “So how can I be sure of this?” Zechariah’s done the math and studied his lessons from biology. He of course grew up on the story of Abraham and Sarah, but that was then, and this is now. Like so many before him, Zechariah doesn’t want to rely on pure faith. He wants a sign – something that proves that all this is going to happen. He wants something to take back to Elizabeth and share with relatives and neighbors that will protect him from seeming like an old deluded fool.

So for nine months, Zechariah launches off on a longest game of charades in human history. I have my own suspicion that Zechariah was the cause of modern male tendencies on communication. I suspect that up until Zechariah, men everywhere were very verbal, but after this, Elizabeth was the first woman to say: “My husband never talks to me.” And ever since then, women around the world have been saying the very same thing.

Of course I’m just kidding about that, but as I think about it, nine months is a long time to have to go without being able to speak (though I realize some never have that ability in their lifetimes at all). I’m sure Elizabeth became quite proficient at Zechariah’s long game of charades. She had to. But I’m also sure all the time Zechariah couldn’t use his voice, he used his mind to ponder every word that Gabriel uttered to him. I’m sure he became even a deeper thinker as the months of silence passed and he saw Elizabeth grow bigger in her pregnancy. I’m sure he even thought about another time when God gave a sign about a birth. It was a prophet named Isaiah who spoke to King Ahaz and left him with little to say as he prophesied:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

I believe we could all use a little more silence in our lives to ponder the wonders of Christ’s coming. It’s a big part of having a “John the Baptist” Christmas.

Luke 1:5-17 CHOSEN

It seems fitting enough that we begin the story of John with an angelic encounter. If John is to be known as the messenger who prepares the way of the Lord, how appropriate that one of God’s angelic messengers (Gabriel to be exact) was sent to Zechariah, John’s father, with the news that he would finally be a son. And unlike Mary who received her an angelic visit in a remote town, this heavenly encounter takes place in the temple of God in Jerusalem. It reminds us that John’s ancestry comes with priestly roots, as his father is chosen by lot (a form of dice) to go and light the incense and offer up prayers of God’s people. It is here that Gabriel is sent with a message for the aging priest who has by now - probably resigned himself to the fact that he and his wife of many, many years, Elizabeth, will never know the joy of holding a child of their own.

A couple of thoughts come to mind quickly as I read these words. First, the thought of standing alone in the temple and having an angel show up certainly grabs my attention. There are many times I like to go into the sanctuary (or even the Activity Center) on an early Sunday morning and just stand in the quietness of those sacred places. Sometimes, I take a quick peek to make sure I’m all alone and I break into a verse or two of “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” or “Shout to the Lord.” But let me tell you, if one of God’s heavenly beings would suddenly show up visibly with a message for me, I’m not sure what I’d do. I like how Luke says that Zechariah was “startled and gripped with fear.” I think Luke, who probably heard about this whole encounter via Mary, the mother of Jesus, was being kind. I picture Gabriel having to reassure Zechariah quickly so that the elderly priest would remain conscious to hear his message.

And secondly, the word that keeps coming to my mind is: “Chosen.” Zechariah is chosen from the many, many priests, to go in and light the incense. Chosen. Zechariah and Elizabeth are chosen to receive the gift a child that they had prayed for so many years. Chosen. The name for this child was chosen for them – a name that makes sense when we realize that it means “the Lord is gracious.” Chosen. The soon-to-be-born John was chosen to be the promised messenger who would prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah – i.e. the Christ.

I find that I need to be reminded of that word, “chosen” quite often. I too often fall into the trap of either feeling like my life is simply made up of a series of random minutes, hours and weeks. Or I find myself striving to map out the life of my choosing – informing God of the plans I have laid out for him to follow. I need to hear about a God who has chosen me. One of my favorite ‘chosen” passages is I Peter 2:9 that says:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Wouldn’t it be empowering to remind ourselves every morning of this Advent season (and beyond) that we too have been chosen to live out this faith and be a light in the darkness? That’s certainly a big part of having a “John the Baptist” Christmas.

Why a "John the Baptist" Christmas?

As the narrator in this year’s children’s Christmas program (December 14th – 11:15am) will say: “This is NOT a tale about John the Baptist, but a tale that John tells.” In other words, John the Baptizer plays a key supporting role in the real life drama of Christmas. He is the one sent: “to prepare the way.” Granted he’s not listed as a key player in Luke 2, along with the unnamed innkeeper or shepherds or choir of angels, but as Luke 1 shows, he is forever linked with Christ being with us (aka Christmas). As we explore what the readings that mention him in these days surrounding December 24th/25th, we can better understand why this is true.

These devotions are not meant to be an exhaustive study of the various Bible readings, but instead are devotional thoughts that hit me as I spend time meditating on each of the readings.

Week one: The Messenger
Prayer for Week One: Lord, as I/we prepare for Christmas this year, we thank you for the messages of hope, peace and love that we have received. Thank You for the angel Gabriel’s message to Zechariah and Mary. Thank You for the message of the angels spoken to the shepherds to direct them to Your manger bed. Thank you for the message John the Baptizer spoke to point others to You. May we share this message of Good News to those You place around us. Amen.