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.