Sunday December 13, 2009 Luke 3:7-18

Welcome, I’m feeling a bit uneasy today. I don’t know what it is, can’t put my finger on it but a change is in the air. I’ve lived in this land a long time, my whole life, and yet something is different. When my ancestors returned from exile in Babylon they came back to destruction. Only the poor had been left in the land and they could barely live, let alone rebuild the city. Everyone got to work repairing the city wall and rebuilding the Temple although it wasn’t as magnificent as the one King Solomon had built. Nehemiah directed the rebuilding and Ezra guided us with the Temple worship, but it took time. It was enough, though, so we could worship God and provide our sacrifices to him. We were, and are still ruled by pagans. Persia overthrew Babylon allowing my people to return. Some years later Alexander the Great marched his army through the land and subdued the Persians. He died shortly after that and his empire was split amongst his generals. He brought us the Greek culture and the Greek way of thinking although we, as the chosen people of God, still were determined to cling to our sacred ways. A very brutal Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes came to power and attempted to exterminate our way of life yet a man rose up among us to do battle with him and Mattathias Maccabee, a priest, led my people to victory. Mattathias’ descendants ruled us and we finally had one of our own as a leader but as things change the Hasmonean rule progressed from good to bad with the rulers taking liberties that they shouldn’t have. They combined the position of king and priest into one and that should never be. Soon the Romans grew in power and in no time they too marched into our land where they remain to this day. We have longed for our own king, chosen by God, but God has been silent. Why, when we are his chosen people will he not free us? Our Temple worship has begun to feel uneasy too. When we go up to sacrifice we are met with people haggling over the price of money, people haggling over the price of the animals and a barnyard feel to what should be a holy place. The poor pagans can’t get any closer to God than this so they try to worship amidst all this confusion and noise. Is God even in the Holy of Holies? Does he see our plight? We offer him sacrifice but he is still silent. The High Priest and his leaders seem to get richer and richer while we are getting poorer and poorer. They require so much money from us. Even though God is silent, we still feel He is out there watching and maybe someday He will return.
There is something unusual going on out by the Jordan River, though. Where our ancestors crossed into the land so many centuries ago a man named John is calling people to come out to him. He should be a priest in the Temple as his parents were from the tribe of Levi and his father, Zachariah, was a priest in the Temple but here he is out in the wilderness calling to us, beckoning us to come to him. Since the air seems charged with either a foreboding or an anticipation I’ve decided to travel to this area where the man John is and observe what is going on.
When I and my group arrive we are surprised by the numbers of other people that have traveled out to see this. The man, John, is in the river calling to us to come and be baptized. We are Jews; we don’t need baptism, which is for the gentiles who want to join us as the chosen people. We have Abraham as our father, which is part of what makes us special. But, my fellow countrymen are entering the water for this baptism. This John is calling us to repent, but of what? We have the Torah (instruction), given by God. We have been taught if we just keep it we will find favor with God. He also is speaking about the forgiveness of sins. Our nation has sinned before which is why God allowed us to be taken out of the land and exiled in Babylon. Maybe now God is ready to forgive us of our sin and send an anointed one, a Messiah, to fight these ruling pagans and free us to rule the world with God. As I watch there are pockets of people everywhere, watching and waiting. John is calling out prophecy from Isaiah that is about our return from exile in Babylon but that was to have happened hundreds of years ago and never did. Is now the time that God is choosing to act? Are Isaiah’s words finally going to come true?

V7-8 John is calling out to the groups of people, calling them a brood of vipers. What an insult to be called the offspring of snakes. He wonders who told them of an uneasy time to come; perhaps a judgment is on the way but we thought that wrath and judgment was for the gentiles, not us as we have Abraham. He is instructing us to bear fruit, to show something for our lives and he is disregarding our decent from Abraham. John claims God can make even rocks on the bank of the river the ancestors of Abraham; that we are not special because Abraham is our father. He proclaims a pruning is about to take place and the dead wood will be chopped down and burned. These are such strong words and ideas that he is presenting that we don’t know what to do or think, but yet we must think about what John is saying.

V10-11 Some even shout out “what should we do?” We are lost with this teaching, it seems new to us. John replies “whoever has two coats should share with those who have none and also the same with food.” As I ponder this statement I realize that John didn’t tell us to keep one coat and give the other away, maybe we are to give both away.

V12-13 A group of tax collectors are standing nearby and one shouts out “what should we do?” We hate tax collectors so we could tell them what they should do and it isn’t nice. They collect taxes from us for Herod and Rome. Even though some are our fellow countrymen they have conspired with Rome against us, traitors! I overheard a man behind me say a good tax collector is a dead tax collector. The tax collectors extract extra tax from us to fund their lifestyle while we sink further and further into debt. I was surprised at what John said to them. He didn’t tell them to stop collecting taxes altogether but to “collect only the amount needed by Rome and no extra”. He didn’t even speak out against Rome.

V14 There are some soldiers standing around as there always are whenever a large group of Jewish people gather. There is always tension that a revolt may break out and they want to be there to put it down before it progresses. They use the most brutal means to subdue the bandits revolting. To my surprise even a soldier yelled out “and we, what should we do?” but I couldn’t tell if he was taunting John or genuinely wanted to know. John answered as if the soldier had asked in earnest and told him not to extort money by threats and false accusations. This is what the soldiers were known to do as they had control over us and our land. He also told the man to be satisfied with his wages. If he would be satisfied with his wages he wouldn’t need to extort money from us. It seems as if each of us can participate, in this new community that John is calling us to, in our own lives. We don’t have to become learned people like the leaders are to make a difference.

V15-17 The group around me has started to inquire of each other if they think that John is our long awaited Messiah. In fact I’m hearing others ask that too. John, sensing the crowds questioning, calls out that his baptism is of water but someone is coming who is greater than he. This man is so great that John “is not worthy to until the thong of his sandal”. That’s an odd statement to make as that is the job of our gentile slaves. The Jewish slaves perform tasks for their masters but the worst jobs, the ones the Jewish slaves refuse to do, are done by the gentile slaves. We Jews don’t touch feet as that is a vile job so the gentile slaves untie the sandals and wash the feet of their master’s guests. John is claiming to be lower than a gentile slave in relation to the greatness of the one coming. Who is this one that John speaks of? He will baptize us with fire separating the ones who bear fruit from the ones who don’t and those will be burnt with fire, discarded.

V18 I’m not sure what to think of the things I have just witnessed. It seems to be good news – someone great is on his way and John seems to be preparing us for this man but what does it mean and who is he? Is he here among us now or is he yet to come? As I glance at those around me trying to identify this great man, I wonder if this will happen soon or is it in the future. We’ve waited so long for a sign; how much longer do we have to wait. As I return home I ponder all of the things I have witnessed and wonder if I will recognize Him when he comes. As for now I will continue to wait and watch for God to act, anticipating that time when he will break in and save us. Are you waiting for this too?