2 Advent Cycle C December 6, 2015
Malachi. 3:1-4 Song of Zachariah
Philippians 1:1-11 Luke 3:1-6
You and I can be very presumptuous about what we read in that we take what we read very personally. Surely this book was written for me? Really? Even if the author did not know me or my circumstances?
You and I can think that the Bible and the Gospels are written for us. Why do we feel this? The truth is that everything which comes to language can feel like it is for us because whatever is in language is open to universal accessibility. If something comes to language, it is no longer a secret and if the shoe of the text fits, then you can wear it as your own.
But the Bible and the Gospels were not specifically written for you or me. Their authors had their own purposes and contexts. And in being such ancient texts, the specifics of the writing purposes are often very hard to discover.
What happens when writers write about the life of person? Particularly, what happened when the lives of Jesus and John the Baptist were written about? A great reduction happened. If John and Jesus lived for around 33 years, they lived for about 290,000 hours. But from all of those hours a few selective events were chosen to characterize the lives of both of these men.
The first question that we might want to ask the Gospel writers is why did you write so much about John the Baptist? John the Baptist is quite important in the Gospels. He like Jesus is presented with a marvelous birth story, like the marvelous birth stories of Isaac and Samuel. His birth story is only surpassed by the miraculous birth story of Jesus.
Why was John the Baptist presented with more Gospel ink than the twelve disciples? The Gospels were written with a purpose and they were written to specific target audiences. One of the major target audiences of the Gospel was the significant community that followed John the Baptist. John the Baptist had such a great following that there was speculation about him being not only being a great prophet but also the messiah.
The Jesus Movement was a Movement which succeeded the John the Baptist Movement. In the Gospel we read that the ministry of Jesus did not fully begin until the death of John the Baptist happened even though there is presented in the Gospels an overlap in the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. But by the time the Gospel of John was written, the relationship between John and Jesus was seen as the handing on of the torch of leadership. By the time the later Gospel was written it was assumed that Jesus of Nazareth was the legitimate successor of John the Baptist. So if you had been a follower of John the Baptist, you could in good conscience follow Jesus.
The Gospels present John the Baptist mostly in a very good light, though it does indicate that he had a small lapse in faith while he was imprisoned.
If you and I think that the Gospels were written for us; the community of John the Baptist was perhaps the primary target audience for the Gospel message. Many of the disciples of Jesus had previously been followers of John the Baptist. So since they had made the smooth transition to follow Jesus, they wanted to persuade and convince all of the followers of John the Baptist to make the transition to Jesus Christ.
So how did they help others make the transition to Jesus? They wrote about the respect that John the Baptist had for Jesus as one who had become a surpassing protégé. The writers showed that Jesus had respect for John in submitting to his baptism. They wrote about how the role of John the Baptist fit into the salvation history that was being realized in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If Jesus was a fulfillment of the figures and types presented in Hebrews Scriptures, then so was John the Baptist.
You and I read about John the Baptist and Jesus with a primary naiveté as if what we read is about the actual events in the life of Jesus and John. But really the Gospel writings are about the Jesus Movement and the John the Baptist Movement. They use the examples of their leaders to give an explanation for the spiritual processes that were happening within their community.
So yes, we read the Bible first in a primary naiveté as personal literature for you and me with an "as if" encounter between John the Baptist and Jesus and us.
But we also must make the honest attempt to understand the function of the Gospel writings in their own contexts.
Today, on this second Sunday of Advent, remember that John the Baptist was very important because he had a significant community of followers. And the leaders of the Jesus Movement wanted to convince all of the members of the community of John the Baptist to become members of the Jesus Movement.
The Gospel writers wanted to show that there was no competition between the message of John and the message of Jesus. In contrast, the Gospel writers show Jesus at odds with other parties within Judaism, like the Pharisees, the leading scribes and the Sadducees and the Herodians. But among all of the parties within Judaism, the sect of John the Baptist include people who would most likely become members of the Jesus Movement. The Pharisees and Sadducees were presented as those who turned Jesus over to the Romans for crucifixion. The community of John the Baptist is presented as the proto-community of the Jesus Movement. They are presented as a transitional phase in the development of the early church.
There is another message in the transition of the community of John the Baptist to the community of Jesus Christ. In our lives we often make transitions in our spiritual lives. Can you list the succession of mentors and influential social groups in your lives? Sometimes a very good mentor like John the Baptist has to be let go of when the next phase of spiritual advancement is presented in the person or event bringing another phase of excellence.
It is sometimes hard to let go of loyalties to a person and a movement of the past. We can get so locked into social settings of our prophets, teachers, gurus and mentors. Sometimes social pressure does not let us leave to explore who we are supposed to become in future self-surpassability.
The Gospel writers wrote favorably about John the Baptist but they also wrote that he was a transitional figure to introduce a group of people to the surpassing greatness of Christ.
You and I are still in quest of what the surpassing greatness of Christ means in our lives. And we have gone through and will go through transitions as we are drawn to new insights which bring us to further excellence.
The Advent message about John the Baptist is a message for us today, because we are always a people in the transitional process towards excellence. And the Risen Christ is more than the written words on the page about Jesus of Nazareth. The Risen Christ is adaptable to next person, writing or event which calls you and I to greater excellence in our lives today, as we strive to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves.
May John the Baptist be an Advent witness for us as we continue in the process of excellence in discovering who the Risen Christ is for us today. Amen.
You and I can think that the Bible and the Gospels are written for us. Why do we feel this? The truth is that everything which comes to language can feel like it is for us because whatever is in language is open to universal accessibility. If something comes to language, it is no longer a secret and if the shoe of the text fits, then you can wear it as your own.
But the Bible and the Gospels were not specifically written for you or me. Their authors had their own purposes and contexts. And in being such ancient texts, the specifics of the writing purposes are often very hard to discover.
What happens when writers write about the life of person? Particularly, what happened when the lives of Jesus and John the Baptist were written about? A great reduction happened. If John and Jesus lived for around 33 years, they lived for about 290,000 hours. But from all of those hours a few selective events were chosen to characterize the lives of both of these men.
The first question that we might want to ask the Gospel writers is why did you write so much about John the Baptist? John the Baptist is quite important in the Gospels. He like Jesus is presented with a marvelous birth story, like the marvelous birth stories of Isaac and Samuel. His birth story is only surpassed by the miraculous birth story of Jesus.
Why was John the Baptist presented with more Gospel ink than the twelve disciples? The Gospels were written with a purpose and they were written to specific target audiences. One of the major target audiences of the Gospel was the significant community that followed John the Baptist. John the Baptist had such a great following that there was speculation about him being not only being a great prophet but also the messiah.
The Jesus Movement was a Movement which succeeded the John the Baptist Movement. In the Gospel we read that the ministry of Jesus did not fully begin until the death of John the Baptist happened even though there is presented in the Gospels an overlap in the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. But by the time the Gospel of John was written, the relationship between John and Jesus was seen as the handing on of the torch of leadership. By the time the later Gospel was written it was assumed that Jesus of Nazareth was the legitimate successor of John the Baptist. So if you had been a follower of John the Baptist, you could in good conscience follow Jesus.
The Gospels present John the Baptist mostly in a very good light, though it does indicate that he had a small lapse in faith while he was imprisoned.
If you and I think that the Gospels were written for us; the community of John the Baptist was perhaps the primary target audience for the Gospel message. Many of the disciples of Jesus had previously been followers of John the Baptist. So since they had made the smooth transition to follow Jesus, they wanted to persuade and convince all of the followers of John the Baptist to make the transition to Jesus Christ.
So how did they help others make the transition to Jesus? They wrote about the respect that John the Baptist had for Jesus as one who had become a surpassing protégé. The writers showed that Jesus had respect for John in submitting to his baptism. They wrote about how the role of John the Baptist fit into the salvation history that was being realized in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If Jesus was a fulfillment of the figures and types presented in Hebrews Scriptures, then so was John the Baptist.
You and I read about John the Baptist and Jesus with a primary naiveté as if what we read is about the actual events in the life of Jesus and John. But really the Gospel writings are about the Jesus Movement and the John the Baptist Movement. They use the examples of their leaders to give an explanation for the spiritual processes that were happening within their community.
So yes, we read the Bible first in a primary naiveté as personal literature for you and me with an "as if" encounter between John the Baptist and Jesus and us.
But we also must make the honest attempt to understand the function of the Gospel writings in their own contexts.
Today, on this second Sunday of Advent, remember that John the Baptist was very important because he had a significant community of followers. And the leaders of the Jesus Movement wanted to convince all of the members of the community of John the Baptist to become members of the Jesus Movement.
The Gospel writers wanted to show that there was no competition between the message of John and the message of Jesus. In contrast, the Gospel writers show Jesus at odds with other parties within Judaism, like the Pharisees, the leading scribes and the Sadducees and the Herodians. But among all of the parties within Judaism, the sect of John the Baptist include people who would most likely become members of the Jesus Movement. The Pharisees and Sadducees were presented as those who turned Jesus over to the Romans for crucifixion. The community of John the Baptist is presented as the proto-community of the Jesus Movement. They are presented as a transitional phase in the development of the early church.
There is another message in the transition of the community of John the Baptist to the community of Jesus Christ. In our lives we often make transitions in our spiritual lives. Can you list the succession of mentors and influential social groups in your lives? Sometimes a very good mentor like John the Baptist has to be let go of when the next phase of spiritual advancement is presented in the person or event bringing another phase of excellence.
It is sometimes hard to let go of loyalties to a person and a movement of the past. We can get so locked into social settings of our prophets, teachers, gurus and mentors. Sometimes social pressure does not let us leave to explore who we are supposed to become in future self-surpassability.
The Gospel writers wrote favorably about John the Baptist but they also wrote that he was a transitional figure to introduce a group of people to the surpassing greatness of Christ.
You and I are still in quest of what the surpassing greatness of Christ means in our lives. And we have gone through and will go through transitions as we are drawn to new insights which bring us to further excellence.
The Advent message about John the Baptist is a message for us today, because we are always a people in the transitional process towards excellence. And the Risen Christ is more than the written words on the page about Jesus of Nazareth. The Risen Christ is adaptable to next person, writing or event which calls you and I to greater excellence in our lives today, as we strive to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves.
May John the Baptist be an Advent witness for us as we continue in the process of excellence in discovering who the Risen Christ is for us today. Amen.
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