Luke 3:1-2
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Take a moment to read these two verses aloud. Read them slow and steady, kind of like you would at church. And then notice what happens.
I’m guessing, actually, that the main thing that happens is that you read all those names carefully! They’re unfamiliar to us. We don’t know most of these people, probably don’t recognize the regions they are identified with, and might not be at all sure how to pronounce their names.
But while we don’t recognize these names, likely the first readers of this Gospel would. For this list comprises a quick “who’s who” of the political and religious elite of the early part of the first century in Israel.
Luke has done this before, introducing a new part of his story by first locating it in history. As we’ve reflected on, he likely does this to reinforce that the God he confesses is active in and through our history. Moreover, he wants to convey the sense that the “ordinary” people that form the core of his story – people like Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph – though they may be of little account in the eyes of the world, yet are just as important as the powerful and famous people by whose rule we mark our histories. Indeed, these ordinary folk become the instruments through which God is at work to save the world.
But this list is a little different. It’s longer – much longer! – and as you were reading it you may have wondered when it was going to come to an end. In fact, as you read these names aloud you’ll notice a kind of relentless progression of the names, kind of like a drum beat summoning the political and religious powerful of the day to assemble. And when you’re all done, you then hear that the Word of the Lord came to John in the wilderness. Which, quite frankly, seems a somewhat insignificant by comparison.
I don’t think this was by accident. Luke, I think, is setting forth a list of the folks arrayed against John – and later Jesus – and it is simultaneously impressive and daunting. How can one such as John – a wild-eyed prophet at the outskirts of society – possibly stand against this august company, Luke invites us to ask? The short answer: he can’t.
Except for one thing. It is not John who stands against them. It is the Word, God’s Word, that has come to John in the wilderness – the place, after all, where the Word comes to prophets. And against the Word this mighty company cannot prevail.
Prayer: Dear God, when we face what feels like enormous odds against us, remind us that you stand with us and will not abandon us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post Image: Cole Thomas, “St. John in the Wilderness,” 1827
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