Advent continues to unfold, leading us to Christmas, where we will celebrate God coming near. God will come so near as to be born a tiny, powerless infant, just like we all were once.
This week’s gospel reading seems to begin with several lines of irrelevant information. We hear that it was the fifteenth year of Emperor Tiberius’s reign. Luke goes on to list who was governor, the names of rulers in the region, and the leaders at the Jewish temple. Information about these important and powerful people help to set the context, clarifying where and when the events soon to be told took place, but the rulers and leaders are, for once, not the focus of the story.
After a third of the passage, we get past the context-setting and hear that “the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” Not what we might expect. We might think that God, the most powerful and important being ever, would choose to reach out to powerful and important people with God’s word. However, as the Advent story (and most other stories in scripture) will show, God is always doing things we don’t expect. The word of God has come to John in, of all places, the wilderness. A place far from the seats of power, far from fashionable society, far from everyday life. The wilderness is a desolate place, a place of testing and some danger. It is also a place where one might encounter God.
Though John is not among the powerful and influential rulers or leaders listed, he is an important prophet, foretold by the prophet Isaiah. Through John, God calls the people to repentance and preparation for the coming messiah. And John points us to Jesus from his vantage point in the wilderness. John helps us see God is here – active in the world and our lives through what may seem ordinary or unimpressive. John and all of Advent show us that God is in the ordinary, the everyday, the simple, the powerless to bring about transformation, healing, hope, and new life.
Peace,
Alicia