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In the footsteps of ElijahSaturday, December 13, 2014
Matthew 17:11-12 Thus Elijah's "restoration" of the vision was completed, but no matter. Religious leaders who thought they needed to protect their theology and positions rejected John and allowed him to be captured and killed by Herod. They would do no less for John's messiah. "Crucify him!" Three years later a crowd of religious zealots screamed at Pilate to kill Jesus. And he did. I think of how Elijah (in 1 Kings 19) ran panicked into the desert, fleeing from Baal-worshipper Queen Jezebel who wanted to kill him for showing up her favorite priests and prophets. Elijah's powerful declarations against the idols of Israel stopped the rain for three years. Then he cried out to God for the rain to return, and it did. But no matter. He was hunted and threatened with death. In the desert Elijah had his finest hour with God. Accustomed to experiencing God in grand drama, he was humbled by God's silence. At last he encountered God's presence in a "still, small voice." And as he unburdened himself to God, he was comforted, encouraged, challenged, and led to a comrade, Elisha. Soon Elisha would take on his mantel, while Elijah was carried to heaven in a fiery chariot. What a story! Jesus knew Elijah; he had "visited" with him on what we call the Mount of Transfiguration just a few hours before. Like Elijah before him, John the Baptist was hounded by a king and then captured and would soon be killed. Jesus knew the same thing would happen to him. But in Jesus, God's love for his strangely resistant people was fulfilled. God's chosen ones often do not fare so well with the people they came to save. But Jesus' resurrection changed everything. What begins so soon now with his birth comes full circle with Jesus' re-birth, and ours. There is so much below the surface in these stories, in this history. God's unending, unconditional love most of all. As you did with Jesus, Lord, look down from heaven and see, take care of these vines, your children, and protect what your right hand has planted. Stand us up straight, and let us take in the sun, and grow toward you. |
Until the preaching of John the Baptist, Hebrew ideas about the coming messiah were worldly, materialistic, and parochial. John changed that, at least for some. "He will baptize with the Holy Spirit." "Behold, the lamb of god." John saw Jesus' holiness, purity, and his oneness with God, whom he called called Abba-Father.