It’s first thing in the morning…
John wakes up and dresses himself in his finest camel hair attire. He strokes his long straggly beard and then ties the thong on his sandals. Before going down to the river, he fastens his leather belt and has a hearty breakfast of locusts & honey.
It’s hard to be the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.
Meanwhile in Jerusalem, Polonius, a Roman centurion, kisses his wife before he finishes that second cup of coffee and heads out the door. She worries about him. She knows it’s getting more dangerous out there. The Jewish people he has been called upon to protect and serve, don’t appreciate the sacrifice he makes and that he puts his life at risk every day for their benefit. How can the Jews not see that it is the Romans who protect them with the world’s best army? How could they not be grateful for all the municipal projects that give them jobs? There are so many buildings, and seaports, and roads to build. They wouldn’t have jobs if it weren’t for the Romans. Their taxes support all these services. And yet, they continue to protest.
As Polonius put on his helmet and went out the door, he hated the thought that he was beginning to see the very people he was called upon to protect and serve as a burden, a blight, and less- than.
Then there is Judas. He is a Jewish Zealot. He is trained in guerilla warfare. He knows the surrounding hills like the back of his hand. However, his greatest skill is his amazing ability to rally and incite his people. They listen to him.
At a recent, underground meeting:
He told his Jewish brethren to look around…because…
When the Jews looked around, they saw the Roman government oppressing the people.
They saw their own religious leaders and politicians oppressing the people.
They saw soldiers mocking them, bullying them, harassing them.
They remembered and shared the stories, still fresh in their collective memories about the abuse of power and privilege of those who were to police their people.
The Jews looked around and realized…
There was little hope for them.
They were told to pick themselves up by their bootstraps.
They were told that if they wanted a better life, they just needed to work harder.
They were watched, followed, profiled, and if need be- they were beaten.
They didn’t choose to be Jewish, they were born that way.
They weren’t non-Romans by choice, it was their lot in life.
They weren’t all beggars and free-loaders
Most had jobs and were respected in the community
Yet, the economic and social institutions made it near impossible to get out of that cosmic, chaotic, circular trap of the under-class.
It should come as no surprise that they viewed the Romans as oppressors, violent, and privileged.
When they tried to protest–they were slaughtered.
The soldiers were not ordered to stand-down and be a non-anxious presence. They certainly would not stand idly by as a Jewish uprising took to the streets and turned from pacifist protest to violent outrage.
The Roman soldiers had their orders- keep the peace of Rome at any cost.
The cost was usually Jewish lives.
If you want to keep the power and privilege in the hands of the Romans, squelch the riots, silence the rabble-rousers, and nip it in the bud.
On that morning…three men went to work…all with one idea in mind…justice.
What is justice?
Every prophet in the Bible- spoke of justice and it was political! John the Baptist was political. Jesus was political—listen to his words. He wasn’t a democrat or a republican, or even a politician- but he was political.
Mark tells us: All the people of Jerusalem were going to John the Baptist to confess their sins. They believed that they needed to repent and get right with God.
John the Baptist worked outside the city walls, removed from the politics of Rome and Jerusalem, preaching something uncomfortable. Jewish people were showing their own way to protest. They were leaving their day jobs, and heading down to the Jordan to be baptized by a madman desert prophet, inciting them to an alternative way of living.
John had two tasks. Tell them about the Messiah. Tell them about the kingdom of God.
If they heard that the Messiah was coming- they would prepare themselves.
They could prepare themselves by repenting: getting right w/ God.
John famously preached, “Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand.”
The kingdom of God was not meant to mean “heaven” as we have come to know it.
It was not meant to be an…“other-worldly, next place, after death, crashing down on earth, apocalyptic, end times, left behind series, eschatological, nightmarish, brutal, heaven OR hell dichotomy!”
The Kingdom of God was meant to be a kingdom of justice.
John the Baptist is clear what that means. John did not sway from his prophetic predecessors. Read every Old Testament prophet and they will share what John is preaching: The Kingdom of God is about Justice.
