Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to the people.

John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others.

One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”
Luke 3:15-22

Dear God, there is so much here. I think I want to just do a bullet-point list of what I see:

• “They were eagerly expecting the Messiah to come soon.” Aren’t we all? Isn’t it interesting that we are always looking towards what hasn’t happened yet instead of living our lives in the moment today? What we don’t realize is that we are waiting for the wrong things. In their case, they were waiting for a conquering, killing machine who would eliminate their enemy and restore their power. In our case, we are looking to leave the pains and frustrations of our current situation so we can have it easier. I would posit that we don’t want to be with you. We just want to get out of here and to a place that is easier for us. It isn’t about longing for you. It is about our comfort. I’m sorry for that.
• The chaff and wheat analogy by John reminds me of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13. Don’t tear up the weeds now. It’s too late (or too early). They’ve been sown. It’s too late to stop them. It’s too early because we will destroy some good wheat accidentally. Since it is different Gospel writers who make this reference and in different ways, it makes me wonder if this was a common analogy/parable that was used in the later church when talking about evangelizing in the world. They were both written decades after Jesus. Was this just a metaphor everyone knew?
• There’s a bit of editorializing here from Luke when it comes to Herod: “…adding this to his many other sins.” There was a lot of blame towards Herod. He participated in killing Jesus, after all. But he was a corrupt king. Marrying his brother’s wife. Ultimately killing John. Killing Jesus. And the “many other wrong things he had done.” This is just occurring to me, but I think it might be one of the few times we get some “voice” from a Gospel author.
• I can’t even begin to describe how you must have felt through this. You broke your personal silence after 400+ years and audibly spoke to the crowd. Not to a prophet. Not to Jesus individually. Not through angels. You showed up to the crowd. I don’t have time to look it up now, but it seems like one of the other Gospels records this as the crowd only hearing what sounded like thunder. But I kind of like this image of the crowd hearing you speak. But you had to. You loved him. And maybe he needed your encouragement in that moment.

Father, as I sit here this morning, I just simply love you. I’m not waiting for tomorrow. I love you now. I have some challenges in front of me. Be with me and make my path straight. For your glory, oh, Lord.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen