Advent 3: Gospel, Luke 7:18-28                                         

Luke 7:18-28

I love John the Baptist. I always have. I often quip in my classes that he should have been called “John the Lutheran.” What do I mean? Well, no slight against the many dear Baptist friends I have, nor their read of the Scriptures. But John, the Lord’s cousin, holds so many qualities of those who forged the great and necessary Lutheran Reformation, Martin Luther among them.

When Jesus queries the crowd about John, listen to the questions: “What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing” (Luke 7:24-25)? The answers Jesus then offers make clear that this one in the wilderness is no “softy,” no “pushover.” To begin with, if you wanted to see and hear the Baptist, you had to go to him and his surroundings were no picnic to navigate. Kind of blows apart our modern ideas that we have to make everything comfortable and accessible for our unsaved friends. Nope. 

And the message, oh the message! I always marvel that John the Baptist never wanted for a crowd and he never went easy on the proclamation. Never. Perhaps most important is Jesus’ final assessment of this man whom He must have loved dearly, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John” (v. 28a). That’s the accolade that matters. Faithful to calling, message, and Master.

Study John. From conception to martyrdom. Treasured by Jesus. A treasure given to us. God be praised!