The times are tense. A foreign power occupies the land; the local government seeks to balance the demands of the people with the demands of the occupiers, not doing particularly well in either effort. The religious authorities are split into factions that aren’t really getting along, while other religious groups stir up trouble for both the religious and civil authorities.
To top all that off, a crazy-looking man wanders into town. He is barefoot, wearing a coarse woolen-looking robe and carrying only a walking staff. Somehow, this man is gathering quite a following. People seek him out at the river where they participate in a ritual bathing. The religious authorities also seek him out, if only to find out what is going on. He must be trying to start a revolution or overthrow the government.
When he sees them approach, he angrily shouts to them, calling them a brood of vipers who are seeking him out merely for show. He tells them that those such as themselves will be swept away, much like the chaff left over after the harvest, or else burned like the prunings from the fruit trees that no longer produce good fruit.
John the Baptist was a very interesting man. People followed him not for riches, but for the promise of salvation. He called out to them to “repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. It must have been stunning for the temple priests and the civil government to see such crowds following what looked like a crazy desert hermit. The visual contrast must have been striking as well, John in his camel’s hair robe standing next to the temple priests in their fine robes trimmed in purple and gold.
Some claimed him to be the messiah, promised by God through the prophets of old, but he told them that he was preparing the way of the true messiah, whose sandals he was not worthy to carry.
In this second week of Advent, we are called to prepare for the Messiah. We are each like John the Baptist preparing the way for Him.
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