In last week’s gospel, we meet John the Baptist. We heard him crying out on the margins wanting us to embrace God’s way of just living. We heard that John was the first century equivalent to a hype man or a hype gal–that is, the one who is responsible for increasing an audience’s excitement. Then, after all that hype, John the Baptist asks the silliest of questions, namely “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another…”
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness.” It’s a phrase from today’s gospel that sticks out to me. It’s a quote from Isaiah. And, it’s a phrase that helps build a larger argument that we’ll experience over-and-over again as we study Matthew this year. For, Matthew is trying to build up Jesus’s connection to Judaism. In Matthew, Jesus is the messiah from David’s line, Jesus is the new Moses, and Jesus is Immanuel, meaning God with us. And, although it’s helpful to build this connection, I think this quote speaks to us something even deeper…
Wicker Park Lutheran Church Rev. Chrisida Anandan December 1, 2019 The gospel reading that we have heard today is a very interesting passage as it has been interpreted in different ways in many traditions, denominations, and countries. In my childhood, I was perplexed by this passage which has been often interpreted as rapture and the second coming of Jesus. I still remember that I thought so much and worried what would I do if my mother or father or sister…
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