..during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” vs. 2
Luke 3:1-2
After a mostly poetic preface to his gospel Luke launches his third chapter by giving his best shot at describing John’s historical context. He might not have gotten all the details exactly right, but there’s no doubt about where John began his ministry. He’d left the corruption of religious Jerusalem and had probably found refuge in the purity of the Essene community near the Dead Sea. It was in that wilderness setting that the eternal Word made a connection and he began to give voice to convictions that had been planted in him years before. That sort of thing still happens when we can find a retreat in the midst of conflicting and confusing messages and practices. We live in a noisy world and sometimes it’s hard to even find time to think. Advent is designed to be that time for meditation but it’s been horribly corrupted by the culture and commerce. But when we do find our wilderness, that quiet time and place, and use it for prayer and reflection, it’s not at all unusual to get a clear word from God about any number of things. Like John we might get a call to stage an intervention, to speak words of truth to friends and family who are struggling. Or we could offer prayers for those who may be hurting. It’s a matter of opening our portals and listening with all our senses.
Thought for the Day: Where is my place and time for opening portals?
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