'More than a prophet' - December 16
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 40, 54; PM Psalm 51; Isa. 10:5-19; 2 Pet. 2:17-22; Matt. 11:2-15
Today’s Reflection
It’s easy to get wrapped up in a vision of Advent and Christmas seen through a soft lens, in which all is calm and all is bright. Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleeping in heavenly peace. There is truth in the tenderness and sweetness of the baby Jesus being nestled and nursed by his mother Mary. And yet, there’s another lens through which one can see the coming of Jesus with a harder edge. Jesus himself, speaking as an adult, acknowledges this edgier version of his story when he gives us his take on his cousin, John the Baptist, the one sent to prepare his way:
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”
John is no reed shaken by the wind. John’s not going to be pushed around. And John’s definitely not wearing soft robes. In fact, he’s wearing camel hair, and he’s got a strong enough stomach to eat his honey with a large side of locusts. John was sent ahead of Jesus to prepare his way—not by declaring some soft, easily digestible message but to proclaim a message that was much harder for people to digest. John came to call people to repentance for their sins, both those things we’ve done and left undone.
John came bearing an uncomfortable message. But this is what prophets do: They tell it like it is. They ask tough questions. They wonder what it is you’re really all about. They push you to see if you have a purpose, and whether or not even you know it. They hold up a mirror so we can see ourselves in a truer light.
Often what we see in the mirror the prophet holds up is not a flattering vision of who we are, what we’ve done, or what we hope to be. We look at the prophet and we feel uncomfortable. We see the prophet coming toward us and we don’t want to let her get too close. As Jesus probes, “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at?” Whatever people may have been looking for, Jesus says, what they found there was a prophet and then some: “Yes, a prophet, I tell you, and more than a prophet.”
We can think of people in our lives who make us feel uncomfortable at times—or maybe even most of the time. Many times, someone who makes us feel uncomfortable makes us feel this way because of the mirror that they hold up to us—somehow looking at and listening to this person makes us feel less than comfortable with ourselves. There’s something in the way they declare the truth or see the world that rubs us the wrong way. They don’t cast a vision of soft robes—and they don’t speak words that just soothe us and leave us be.
The Canticle appointed for this past Sunday was the Magnificat, or the Song of Mary, Mary’s own very prophetic declaration recorded in the Gospel according to Luke. In choosing Mary, an unmarried young woman from a poor family in a rural village, God was making a radical statement about who is closest to God’s heart: the poor, the disadvantaged, the disinherited, the meek, the weak, the marginalized. God chose someone from the margins to carry his son in her womb and raise him up in the way in which he should go. Mary’s song is not soft and sweet. Mary’s song is just as radical and uncomfortable a message as John’s voice crying out in the wilderness or Jesus’ own speaking of truth to power.
Mary is speaking prophetically from her one-of-a-kind position as both God-bearer and representative of those at the margins. On the one hand, Mary speaks from a place of credibility, as one who has experienced hunger, thirst, and oppression. On the other hand, Mary speaks from a place of authority, as one who carries within her the long-awaited Messiah. She speaks with a prophetic voice as she declares:
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
Mary prepares the way for Jesus as he grows in her womb, singing her prophetic song over him as she declared the many ways in which God, through sending Jesus to be with us, would turn the world upside down. Likewise, John prepares the way for Jesus as he speaks the truth plainly, without artifice, calling people to repentance and baptism, making the way for one far greater and mightier to save. Both Mary and John are the ones God chose to prepare the way for Jesus.
Becky+
Questions for Reflection
Who has played a prophetic role in your life? What questions did they ask that made you feel uncomfortable? What did they bring to light that made you re-evaluate yourself and your priorities? How have you responded to the message that this prophetic voice proclaimed to you?
Daily Challenge
Reflect more on Jesus and John the Baptist by reading this short article by Helen Bond, head of the Divinity School at the University of Edinburgh.