To Whom did John Go?
Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, the tetrarchs Herod, Philip and Lysanias, Annas, Caiphas… Today’s Gospel begins with a litany, though perhaps not a litany of saints.
Tiberius – started strong, invested well, then fell apart when his son died. By the time John comes, Tiberius is well-known for his cruelty and perversions, and hated by everyone. By the time this gospel is written, Tiberius is infamous. He was a bad, bad, man, like so many world leaders.
Pontius Pilate was a nobody assigned to an unimportant post for a long time. Before he oversaw the execution of God, he was best known for using temple funds to build an aqueduct and for promoting emperor worship.
Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee. This is the son of Herod the Great, who wasn’t a great man – remember, he killed all the babies – but he was an effective leader. His son, this Herod, was… kinda pathetic. This is the man who married his brother’s wife and kept a drunken promise to kill John the Baptist. The Herods were Edomite, descendants of Esau, but he ruled as king over the descendants of Jacob, the Children of Israel. Theoretically a Jew, but in cahoots with the Romans, a weak leader, and a weaker man.
His brother Philip had entirely abandoned his Jewish roots, living as a sheik, traveling around to stop and grant favors. I don’t know much about Lysanias, but his claim to be tetrarch and high priest is interesting.
And that brings us to Annas and Caiaphas. High Priest was meant to be an office for life passed down from Aaron to his son, and so forth. About 200 years before John, the line of the High Priests was ended by murder. From then on, the High Priest was appointed by Rome. Annas was not a legitimate Aaronic High Priest. He was one of those appointees, and he was what we’d call an influence peddler. After he left office, he used bribery to get his candidate appointed High Priest, which got him access to the Temple treasury, so he could then afford to buy the next appointment to High Priest. Quite the racke… Annas, his five sons, and his son in law Caiaphas ran the Temple as High Priest for decades. Specifically, they maintained a monopoly on animal sales and money changing in the temple – the businesses that Jesus chased out and called a den of thieves.
The Talmud records a popular rhyme which described the family of Annas:
“Woe to the house of Annas! Woe to their serpent’s hiss!
They are high priests; their sons are keepers of the treasury,
their sons-in-law are guardians of the temple,
and their servants beat people with staves.” (Pesahim 57a)
So, we have this litany of anti-saints, and then John comes. Whoooo boy. He’s gonna set them straight, huh? Let’s see how!
Does he start at the top and work his way down? Does he call out Tiberius for his cruelty and perversion? No. John does not call out Caesar.
Does John call out Pilate for stealing from the temple and promoting emperor worship? No. Nor Philip. Nor Lysanius.
Does he seek out Herod, that child of Esau in every way? Well eventually, he calls him out for his marriage, but only when summoned. And how about Annas and Caiaphas, for making the house of God into a den of thieves, perverting the priesthood, and rejecting the hope of the resurrection? No. John didn’t turn away those leaders, but he didn’t seek them out, either.
Instead, God sent John out into the rugged wilderness along the Jordan to seek out shepherds and fisherman and working people. He didn’t come blasting authority specifically, but called everyone to repent and receive forgiveness. It wasn’t about making waves or about punishment, but about fixing it – about turning towards God to receive mercy.
And God does the same today. It is still about fixing it. It is still about allowing the king to create a smooth road he can travel into our hearts.
Because he loves us. Also, God does what works – Wisdom is justified by her children, her results – and this is what changes the world. Change in society rarely results from the work of name brand heroes. Today, especially, our leaders spend all their time studying us, to figure out what we think, so they can say “I think that too, please elect me – please follow me.” At best, a leader can call people to change, or represent the change that people want. When it comes to lasting change, for better and worse, it is the normalization and socialization in daily life that actually changes things. Yes, that means the media we suck down is potent, but it also means more change is accomplished by how we interact day in and day out than by sermons or lectures or laws. And this is why John called people to turn away from sin, so their hearts could welcome Jesus, and Jesus invited us to change our hearts, and not just our behaviors.
Are you are disturbed by injustice and sin in the world, in the church, and in others? Are you upset that the world’s a mess? Do you want his kingdom to come, and his will to be done on Earth? Do you wonder how God is calling you to make things better? Turn your heart to God. Changed hearts change the world. I don’t know who said it first, (it wasn’t Gandhi), but it is good advice: Be the change you want to see in the world. Do you want a world of justice and peace? Be just, and a peacemaker. Do you want a world full of faith, hope and love? Be more faithful, hopeful and loving. Do you want greater truth, goodness and beauty in the world? Bring it. These are the fruit of righteousness. These are the result of allowing the Holy Spirit to turn our hearts to God in repentance, and allowing the light of Christ to dwell in us.
We are the light of the world. God is pleased and praised and glorified when we are filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. God chooses to change the world by showing God’s salvation in and through us.
Turn away from sin, and be filled and overflowing with the fruit of righteousness, so the world may see the salvation of God at work in you and through you, and give praise and glory to God.
