When We Were Literally Herod

Last updated on: January 10, 2021 at 8:55 am by Anne Kennedy

When We Were Literally Herod 2021-01-10T08:55:05-04:00 Anne Kennedy

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m over at Stand Firm today.

Today at home, and at church I think, I’m going to be celebrating Fake Epiphany. It’s not actually fake, it’s just that the feast fell in the middle of the week, and rather than stopping everything and thinking about it on the day, we’ve moved it to Sunday (today). In this way, we actually do get to talk about the visit of the kings and don’t have to go into the muddy terrain of the Baptism of Jesus, which is, of course, a momentous occasion in its own right, but gets rather tiresome when you have to talk about it every year. Especially as most of the songs in the Epiphany section of the hymnal (or at least all the nice ones) are still going on about the star and the gifts. Every lectionary I’ve ever endured seems, frankly, obsessed with John the Baptist—Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.

I know, of course, that the lectionary organizers are not just trying to suit themselves. They are not particularly disposed to love Baptism more than Expensive Presents. The problem is the scriptures themselves, which make so much of John, and so much of Jesus going down into the water.

This all jangled around in my head as I kept going back to the internet all week. Wandering around Twitter (where I, like everyone else, seem to be bleeding followers) feels like going out into a howling wilderness looking for news, for that one short paragraph that will announce that everything is going to be ok. There must be a voice in the wilderness crying, as the song says. If I just scroll down a bit more I will hear it. Unhappily for all of us, Social Media isn’t that kind of desert highway. God’s particular messenger isn’t there delivering God’s true and life-giving words, making our paths straight and the rough places smooth. On the contrary, though everyone imagines him or herself to be speaking for God, no one is.

Jesus going along with the crowds of people to be baptized by his cousin John seems—especially after the exiting escape from Herod—anti-climactic, the very disappointing start to what should have been a promising career. Add in his quiet thirty-year sojourn in a very small, exceedingly unimpressive town and one feels that the commencement of his call should be much more exciting than joining up with the crowd being dunked in the river. Shouldn’t there be more gold? More angels? What happened to that bright star?

In every way, it seems, God arranges the cosmos in the opposite way that I would—which is to go into the very far corners of my own darkness, to understand every nuance and facet and possibility of being human.

In some disagreeable moment of personal reflection, I noticed something about myself as well as all other people. I want a great deal of nuance and sparkle to be accorded to my side of any issue or debate, but when I’m talking about the other side, I mostly feel comfortable speaking in broad, sweeping generalizations. And God must be the same as me. Yet here he sweeps all of humanity up into one group, one kind. He ignores, obtusely one feels, all the diverse categories of people. For him, it doesn’t matter what your politics are, or who you voted for, or how angry you are, or how grieved, or if you can see the problems in an institution or remain completely blind to them. He cares not if you are anti-racist or racist, if you are Methodist or Presbyterian, if you are on the right side of something or the wrong side, if you have gone over to Parler or are still trying to make a go of it on Twitter. You could be Donald Trump or even Joe Biden for all he cares.

Though indeed, in a more embarrassing and intrusive way he does care. For the roiling, angry, divided, binary-thinking mess of humanity, he descended down into the murky depths of the Jordan River, let his cousin lay him back in the warm, tepid, turgid water—descending down, lying still and submissive, prefiguring the true and awful moment of the grave—and then came back up dripping wet to hear the acclamation and acceptance of his Father. The crowd stood by as the Dove descended and the voice thundered, and then wandered back into their own lives, ignorant of and blind to what had just happened.

In all the cries for a reckoning—and everyone right now seems to want one—it is curious that God’s own account of our condition includes this strange moment. What could it mean? Why would Jesus, who knew no sin, have to be baptized along with all those sinners?…read the rest here!

Previous Post

January 8, 2021

Matters of Character

Next Post

January 11, 2021 Wodehouse Will Save You Podcast And Links

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Children in Conversation culture watch Daily Devotions Demotivations with Anne faith alone for the grandparents GAFCON In conversation with children In the News Kitchen Notes Lambeth Learning Notes Life Going On Men are Human Notes from Home Pictures Reading the Bible Saturday Links Sermons Signs of the Apocalypse The Bad Word Association The Prayer of Jonah Travel Notes Uncategorized Witless Wednesdays Work and the Christian

Select a Month June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian group traces its roots to John Calvin’s teachings?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Presbyterians Baptists Methodists Lutherans

Books by This Author Books by Anne Kennedy

See All Titles »