Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Politics and Religion
Salvation from the Margins, Part 1

Salvation from the Margins, Part 1

Last updated on: December 4, 2024 at 11:09 am by Herb Montgomery

Salvation from the Margins, Part 1 2024-12-04T11:09:12-04:00 Herb Montgomery

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.

Our title this week is Salvation from the Margins, and our reading for the second weekend of Advent is from the gospel of Luke:

Welcome Readers! Please subscribe to Social Jesus Here.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.

Every valley shall be filled in,

every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked roads shall become straight,

the rough ways smooth.

And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ” (Luke 3:1-6)

One of the things I appreciate about the gospel of Luke is its emphasis on distributive justice. The author of Luke models their gospel on the Hebrew justice tradition. Certain prophets began their writings in the same way:

The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the LORD came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile. (Jeremiah 1:1-3)

The author of Luke’s gospel begins similarly, by listing those in power: The list of Roman rulers and their clients begins with Tiberius and Pilate, and ends with the regional conduits of Roman rule, Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas. This emphasizes again what we have said so often recently: the high-priesthood in Jerusalem (Annas and Caiaphas) extended the Roman government in Judea, as did Herod in Galilee. They were more than merely religious figures in the rituals of the Temple, they were also political rulers in the Temple State established and overseen by Rome. This explains why Jesus’ Temple protest at the end of this account wasn’t about maintaining the purity of religion as much as it was about Rome economically exploiting the people through the priesthood. This is why Jesus’ protest landed him on a Roman cross as an enemy of Rome itself.

Next, Luke’s gospel introduces to us John the Baptist as an adult. We have already been introduced to John through the story of his birth and childhood in Luke chapters 1 and 2. John was the son of a priest. He belonged to the priesthood. Yet when John became an adult, he turned his back on being part of the system and the priesthood his genealogy entitled him to be a part of. Rather than taking up the vocation of priest, John chose something different. He chose to embrace not the priestly tradition but the parallel Hebrew justice vocation of prophet. The vocations of priest (the establishment) and prophet (those who spoke truth to power when the establishment practiced injustice) were often in tension with one another. Luke’s gospel characterizes John as seeking to bring change not from the inside, from the seats of power, but from the outside speaking in. His is a voice in the “wilderness.” And this detail cannot be lost on us because it offers a bit of wisdom for many of us who feel we are in the wilderness now looking at our own political landscape.

We’ll unpack this a bit further, next.

(Read Part 2)

Are you receiving all of RHM’s free resources each week?

Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, justice and action. Free.

https://renewedheartministries.com/Contact-forms/?form=EmailSignUp

General Christian

Politics and Religion

About Herb Montgomery

Herb Montgomery, director of Renewed Heart Ministries, is an author and adult religious re-educator helping Christians explore the intersection of their faith with love, compassion, action, and societal justice. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

November 28, 2024

We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For

Next Post

December 4, 2024 A Voice in the Wilderness

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ableism Abolition Advent Anti Semitism Christianity Christmas Climate Justice Criminal Justice Democracy Disability Justice Distributive Justice Easter Economic Justice Environmental Justice Equity Feminism Government Immigration Justice Indigenous Justice Interfaith Law and Order LGBTQ Affirmation Liberation Theology Migrant Justice Myth of Redemptive Suffering Nonviolence Prayer Racial Justice Reparation Resistance Resurrection Social Gospel Social Justice Survival Uncategorized Womanism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 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 August 2022 July 2022 June 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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Psalm contains the line, "Taste and see that the Lord is good"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalm 34 Psalm 23 Psalm 100 Psalm 51