Tuesday August 29, 2017
The prophet John is a fortified city, a pillar of iron, a wall of brass against the whole land. He calls everyone back, standing up to the kings and priests and people. He was warned that they will fight against him-and they did. He was murdered. But God was with him always to deliver him in spite of death. John was faithful, calling the people to a baptism of repentance that led to the forgiveness of sins. Many of the people came to him and turned from their lives of sin and injustice. But it was the religious, economic and political leadership that resisted him. And since he was a prophet he went after King Herod who had murdered his brother so that he could have his wife (she was definitely part of the murder and the marriage). He was imprisoned but Herod is afraid of the people and won't kill him. But in reality, he was more afraid of his new wife and of looking bad at a dinner party. And so he has John beheaded in a prison on the spur of a moment. He is the last and greatest prophet of the older testament who depended on God as his rock and prepared the way for Jesus. Do we stand up and tell people all that the Lord commands us?
Living in the present moment is the spiritual fad of the day. People talk about the power of “now.” They are right—it is necessary to learn how to live in the moment, without being encumbered by the ghosts of the past and the concerns of the future. However, being consumed by the present moment divorced from what is beyond the present has its dangers.
King Herod respected John. He considered John to be upright and holy. He listened to him, even when what he heard disturbed him. Herod didn’t change his ways because no sooner did he hear the message than he forgot it, as the attractions of the next moment consumed him. He was so mesmerized by the dance of Herodias’s daughter that he forgot everything and promised everything, without realizing the implications. When the girl demanded the life of John, Herod was so consumed by the need to defend his honor in the moment that he forgot the demands of higher values that transcend the compulsions of the moment.
Do I engage in the present moment in such a way that I live in discontinuity with the past and the future and the eternal values that inform them?
