The View from the West Mesa

The season of Advent is one of both anticipation and preparation. The anticipation is the aspect we associate with joyous celebration. Israel had a history of being oppressed by other countries and now she was under the thumb of the most powerful country in the world. Israel wanted, hoped for, release from her oppressor - and some of her own people who cooperated with  the occupiers. Israel yearned for and anticipated the day that her salvation would come; the day her God would rescue her from her torment. So Advent recalls  Israel’s anticipation of her deliverance, and through Israel, the world’s reception of her Creator. Israel’s history though, also provided the reason she was being oppressed—she was guilty of not having sufficient faith in her God; of not following him, and not embodying his character. So, Advent  includes not only anticipation of salvation, but also a realization of why she and we needed rescuing. Advent includes self reflection, or examining...

Three times in Matthew Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to Jerusalem, where he will be killed. The first, in chapter 16 is where we read of Peter's objection and Jesus' response of "get behind me Satan." The second comes in chapter 17. In this instance, the disciples, we are told, are distressed but we have none of the bravado in the earlier event. Finally, in chapter 20, we find the third declaration but absolutely no response from the disciples. Matthew places this third declaration between the parable of the early and late workers in the first part of the chapter, and the story of who will be on Jesus' right and left hands in the kingdom. A story of the generosity of God on one side, and a power grab on the other, book-ending if you will, Jesus' final declaration of his going to die at the hands of the powerful in Jerusalem. Jesus' response to the power grab is a reminder that the kingdom of God has set up leadership and priorities d...

“Go and tell John what you hear and see.” John has sent his disciples to find out if Jesus is Messiah, the one Israel has been awaiting. You see, John’s in prison and his world doesn’t seem to be working for him lately. He’s been out in the wilderness eating honey and bugs, preaching and arguing with self-righteous Jews, and pretty much getting his legs and feet water logged. More recently though, he’s been arrested and is sitting in Herod’s prison, and he won’t get out alive. Maybe he knows that, maybe he doesn’t. I suspect though, that he’d exchange the cell for water logged feet without much coercion.  Jesus doesn’t answer John’s disciples directly. Instead, he talks around the answer, expecting them to draw their own conclusion based on what has been going on. These signs, he says, that I’ve been doing – healing folks, restoring sight, raising the dead – what do they tell you?  Keep in mind that John is Jesus’ cousin, that John baptized him and presumabl...