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I don’t know if you have picked up on this yet, but Luke likes to give us context for when things are happening in his gospel. What I mean by that specifically is that while the gospels are not intended to be a history book, Luke likes to give us the rundown of who were the political figures at the time when these important events took place in the life of Jesus. In Luke 1:5 we are told that King Herod ruled Judea. That was the introduction to the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. In the birth story we heard on Christmas Eve Luke 2 tells us about Caesar Augustus of Rome and Quirinius governing Syria. And now it today’s reading we here about the rule of Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate as governor of Judea and Herod ruling over Galilee. Also Herod’s brother Philip and Lysanias and the territories they ruled over. Luke also includes how Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests at that time in the temple at Jerusalem.

I don’t know about you but that is a lot of names and regions to put together. And for Luke’s original audience those names and territories would have meant a lot to them and given them a lot of context as to what kinds of things were happening in the world. While I’m sure we could spend an entire day or even a series of classes hashing out who was who and what area was what and how that all played out in the geopolitical sphere: 1. We don’t have that kind of time right now, and 2. There is something we can get out of all these names without diving into the details about all of them. To be completely transparent I got this idea from a commentary I was listening to this week.

So how can we sum up all of these names and places so that it makes sense to us and what we’re working toward today, and not dedicating too much time to it? I’ll give you more than one word but we could sum all of this up in one word: Rome. Rome defeated and incorporated Judah or Judea as part of their empire in 63 BC. During that time Herod was the king of the Jews. Then after some revolts within Judea Emperor Augustus took Judea under direct control and rule under the empire in 6 AD. By the time Jesus is an adult in our story today, Rome has in one way or another ruled over Judea for almost 100 years. So while these names and places probably add even more to the story, the main point is that Israel has been under Roman occupation for as long as anyone can remember, and I can only imagine the kinds of feelings and thoughts that brought up for people.

So imagine all of these feelings that people have as they read these names and knowing what their people, their own family, and relatives had endured during this time period. Then almost as a note tacked on at the end of all this Roman and centralized leadership identification comes the comment that the word of God came to John in the wilderness. And if you look at the the reading you will see despite all of this information that is shared about Rome it is only a single sentence that is dedicated to that, and not even an entire sentence because, as I said Luke inserts John as a note in all of that.

What I feel Luke is doing is drawing a contrast between two things that seem important. Rome is important. Rome rules the land. They impose the rules, they collect the taxes, they have soldiers posted everywhere. Everything is decided in this city and by a man who are so far away that probably not a single Israelite will ever go and see any of it. Luke acknowledges all of that and then says, “and then there’s this man that you should know. A man that you can interact with. A man who also has something to say. A man who isn’t in the hustle and bustle of Roman politics and schmoozing around the big city. This man lives in the wilderness and much like there were people going and seeking out everything they thought Rome had to offer, there were people from throughout the whole region coming and seeking out John who was calling for them to change their hearts and lives. John is attracting people who are probably tired of what Rome says they offer and are wanting to return to God and seek God’s forgiveness.

And you can see the contrast John provides by everything he shares with the people. Rome would have you get ahead by doing what is necessary. John says that if you have more than someone else like a coat, then share it with someone who is without. Rome says collect as much money above what is required and pocket it. John says that you should only take what is necessary for yourself. Finally he says that if your job requires you to be in charge of others, treat them with respect and be content with what you have. These are honestly nothing new from what we find in the laws of the Torah, but they go against everything that Rome is trying to tell people.

John is drawing a line between Rome and following God. And while people are drawn to John they wonder if they shouldn’t follow Rome then should they follow him? To which he says ‘no’ and follows up the ‘no’ with the baptism of Jesus. What is both very weird and incredible about Jesus baptism in Luke is that Jesus is baptized with everyone else. He is one of many that is baptized that day. Jesus comes out to the wilderness, not Rome, not Jerusalem, but the wilderness to stand apart from what is being promoted to say that I am something different and I bring something different. And God confirms that Jesus is the one by speaking from heaven that Jesus is God’s son and in Jesus God finds happiness and love.

This is exactly what God through Jesus has been offering for all time. To experience God’s love and happiness apart from what the world declares brings those things. God brings us into the family of God through the waters of baptism. Uniting us with one another, with Jesus and with God. God offers us something greater than what the world has to offer. Whether it’s Rome, any other world power, TikTok, or anything else, there is nothing more than we could ever ask for or need in this life than the love and forgiveness that God has to offer. Because God’s love is unconditional. God’s grace is never-ending. God stands in contrast to the power of this world to give us what really matters in this life: a direct relationship with the creator of the universe. There is no greater gift or power in all the world than to be loved by the one who made you. Amen.