Life rarely turns out the way we plan.  We set out on a project with high hopes and vaulted expectations. Then ... life unfolds.  John the Baptist had a vision for who The Messiah was supposed to be and what The Messiah was supposed to accomplish. He put a tremendous amount of prophetic energy into the vision of The Messiah's triumphant and righteous return.  He sacrificed even more by confronting  Herod Antipas.  Herod had married his half-brother's wife even as he was married to another woman. John called Herod out on this adulterous act and Herod in turn through John the Baptist into prison. Life is unpredictable as well as often unjustly unfair.

There despairingly in prison, John asks questions of God's Son that we want to ask too. What are you doing? Are you truly the Son of God? John's unspoken demands are quite clear to me. If you're The Messiah, fix things! Set this mess into shape as the Bible promises you will.  Healing people isn't the baptism of fire I promised to people. You're supposed to be shaking things up - knocking Herod and Caesar out of power. Fix it!

No, Jesus birth and baptism didn't lead to the establishment of God's reign in Judea and Jerusalem. Instead, Jesus' birth and baptism prompted him to care for people. Jesus' birth and baptism didn't lead to a righteous Jewish ruler sitting on the throne in Jerusalem.  Jesus' kingdom exists out in small villages. His royal throne sits in one on one encounters with blind men and physically challenged children. Who knew? Not even John the Baptist apparently. His expectations were probably shattered, perhaps along with those of Christians for thousands of years.

 What John and we receive from Jesus is the possibility of something new and creative. It's uncertain in nature. It has nothing to do with establishing empires or seizing control of political and religious institutions. We may desire those outcomes from God as John the Baptist did. Jesus hasn't yet returned and seated himself on the throne in Jerusalem. Emmanuel hasn't put an end to centuries old fighting in the Middle East. Our belief suggests that Christ's imperial hand and footprints are indeed still out there in the dust of Judea as well as embedded in the hearts, minds, and souls of Christians around the world.  He is the One who offers regained sight for the blind, spiritually as well as physically. God's reign is inside of our humble and open hearts where Jesus invites us to take no offense at him.

One of the most difficult things to accomplish in the Christian life is to allow God to be God and for us to keep searching for God even as we earnestly and patiently join God in offering compassionate and reconciling love to people near us. Where is God's loving joy found?  Where are you searching for it? What's happening close by that offers joy and health in the despair of your mental, spiritual, or physical prisons. John the Baptist-like belief suggests that we must be willing to ask the hard questions of faith in the most difficult times of our lives even as we persevere in faith that Jesus is indeed still offering us new life in ways we didn't plan for when we began our Christian pilgrimages.

Blessings Along The Way, Jim+