Jason Locke's Blog

Mary and Elizabeth might seem unlikely figures for the prominent roles they play in Luke's prologue. Elizabeth is old and barren. Mary is young and not married. They're both women from the more modest layers of society. Hear the words of the text for this coming Sunday from Luke 1:39-45: In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."   As Luke describes the prenatal stories of John a...

In Samuel Beckett’s legendary play, Waiting for Godot , the two main characters Vladimir and Estragon wait endlessly for the arrival of the mysterious Godot. They wait and they wait, but Godot never comes. This play belongs to a class of literature knows as “theater of the absurd” because it deals with the seeming meaninglessness of life, leading characters to act in irrational and inexplicable ways. In our Luke 3 passage for this week, people are waiting on the Messiah. Some listen to John the Baptist and begin to wonder if John might be the one who is coming. John apparently hears what they’re thinking and tells them he isn’t the one they should wait for. Another is coming who is greater and more powerful than John. They should wait for him. John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; f...

Advent is the Christian season when we prepare for the coming of Christ. Christmas is about good news. God comes to live among us. Jesus (God in the flesh) takes on our shame and frailty. Immanuel (God with us) demonstrates divine solidarity with the human plight and brings hope of redemption for all creation. While the glory of Christmas draws us in, the journey to get there should give us pause. Do you remember how long it took to get to grandma’s house over the river and through the woods ? Some folks never had to travel far. But for others, it seemed like an eternity to get there. We did what we could to pass the time, but it often wasn’t easy. Once we got there, though, the reward was great enough to erase the memory of the long, arduous journey. By the same token, we ought to remember that the road to Christ leads through the desert. There we hear the voice of one crying out, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” John admonished people to repent and be baptized for the fo...

As we enter the Advent season, it's important to remember its twofold nature. First and most obviously, we remember the coming of Jesus as a child. Born in a manger to a flesh-and-blood mother, Jesus came as a human being. He lived among us and revealed God to us more fully than ever before. Second, this time of year also reminds us that Jesus will one day come again. Advent is the season of Jesus' coming near. Most tend to concentrate on the incarnation—how Jesus came two thousand years ago. We also ought to remember the eschaton —that Jesus will come once again. This second coming will not be like the first. Whereas he previously came in a quiet manner that hardly drew notice, his second coming will be in a glorious manner which no one can miss. Whereas he previously came and submitted to the worldly powers who executed him, his second coming will cause all worldly powers to submit to him. Christmas is a time when we make many preparations. It's a busy time. We...