“Not The Story We Guessed” on Luke 3:1-6 by Joe Ellis, Second Sunday of Advent, Dec 8, 2024

A while back, I came across the late Canadian Comedian, Norm MacDonald, quoting J K Rowling where he compared the New Testament and Harry Potter in favour of Harry Potter. Norm said, “I think if you are going to take on an entire religion, you should maybe know what you’re talking about.

J K Rowling is a Christian and J K Rowling famously said about her series, “If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book.” There is a lot going on in that exchange, but I want to focus in on this quote that Norm attributes to J K Rowling. “If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book.” This may be true for people in our culture even if they are not familiar with the Scriptures — without spoiling it for those who still haven’t read Harry Potter — Harry is a modest Christ-like figure who, throughout the novels, is often disdained by many, works for the good of those around him, and ultimately sacrifices himself for the good of the whole and comes back alive!  As a Christian, Rowling likely intends her reader’s imagination to be drawn deeper into the larger story found in Scripture.

We also have stories written by people who are not Christians, but where the statement “If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book” could also apply. You might think of “How to Train Your Dragon.” From what I know, Cressida Cowell, the author, is not a Christian, but the Christian story is woven throughout her first book in the series. Again, we have the good guy, named Hiccup, who sacrificed his life for the many, he even sacrifices himself for those who are despised by the many — and when it looks like Hiccup has died, we know how the story should go. We hang on to the thought “He will come back.” And he does! Harry comes back in Harry Potter, Hiccup comes back in How to Train Your Dragon.

We tell stories of good men and women being despised by their people, advocating for the underdog, sacrificing themselves for the good of the whole, and often coming back from the brink of death. This is a testimony to how deeply the Christian story has taken root in the Western imagination. “If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book.” So, of course, when we read the New Testament, our imaginations are primed to hear the Christian story. Sometimes we can miss that Luke and the other New Testament writers are writing Scripture overtop of the story that has shaped their own imaginations as deeply as the Christian story has shaped ours. 

If Luke were to have said, “If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book”, a first century Jew would have imagined a very different sort of story than what we have in the Gospels. If Luke were to read the third chapter of his Gospel to any first century Jew and ask: “Based on what you’ve heard, can you guess the ending of my book?” The answer would be immediate and have felt obvious. “Of course,” they would have said to Luke, “You are starting to tell the Exodus story. Instead of Pharaoh you have Caesar, instead of Moses you have Christ.” We can say Harry Potter is a Christ-like figure, a first century Jew may have initially thought Jesus was a Moses-type figure.

The Exodus story was to a first century Jew what a resurrection story is to us. The Exodus Story goes like this: God’s people are under the rule of an evil king in Egypt, God confronts and overthrows the vile rulers with a show of His power. God then leads the people out into the wilderness, they travel through the Red Sea, and eventually they live with Him in the promised land, Canaan.

“If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book” — Luke 3 sets a first century Jew to expect a retelling of the book of Exodus. But in this story, we don’t just have one evil ruler, Pharaoh — there are seven! A first century Jew would have viewed each one with much disdain. Against each one, the people would have very much liked God to cast them down from their thrones like He cast down Pharaoh. That’s what Mary sets us up to anticipate in her song ‘The Magnificat’ in Luke 1:51-55: “He has demonstrated power with His arm; He has scattered those whose pride wells up from the sheer arrogance of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, His hand has lifted up those of lowly position, He has filled the hungry with good things and has sent the rich away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering His mercy, as He promised to our ancestor, to Abraham and his descendants forever.” They knew how the story was supposed to go. The mighty who would be cast down from their thrones had names like Caesar, or Herod, or Pilate. Being familiar with Scripture, Mary knew God had promised a New Exodus would happen one day, and the time was ripe.  An Exodus from the rule of these despots was desperately needed.

Then in Luke 3 we read about the Word of God coming to a prophet in the wilderness — and perhaps John the Baptizer had a Moses-like burning bush-type moment. So John the Baptizer begins calling the people out into the wilderness, inviting them into the symbolic action of wading out into the River Jordan — remember, this is the river that the people of Israel had moved through some twelve hundred years prior when God led them into their salvation in the Promised Land.

If that weren’t enough of a ‘pay attention to what’s happening,’ Luke frames John the Baptizer’s activity around one of the most significant New Exodus passages in the Old Testament, where God promises to lead his people along a road to freedom as he did in days of old. That’s what Luke cites from the Scriptures (Isaiah 40): “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all humankind will see God’s salvation.” John the Baptizer is calling the people to join him at the beginning of the Exodus Road — and wait there for the Lord to lead them. “If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess where this is going.” 

John the Baptizer is familiar with the Scriptures. He can easily guess where this is going. So John the Baptizer doesn’t just content himself with guessing — he stakes his life on it. Later on in this chapter, John the Baptizer says, “I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I am is coming — I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire." John knows who the chaff is — it’s those rulers named at the outset of Luke Chapter 3 — rulers like Caesar, and Pilate, and Herod the Tetrarch. John the Baptizer was familiar with the Scriptures, so he could easily guess the ending of the book. Just as God overthrew the Pharaoh in Egypt before leading the Israelites into the Promised Land — so, too, will He overthrow Caesar, Herod, Pilate, Annas and Caiaphas. John knows where this story is going and he gets to work. In Chapter 3:19-20, Luke tells us that “When John rebuked Herod the Tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife (Herod had taken his brother’s wife as his own), and because of all the evil deeds that (Herod) had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked up John in prison.” If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book. Maybe you wouldn’t guess the ending for John the Baptizer — not the way this book was supposed to go. Well, maybe. Scripture is full of stories of God’s people wrongfully imprisoned, like Joseph, and Daniel. So, John sits in jail waiting. By this time, John had his eye on Jesus as the New Moses, the one through whom the Lord would lead them to freedom. And he’s watching and waiting, and waiting, and waiting — in prison. In Luke, chapter 7, John is still in prison. So John sends two disciples to ask Jesus “Are you the one who is to come or should we look for another?” If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book. John may have felt like he guessed wrong. In Luke, Chapter 9, as Herod is musing about the identity of Jesus, he thinks to himself, “I had John beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” 

That’s not the way this story was supposed to unfold for John, or even for the readers of Luke. Remember, Luke sets up his first century readers to anticipate that all those rulers he mentioned at the beginning of Chapter 3 would be overthrown. After all, God brings down the mighty from their thrones.  The Isaiah passage brings the readers of Luke to guess a lot of things — like that John is announcing the arrival of the Lord — which he is. And that the Lord’s arrival is in the person of Jesus, which it is. And the readers of Luke guess that part of the arrival of the Lord Jesus will entail overthrowing the enemies of God. That’s why John warns that the axe is aimed at the root of the rotten tree — knowing Scripture, we expect to see those rulers come toppling down — Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas and Annas. But instead, near the end of the Gospel, we see them conspiring to have the Lord Jesus arrested, and tortured, and mocked and brutally executed. “If you are familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book.” 

Except they didn’t guess. Nobody did. And it’s not that it is a different story. It’s not that Luke sets up in chapter 3 to expect an Exodus story just to mess with us. It’s not that Luke is saying, “You expected the story to happen in this way, but guess what! It’s a different story entirely!” It is still the same story.

The Gospel is an Exodus story — through and through. Jesus is a Moses-type figure. Yet, if the story unfolded according to the expectations of John the Baptist, the Gospel would have been far too small of a story — not a bad story, but just far too small. If the story was only about God overthrowing Herod, or Pilate, or even Caesar, the story would have been an important story, but maybe not one that orients our lives in Canada in 2024. God overthrowing Herod would not be the story that has captured the minds, hearts and imaginations of poets, storytellers, painters, sculptors ever since. For that, we need the true story of Christ Jesus.

“If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the book.” Once again, Luke is telling The Exodus story — yet this Exodus story is far bigger than anyone ever could have guessed. The tyrants are not small tyrants like Herod or Caesar — the tyrants that He overthrows are Sin and Death. Even Caesar submitted to Death. Against these Tyrants of Sin and Death, Jesus has come to rescue His people. Moses led the people of Israel through the Red Sea with the small tyrant Pharaoh close behind them, and Pharaoh was then engulfed and drowned. In the same way, Jesus carries us into new life by leading us into death. Jesus carries us through the waters of Death, the waters of Sin — and yes, Sin and Death followed in hot pursuit as the waters of death crashed around Jesus, engulfing and drowning the Christ wholly and completely. And just as Pharaoh was drowned — so too was this the fatal blow for Sin and Death. But Christ proved the stronger. Christ carried us in Him out through the other side — into Resurrection Life — foreshadowing the day when Sin and Death will be no more.

“If you’re familiar with the Scriptures, you can easily guess the ending of the Gospel.” Yes, but the Gospel story is far bigger and grander than anyone would have ever guessed.” Who can kill Death? Who can overpower Sin? That is the story of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

As we live out the story of our own lives, on our own smaller scale — we can forget that we live our lives within the framework of this Grand Story. Instead, we may feel like John the Baptist in prison, wondering where God is, saying “I never guessed it would go this way.” Those moments are common to the people of God as we wait for Him to complete our salvation. It’s in those moments when we need friends and storytellers to come alongside us and say, “Yes, we didn’t ever think it would go this way. Yes, this tyrant momentarily has the upper hand. Yes, this is far more difficult than anything we thought God would allow us to face… And our story is contained within the Greatest Story ever lived — God conquering Sin and Death in and through His Son Jesus Christ. You and I may not know where we are in that story, we may not know how our own story will unfold in the short-term, but we do not need to guess at where our story is going to lead. This much is certain — Christ has conquered Sin. Christ has conquered Death. He will carry you through with him. Your eyes will see the salvation of God.