This year the person who is grabbing my attention more than anyone else in the Christmas story is John the Baptist. I think he's fascinating. I mean, he recognized the Savior of the world before he was even born; 'leaping' with delight. Clearly he was set apart and clearly he 'got it'. John knew who Jesus was, he knew what He came to do, and he knew he was set apart to play a role in response to that. He's definitely on my list of people I'd love to meet. I'd be willing to bet that he was one strange dude; which, I admit, makes me like him all the more.
But it's not John's birth that's stirring me up right now, it's his words later in life. When questioned by priests and Levites about who he is, he says with confidence, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." Without any context, this sounds like a red carpet moment. The words are worthy of some finely dressed herald declaring the entrance of a king. But John isn't nicely dressed and the One he is referring to is an individual that was born in a barn and raised in incredibly simple circumstances.
So in one hand I'm forming this image of a baby born into an extremely vulnerable family and situation, with no appearance of 'royalty' whatsoever. Now hold that thought ... cuz then there's the other hand ...
I've spent some time in Revelation. You don't need too much of an imagination for the book, it does a great job painting the picture for you. So as I 'pictured' the words I was reading, I caught my breath on vs. 19:11 where it says, "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it was called Faithful and True" The description that follows intensifies the image, but I keep coming back to this verse. Now that's what a king is supposed to look like! Although, it's not so much the image that gets me; it's His names. Faithful and True are not concepts or character traits ... they are the very essence of who this King is. So much so that it's His name: King Faithful, King True. I don't really know how to put it into words, but something about that is super powerful to me. Names are personal and identify us. Faithful is a person. Truth is a person. We believe in, we talk to, we worship a person!!
So, I hold out my two hands and just can't seem to reconcile these two pictures. This is the same person?! The King riding on that white horse and ready for battle is the same person as the little baby that slept in a manger? My mind spins ...
If I had a third hand, it would be holding the fact that I have a relationship with this person, that I talk to Him, and that He's present with me even as I write this. Good thing I don't have 3 hands, or trying to reconcile all of that would spin my mind faster than it could handle.
John must have had 3 hands. He personally knew and interacted with 'God made flesh', yet he proclaimed Him as royalty. He was a voice for Christ's first coming ... Maybe, we're the voice for His second? King Faithful, King True is coming again on a white horse in pure holiness and justice. For real. He really is! That leaves me realizing I'm part of something so so much bigger than myself. We're not outside this story, we're in it. We are (or atleast have the potential to be) voices ... making straight the way of the Lord.
