Give Us This Day
It just wasn’t right, you know. My master was a good man, a great man. It just wasn’t right for things to end this way.
All his life he had this burning passion to do the will of YHWH. He had taken the vows of the Nazarite and had kept them his entire life. He took on the mantle of Elijah and willingly subjected himself to the scorn and laughter of the insiders. He was, in fact, the ultimate outsider.
And he was strong. He was a rock when other men would have turned to sand. We all, those of us who followed him, knew that he was a prophet of YHWH, and we secretly wondered if he might not also be more.
He had borne the hardships of the wilderness, and we gladly followed him in his chosen life of self-denial. He was the greatest man of his generation; we all knew that, even if others couldn’t see it. He was noble and pure, and in following him many of us found our way back to God.
We knew things were reaching a critical climax, but none of us guessed what would happen next. We knew the constant threats of imprisonment or death, but we all knew that something more had to happen before that could ever happen.
But we were wrong. We all had our theories about why Herod did it, and knowing Herod, he was evil enough to prove us all right about his wicked motives. Some thought he was a coward and was afraid John would lead us into a rebellion. And there were some of us who were itching for just such a rebellion. But John made it clear that this wasn’t God’s way. Others of us believed that it was the Pharisees who were really behind it, especially because of John’s association with Jesus. Some of us knew that John had rebuked Herod and that Herod had to put him in prison to save face. We heard rumors that although even Herod knew better, he put John in prison because he was not as strong as the women in his life.
And so it happened that that mighty voice that spoke to our generation and seemed like the very voice of YHWH was quieted, cast into the darkness and silence of the dungeon. That dungeon was like the grave itself, deep in Herod’s castle-palace where the light doesn’t shine and words don’t escape.
And it just wasn’t right. Why should he go down to Hades when Jesus and his disciples roamed the earth and feast and drink? Where was YHWH in all this, that our master should be put to death by Herod, who down the road in his palace shouts to the world with his adulterous, murderous wife and his drunken cohorts? Why do the righteous suffer, while the wicked prosper?!
This isn’t what any of us expected when we first followed John. He taught us that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, and we believed him. We thought we had seen it. We saw people coming to John to repent and be baptized. We saw people turn their hearts back to God. I tell you, we saw the kingdom!
And then this happened. It shook us to our core. Everything we thought we knew was shaken and seemed ready to fall. Everything that John had done seemed destined to fall away. What would we do then, and where would we go? They always killed the prophets, didn’t they? I think John knew what his end would be. But this time it was supposed to be different. This time the kingdom was supposed to be restored, and this time the people were supposed to be turned back to YHWH and His righteousness.
For a moment, I must confess, it seemed as if everything I knew about the Scriptures and YHWH and John was false. We had all been misled. This life was all that existed, the same world in which evil was as likely to triumph as righteousness.
While John was down there in Herod’s Sheol, he sent for me and one of the others to go to Jesus. We had told him before about some of the things we had heard and seen about Jesus because we knew John would want to know. A strange look came over John’s face, and we couldn’t tell if Herod and the dampness and the darkness had broken him or if he had just received a word from the Lord. I think he knew the end was near. I think he wanted to know that he had been a faithful and good servant. But he needed to know something to die in peace. He needed to know something in order to make it all worthwhile.
And so he sent us to Jesus. When we found Jesus, we asked him the question straight from John’s lips, the question that was burning on all our tongues: “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
I’ll never forget Jesus’ answer: “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me.”
Jesus began to teach, and we wanted to hear him some more, but we rushed to John with Jesus’ exact words. John soaked them in for a moment, and then he smiled. This was agonizingly unclear to us, but John knew he had his answer. He knew that Jesus was the Messiah.
He faithfully cried in the wilderness; he faithfully prepared the way of the Lord. He preached repentance and the Kingdom of Heaven, and he preached righteousness to Herod.
I don’t think it made sense to me until the day we took the body of John and buried it. I don’t think I knew until he was gone that he had not failed in his mission, which meant that YHWH had not failed in His promises.
The day that we buried John (feeling like we died with him) and we had nowhere else to go, is the day we followed Jesus. From that day, we began to see the Kingdom of Heaven in ways we had never imagined before.
John’s was not the only dungeon which we inhabited: each of us had our own personal dungeons. Life did not immediately become wonderful and perfect, and the wicked were not all cast down in a day. There were still times when I flinched from the awful price of being a disciple, now of Jesus.
But I never forgot what John had taught me, even though he died in a dungeon, the victim of a lustful and cowardly king. And nothing, not even the cold, mortal reach of Herod or his greater lord, could ever take me away from the Jesus the Messiah and His Kingdom.
Prayer: O Merciful God, be Thou now unto me a strong tower of defense, I humbly entreat Thee. Give me grace to await Thy leisure, and patiently to bear what Thou doest unto me; nothing doubting or mistrusting Thy goodness towards me; for Thou knowest what is good for me better than I do. Therefore do with me in all things what Thou wilt; only arm me, I beseech Thee, with Thine armor, that I may stand fast; above all things, taking to me the shield of faith; praying always that I may refer myself wholly to Thy will, abiding Thy pleasure, and comforting myself in those troubles which it shall please Thee to send me, seeing such troubles are profitable for me; and I am assuredly persuaded that all Thou doest cannot but be well; and unto Thee be all honor and glory. Amen. (Lady Jane Grey)
Points for Meditation:
- What dungeons do you have in your life? How are you tempted to respond to them?
- How can you remind yourself of what Jesus has said and done so that when you spend time in the dungeons of life your faith may remain strong?
Resolution: I resolve to seek Jesus in the dungeons of my life and to receive His messengers and reminders when they come to me today.
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