DAY 21
Luke 3:16-17
John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I 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 clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Way back in the first few days of Advent, we had the reading from Revelation 1 which gave a description of Jesus in the end times. Much like John the Baptist’s description, as recorded by the gospel writer of Luke, John the Divine’s picture of Jesus had a lot of fire in it and a sense that when Jesus comes or returns, there will be destruction!
When we think about fire, this is a natural reaction. When we think back to the summer and the wildfires, in watching them burn and seeing what was left after they were put out, our natural conclusion is that destruction and devastation comes with fire. Yet, when controlled, fire can do good things. It provides heat; it enables the cooking of food; it can even be used to stop wildfires! Fire is dangerous, but it can be used for good.
The image of Jesus as being one who is ablaze and in control of fire emphasises the power Jesus has as one sent by God and is part of God. The fear fire raises, however, reminds us that although Jesus was full of compassion, his teachings were not. He was about bringing change to and within a people—change that can be understood as both destructive and life-giving.
Christ, eternal Sun of justice,
Christ, the rose of wisdom’s seed,
come to bless with fire and fragrance
hours of yearning, hurt, and need.
In the lonely, in the stranger,
in the outcast, hid from view;
child who comes to grace the manger,
teach our hearts to welcome you.
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