In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” (Luke 3:1-6, NRSV)
Some of you will remember the movie Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger. It’s the story of a sports agent, Jerry, who put his work before his wife, Dorothy. After she leaves him, Jerry realizes what a mistake he’s made and goes to see Dorothy with something important to say. He greets her with a hello, declares his love for her and expresses how incomplete his life is without her. Dorothy responds by saying, “Just shut up.” For a moment, we’re left to think that she’s not interested in reconciliation. She repeats, “Just shut up” but then she adds, “You had me at hello.“
Reconciliation was possible after all.
In our gospel reading today, Luke has something important to say. Whereas Jerry Maguire may have had Dorothy at hello, Luke lost me at “Tiberius.” I woke up in a pool of drool before I ever got to Pontius Pilate, Ituraea, Trachonitis, Lysanias, and the like (I bet you didn’t read through all those names either).
If I were Luke, I would have skipped verses one and two and began with verse three. If he had, I would have gladly responded to Luke, saying, “you had me at repentance.” Despite the fact that it’s a boring introduction, Luke has a purpose for including all these names. He wanted us to know that at a particular moment in history, God acted. It resulted in all flesh seeing the salvation of God.
2020 has been a tough year. May God grant us the grace to believe that, in this particular moment, Jesus is again breaking into the world. May Jesus “have us” as we once again hear His promises. And may the result be that all of us would see the salvation of God.
