[Propertalk] Quotables - 2 Advent Gospel - Luke 3:1-6 - Part 4

[Joe Parrish]

A second feature is the radical newness that is unfolding here. The metaphor of the "Highway" in Isaiah picks up the idea of a new act of God. That is a major theme of the section of Isaiah from which the quotation here comes (42:8-10,43:18-19, etc; cf. 35:8) as the prophet speaks of the return from Exile. In that sense, the First Advent was one of those acts of God that, metaphorically, could be described quite well as a new "highway" of God's grace, a new historical self-revelation of God. 
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Being careful not to move to allegory, the implication for people's lives should be clear: There is a newness with God in which He will remove the obstacles to proper relationship. 

http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearC/Cadvent2nt.html

Dennis Bratcher
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 v3. Only a Gentile convert to Judaism would be baptized (a sign of regeneration), but John demands that Abraham's children must now be baptized. It was as if Israel had reached the river Jordan and must again cross the river to enter the promised land. 

http://www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/advent2cg.html

Bryan Findlayson
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... as one born and raised on the prairies of Canada, I can't resist pointing out that they are already closer to Isaiah's vision of the age to come than your so-called "scenic" rolling hills, forests, and mountains. Take that, all you who mock our endless straight roads and wide open clear skies. 
On the other hand, I think it is fair to also caution that if we can put Handel's Messiah out of our heads - and any other uplifting hymn tunes for this text - we'll realize that the images here are as violent and catastrophic as last weeks.

http://www.holytextures.com/2009/11/luke-3-1-6-year-c-advent-2-sermon.html

David Ewart, 2009
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Before you know it, we're donning our own hardhats and rolling up our sleeves to help level the playing field. Joining John and Jesus are a host of those named in our era as in eras past, all for the care and redemption of all that God has made. Caring for the creation, we seek to redesign the landscape so that equality has a greater place. 

http://www.crossings.org/theology/2010/theolo759.shtml

Michael Hoy, 2009
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One of the traditional icons of John the Baptist portrays an emaciated, bearded, ecstatic figure in a rocky place, dressed in skins, and winged like an angel.
Icons are silent stories, and because they are intensely traditional - being copied from one generation to the next, with minor embellishments and variations - they often transmit very ancient understandings about scriptural people and incidents.  (Some scholars believe that three of the faces we see in old icons are based on actual portraits of Jesus, Peter, and Paul.)
So why does the iconographic tradition show John the Baptist with wings?  Because angels are usually the messengers of God in scripture, and John's task is to proclaim the coming of the Messiah.
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For me, "crooked" means the obvious stuff:  avoiding the bars and the sex clubs, the porn, and the promiscuity (actual or imaginary, the thought being as "crooked" as the deed) that are so much a part of secular gay culture.

http://gospelforgays.com/?p=614

Jeremiah Bartram, 2009
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What is unique to Luke's account, and significant for this Sunday of the church year, is the placement
of John in the drama of world history and salvation-history and the declaration that, in John's
prophetic words and deeds preparing the way for Jesus, God was at work putting everything
together to bring salvation to all flesh.

http://www.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/11-4_Confirmation/11-4_Kolden.pdf

Marc Kolden, 1991
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