PJN Advent Series: The Place & Way of Peace, John 3:1-6
By, Rev. Dr. Shannon Smythe, PJN Steering Committee member
Luke 3 : 1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, 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.’ ”
On this second Sunday of Advent, Christians around the world light a candle for peace. After witnessing more than a year of nonstop terror, violence, destruction, and genocide against the people, culture, and land of Palestine, it can be hard not to feel like the Peace candle of Advent, is anything more than a cruel irony.
Yet lest we give way to despair, Liberating God’s peace begins in the midst of political oppression and foreign domination. John’s calling, foretold by his father Zechariah, “to direct our feet in the way of peace” (1:79), is set right up against a political backdrop that includes not only the imperial government of Rome but also that of Judea, Galilee, and even other regional tetrarchs.
The contrast couldn’t be more stark when, after a lengthy recitation of one oppressive politician after another, we are told that the word of Liberator God came to John in the wilderness, a liminal place on the margins but also where God brings about liberation for God’s people. In the Gospels, when Jesus needs to seek refuge and pray, he goes to the wilderness. But it is also where the Spirit leads him to be tempted by the evil one. The wilderness is an ambiguous place of stark contrasts. It is home both to God and evil.
These days, the names of the political oppressors and foreign domination are different: Benjamin Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, Smotrich, President Biden, AIPAC, CUFI, Anthony Blinken, and Donald Trump are just a few names that come to mind.
Given that the geographical location of John’s ministry took place throughout much of the shrinking footprint of the West Bank, these same contrasts in the Palestinian wilderness remain to this day. Evil–now in the form of Israel’s military occupation, which is carrying out a brutal and illegal system of annexation, apartheid, and annihilation in Palestine, is still there in the wildnerness region surrounding the Jordan river.
But the prophets of God, called to proclaim the way of peace, like John did, are there, too. Palestinian Christians are crying out in the prophetic tradition of John the Baptist.
Take for example, the words from Bishop Munib Younan, Bishop Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. He was on fire as he spoke to our May delegation about the frustration of talking with influencers (specifically in OUR government and churches) who refuse to use their voice and clout to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Occupation. He named the Gaza crisis as genocide and urged us to call it that, but also cautioned us to call out Israel’s 76+ years of ethnic cleansing that is slowly leading to a genocidal conclusion in the West Bank as well. "You are my sisters and brothers," he said to us. "You have to speak on my behalf. It's Christ's call for you. Work for justice!!"
Or, how about the prophetic voice of Archimandrite Eustinus, the superior of a Greek Orthodox church in Nablus on the site of Jacob’s Well. He, too, did not hold back: “If you are Christian you should pay attention to this land. If they continue this war, in 20 years there will be no more Christians here. All your leaders and diplomats are hypocrites and liars. Your leaders are Zionists. My door has 56 bullets. Which US church has 56 bullets? Your President is sleeping. You have to use your voice. If you have to attack, attack me. Why do you attack my children (referring to the children in the refugee camp next door to the church)? I am here. Steadfast (sumud!). As they entrusted this church to me, I have to entrust it to someone else. I will be like Peter but not like Judas who betrayed. I will not leave. I will die here. I already have my grave here. God is Spirit. No place can contain God. The place is not important. It is important what we pray for and what we do. God is found everywhere.”
In this season of Advent, may we remember Rev. Dr. King’s wisdom that peace is more than just the absence of conflict—it is the presence of justice. Justice comes only when we begin with the truth, truth shared courageously by so many of our Palestinian siblings crying out in the wilderness, calling Western Christians to repentance and action. May we follow their lead as they point us to Liberating God’s’ just and truthful way of peace. Let us keep alert, actively waiting to see the coming of the salvation of God.
Rev. Dr. Shannon Smythe, PJN Steering Committee member, serves in a validated ministry in the Presbytery of the Coastlands as Director of Field Education and Vocational Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She has spent the past decade engaging in Reformed theological scholarship and teaching in both seminary and undergraduate contexts and pastoring in PC(USA) churches in NY, DE, and NJ. With a strong commitment to seeing God’s shalom kin-dom come on earth as it is in heaven, her goal is to help cultivate students who “are able to facilitate the gathering of people together,” inviting them “into a shared offering of themselves to one another” (Willie Jennings). Shannon lives in Morrisville, PA with her husband, Kevin, son, Micah, and dog, Chloe.