He came to testify to the light!

John the Baptist (right) with child Jesus, painting by Bartolomé Esteban Perez Murillo

The Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Advent is from John 1:6-8, 19-28.  "He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.  He himself was not the light , but he came to testify to the light."  When I see John in my minds eye, I see the big, burly man, dressed in rough cloths, and demanding our attention on every level.  I have never thought of him as a child.  

The paining above caught my attention as I was doing research this week and I have not been able to let it go.  I find my eyes continually being drawn back to it.  Why?  Jesus and John playing like little boys do.  Maybe they are playing in the mud, trying to build something.  Have Mary and Elizabeth told them not to play with sharp objects?  What is that stick they have found?  I love the sheep looking up at Jesus.  The look of love and a sense of presence at his feet.  John is working hard, physically pressing forward to put that stake in the ground.  What does it mean to them?  Jesus handing John a drink, here take this cup. 

Images of children bring up feelings that cross the gamut.  For some it is a reminder of times past, special, playful, simple times.  Others are reminded of the losses of abuse or neglect.  Missing children that have passed is a grief most of us can't imagine.  Mary and Elizabeth came to  know this pain.  For most of Elizabeth's life she knew the empty hole that comes with being unable for whatever reason to not have children.  Darkness, loss, grief are central to the story of God coming amongst us.  But with that needs to come the hope of new light and life.  The joy and simplicity of childhood if only in our hearts.  Jesus and John playing in the dirt, chubby little legs and  playing with sharp objects.  What will their lives bring, what do they know on that day?  

John came to witness to the light of God, that is about to come among us.   Seeing him as a child, playing with Jesus opens the lens of this passage anew.  How do we experience the light of God, coming to us in the most vulnerable being, when we see it through the eyes of a child?  John, a big, burly, loud prophet-braving his way through the wilderness, was once a small boy, playing in the mud with his best friend.  

Collect from the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist: June 24

"Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and, following his example, constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God forever and ever.  Amen."