Jesus Sees Us

Homily for Sunday, December 15, 2024
The Third Sunday of Advent
Luke 3:7-18

Sometimes it’s helpful to have something we can do.  When we hear of a natural disaster, for example, it can be helpful to us if we are able to write a check – helpful not just to those who receive the check but to us who write the check.  Or when there is a death, it can helpful to us to be able to write a card or to bring a meal. Or when we’re waiting for news that might be difficult, it can be helpful to busy ourselves with, say, cleaning or other tasks about the house.  Sometimes it’s helpful to have something we can do.  

In Luke’s account of John the Baptist (and only in Luke’s account), John not only tells the people to repent, but he also tells them what they can do.  From this morning’s Gospel:

“The crowds asked him, ‘What… should we do?’  …He said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’”  The same for the tax collectors: “’Teacher,what should we do?’…  ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’” And the soldiers: “’And we, what should we do?’…   ‘Do not extort money from anyone,’” said John, “‘and be satisfied with your wages.’”

These practical, concrete things to do change the passage from being merely “fire and brimstone” to truly being of help.  We like to know what we can do.  Lucas Cranach the Younger, the 16^thcentury German painter, picked up on this helpful tone when he painted this very scene from Luke chapter 3.  Cranach’s painting, “St. John the Baptist Preaching,” hangs in the art museum in the city of Braunschweig in Germany; you can find it reproduced in today’s order of service.

At the top, in the text box, toward the left of the first line, if you were to zoom in you might be able to make out in an old German script the word “Kriegsleute,” which literally means, “war people,” or “soldiers.”  In this painting, John speaks to the soldiers, telling them (in the rest of the first line) to “lasset euch an euerbesoldung begnugen” – or, to “be content with your salary.”  Notice how softly Cranach paints John the Baptist.  John leans in toward the people.  He gestures with an open and relaxed hand, and his face is at ease. And notice how the Baptist looks at the people, his eyes showing care and concern.  John’s practical advice, offering the people something they can do, suggests Cranach by his portrayal of John, goes hand in hand with his truly “seeing people, with eye contact, with personal encounter.  Contrast Cranach’s Baptist with Rodin’s sculpture of John the Baptist.  Rodin’s Baptist is upright and strides with purpose, his muscles tense. He gestures, but with a finger almost pointing.  His face is intense.  And his eyes gaze not as toward people but as if on fire.  Rodin’s austere, angular Baptist is in keeping with Matthew’s account, whose Baptist is clearly a fiery,Old Testament prophet and who omits the helpful question, “What should we do?” and also John’s practical advice.

Notice, too, in the painting the people’s response to John.  The people (for the most part) return John’s gaze.  They look at John; they are engaged in an encounter with John; there is give and take between preacher and people.  The soldiers in front and back are (mostly) attentive; by their expression, they seem to be receiving John’s message, even eager to hear it.  So, too, are the tax collectors (the well-dressed men toward the right) [so are the tax collectors] engaged and listening; and so are the ordinary people (mixed in among the soldiers and tax collectors).  John “sees” the people and they “see” him; there is a personal encounter, and the people are attentive,even eager, to listen as John offers them something they can do.  

In Cranach’s painting and in Luke’s Gospel, John the Baptist truly “sees” people.  And“seeing” them – seeing their struggles, needs and anxieties – John gives the people something they can do.  

As John himself noted, “One who is more powerful than I is coming” – John is ultimately not about himself but about Jesus.  As the “Forerunner,” John not only tells of Jesus but by his word and example, John tells something about Jesus.  What John in Luke and also in Cranach’s painting tell is that Jesus likewise “sees” us.  Jesus sees us just as we are, in our struggles, needs and anxieties. Jesus wants us in turn to see him, to look to him, to engage in personal encounter with him.  To help us, Jesus offers things we can do.  Jesus teaches things such as, “Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return” (Luke 6:35).  Elsewhere Jesus says, “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30). And Jesus also says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). To be of help to us in our struggles, needs and anxieties, Jesus gives us something we can do.  The things Jesus gives us to do are not always easy – turning the other cheek (Mt 5:39) and forgiving not seven times “but, I tell you, seventy-seven times” (Mt18:22) are difficult.  But sometimes the things Jesus gives us to do are easy:  coming to Eucharist, for example, or taking time to pray or to read the scriptures, which requires us but to take the time.  

I wonder, what might it be like for us to allow Jesus – like John the Baptist in Cranach’s painting –[what might it be like for us to allow Jesus] to “see” us, to know our needs and where we stand in need of help?  I wonder, what might it be like to allow ourselves – like the people in Cranach’s painting gazing at John – [what might it be like to allow ourselves] to return Jesus’ gaze, to see him “seeing” us with tenderness and care?  And I wonder, as Jesus “sees” us and as we see him in return, [I wonder] what might we hear Jesus inviting us to do?  Jesus knows that sometimes we find it helpful to have something to do:  “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”  Or, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44).  Or – as we are about to do here this morning – “Take, eat:  This is my Body, which is given for you.  Do this for the remembrance of me.”  And, “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant… Do this for the remembrance of me.”  

Jesus sees us; can we return his gaze to see him in return? And can we hear his commandments not as burdensome but as helpful, as healing, as something we desire, given by a loving Master who knows that we do well and tend to flourish when we have something we can do.