G. Archer Frierson
Chair, Austin Seminary Board of Trustees
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Advent Devotional for December 18
• Luke 3:1-6
J usto González, one of the founding fathers of Latino theology from a mainline Protestant perspective, writes of the importance of “reading the Bible in Spanish.” He does not intend this phrase in the literal sense, but, rather, in using it, he invites us, as Christians, to reflect on the ways the stories we encounter in our sacred texts speak about those who have power and those who lack access to it. Reading the Bible in Spanish requires us to be attentive to the social context of the texts we read, that we might remember them responsibly and, in turn, act accordingly.
Luke 3:1-6 opens with a list of political and religious leaders governing the region in which Jesus would make his earthly home and introduces us to an adult John the Baptist. When we meet John, we learn of the content of his preaching, which calls on those who hear it to repent, that their sins might be forgiven. I imagine him crying out to his hearers that prophetic passage from Isaiah 40, urging them to ready themselves for the Lord, to make the crooked roads straight, that they might see God’s salvation.
Reading this passage in Spanish, as González recommends, I am reminded of our own political and religious contexts, which are increasingly polarized. In reflecting on the words of John the Baptist, I wonder how we might ready ourselves for the Lord. Our Lord is one who resists the temptations of political and religious power, taking on the form of a child. To what does this witness of resistance from John the Baptist—and the Lord for whom he calls on his hearers to prepare—invite us today? What is our witness to our own political and religious contexts so desperately in need of the straightening of crooked roads this Advent?
Help us, Dear Lord, to see the world with eyes refocused by your grace. Amen.
Dr. Jennifer Owens-Jofré
Visiting Assistant Professor of Constructive Theolog
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