Of the four gospel accounts in the New Testament, Luke is my favorite. Luke is warm and simple, full of love and joy, healing and grace. And Luke treats women better than any other book in the Bible. It is in Luke that we find the beloved Christmas story — with baby sighs and soft skin and angel wings. Then we get to Luke’s third chapter and the tone shifts. Warm, fuzzy Jesus is abruptly replaced by loud, livid John. And we learn that even Luke’s good news is often proclaimed in a bad news world. Even Luke finds it necessary to remind us that the gospel message is not a fairy tale about bouncing babies and radiant rainbows. The good news is a reality show and it begins amidst the shards of our broken lives. The good news begins by telling the truth.
I find John’s truth-telling refreshing …