Waders

Psalm 78:1-39 • Psalm 78:40-72
Esther 5:1-14 or Judith 8:9-17, 9:7-10 • Acts 18:12-28 • Luke 3:14-22

They were called waders. They hung in the area underneath the stairs at the cottage and were used when you wanted to check on something out deep but not in a boat. They were a sign of what one could do though rarely did. They hung there to me as a symbol, the character of a human being, in John the Baptist’s case, the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

And, frankly, I’d like to be that kind of person – to just wade in to something.

But in Luke 3:14-22, it says, “the word of God came to John and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Now when most of us get a message we hope it says: “Your gloves are on the bushes by the fountain,” or “I appreciate being invited to the zoom meeting to read Beowulf.”

That’s the kind of message we want to get.

But John had to speak sharply. “You brood of vipers!” The people asked him, “What then shall we do?”

After they had repented—and this is the cooling, delicious part, the part we think of when we think of John the Baptist or when we think of the Jordan River—he baptized them. He even baptized Jesus “being only thirty years of age.” And the Bible says the Holy Spirit descended upon him.

Written by Rebecca Newth

Still writing, still revisiting.