Mtr Taylor Devine
Dear Friend,
“You brood of vipers!” doesn’t exactly resonate with the sort of kind and welcoming tenor we imagine ourselves having when we share our relationship with Jesus with another person in conversation, when inviting them to Church, or participating in various acts of service or worship in the community. It stands out in Matthew’s telling of this moment with John the Baptist - St John is passionate and persistent about the Messiah that would soon be known all around as Jesus, and maybe even angry that others do not see the world-upending potential of his arrival. The clarity of his speech alerts us and those gathered at the time that this is a big deal - not a baptism into which one might dip a toe, but a life and world changing event. St John’s witness to Jesus from the beginning has been loud and noticeable, but never pointing back to himself, always startling us toward Jesus. Sometimes it is still startling to reckon with Scripture about wrath and good fruit and bad fruit and winnowing forks, even when we walk in a long relationship with Jesus. One commentator who I return to over time is the Rev Fleming Rutledge, a public theologian and Episcopal Priest. Her focus on the implications of Scripture that calls for repentance and promises redemption is a trustworthy source that points toward Jesus while staying firmly rooted in today’s culture and experience. I found this portion of a longer interview to be a word of grace today - I hope it might point to Jesus for you as well.
Q: Is that what we are, [condemned into redemption]?
A: It’s what Jesus was, first of all. It was Jesus who was condemned into redemption. The book is about Jesus, and the saying is about him. No, we are not condemned into redemption. He did it for us. We are not condemned the way he was. He’s the one who passed through condemnation for us so that we would not have to. “Condemned into redemption” is not about us; it’s about him. In the crucifixion we see the entire human race summed up in Jesus, who lived it for us. He suffered ultimate abandonment and condemnation and took it all into himself and brought it and us through into eternal life. “Recapitulation” is the word that the church father Irenaeus used for this. The term well conveys the sense that in Christ we see the entire history of humanity acted out and perfected, therefore recapitulated. But not only perfected — carried forward into the divine life of God. Again, there’s that future element.
The link to the full Fleming Rutledge+ Interview is here.
May we grow in courage in our walk with Jesus as we follow him into deeper waters of redemption, of grace, of life.
In Christ,
Mtr Taylor