NOTES:
1]  Read from v.7 to see why our passage begins on the note it does. 2] By interrupting the flow of the narrative by inserting JB's imprisonment where he does, LK may be trying to 'demarcate' between JB, Jesus & their roles. 3] Herod (Antipas) had divorced his former wife & then married his sister-in-law. 4] The words to Jesus in v.22 echo PS2:7 & IS42:1. 5] Theologians call the events of 21-22 a 'theophany', i.e. a revealing of God. (cf., e.g., Mt Sinai, Mt.Carmel, The Transfiguration,......)

WARMING UP: If you were to choose some symbols of God, would a pitchfork, or a fire, figure prominently or at all?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Afterthoughts from, follow-up to last week's Group, or since?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

15         Does the congregation we belong to have any real sense of expectation that something's about to happen? That God is about to do something in our lives, the life of the community? How do we figure out whether claims people make, not least religious ones, are true or not?

16-17   Do we find JB's pointing to Jesus (as Jesus, in turn, always points to the Father) an authentication of them, as opposed to either of them being on a self-promotion 'kick'? How do we respond to the self-promotion evident in many of today's (self- apointed?) spiritual gurus? In what ways is Jesus greater than JB? How is he more powerful? How well does JB's imagery of winnowing & burning sit with the kind of God revealed in & by Jesus? Does religion need 'punishment' to keep us honest?

18-20   When religious leaders, or ordinary Christians like us speak out about social or moral issues today, isn't it very much a matter of being 'damned if we do & damned if we don't'? How has that situation come about? Do we need to change how we believe / think / act to re-establish our credibility in the community's eyes? Or would that be to become chaff?

21-22  Would you like to hazard a guess as to what Jesus might have been praying about? Would we find it easier to 'have faith' if the heavens still opened like that, and a bit more often?  How comfortably do events like those described here, & the imagery used to describe them, sit with modern knowledge of the universe as distinct from the ancient (GEN 1:6+) view of a flat earth, 'layer-cake' way of understanding it? How might we respond to a critic claiming what happened here is a 'lot of nonsense'? Is there some way we could help such critics, & ourselves, understand & accept such events better?

Have we ever experienced God calling us his son or daughter? How do we know if / when we are 'beloved' of God? How might God convey to us today that he is 'well pleased with us'? How readily do we believe people today who tell us they've seen a sign of some kind in the heavens? If the sign back then was more for Jesus' benefit (& maybe JB's?) than any onlookers' (did they see it, anyway?) what benefits should we be looking for signs of today? Where should we be looking for such signs?