HE WILL COME

HE WILL COME
Luke shows that the message of salvation is not mythological, it does not come from creative and inventive minds, imaginary and fanciful; there is a precise historical context. "In the fifteenth year of Tiberius," that is, how much Rome was in the year 781 of its foundation, and Israel between 27 and 28 (AD). At that time, the governor (procurator) was Pontius Pilate (who ruled from 26-36 AD); King Herod, to whom the evangelist refers, was the son of Herod the Great, named Antipas. His government was from 4 BC to 39 AD In the text there is also a reference to Philip, who is not Philip the husband of Herodias; He is his brother and married Salome, daughter of his sister-in-law. Here, therefore, we have the historical-political universe presented by Luke and that is not being proposed as a way to be followed, but as a simple way of situating the True Way of salvation.

2. Another point emphasized by the evangelist is the historical-religious data; Luke presents him through the figures of Caiaphas and Annas, respectively son-in-law and father-in-law. Led the Sanhedrin of the year 18 to 36 of the Christian era. In any case, this is another reality, which is essentially different from politics, but which is not presented by Luke as a legitimate salvific road. In this context, there was also much corruption, interplay of interests, and use of God's name for personal gain. It was a reality to be overcome, transformed and directed to the Savior.

3. "Prepare the way of the Lord ..." In citing the text of Isaiah (40: 3-5), Luke brings the image of the happy liberating promise of the people of God from the exile of Babylon; the people will return to Jerusalem; the roads will be planed, everything will be prepared for that great day, which, according to Luke, is the day of the Lord's arrival. The Lord will find the mountains lowered, the roads prepared, the city with open arms to receive the Savior, the expected Messiah, who will carry the salvation of God for every creature. He does not come only to a people, but to build a universal people, a holy nation from everywhere. Flattened hills and roads signify happy men and women to receive the Christ; free and happy hearts; transformed minds; people repentant, purified and open to the approaching New.

4. The Way of the Lord is not a political one; it does not entail, on the other hand, corrupt forms of religiosities, prostitutions of the sacred, but only to the greater gesture of self-giving in visiting us, in wanting, to speak to us on an equal basis and to humanize ourselves, giving us the legitimate tools for our transformation: love as total surrender of self, truth and life according to His will. From Jesus Christ, there will be no excuses for those who know him insite in a life based on the logic of political and religious power of personal satisfaction; there are no parallel paths of human achievement, there are no possible alleys for the true definition of man; or accept the Christ or else we will turn away from Him forever. Our choice must be made in history, in the here and now of our existence, at the moment of our awareness of the need of Christ in our life.

A strong and affectionate hug.

Father José Erinaldo