John's narrative hits the road running as it opens on John the Baptist already well under way with his ministry, enough so that word has reached the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that someone's up to something up in the wilderness. John gives us quick insight into how things are run in Jerusalem, as priests and Levites - those appointed by Yahveh to govern and enable the spiritual life of Israel - are sent by Pharisees, a political party that gained control in the years between the testaments.
The Jewish leaders have very specific expectations of the coming Messiah, and they interrogate John in order to discern whether he's got the right credentials. They're expecting Elijah (Malachi)and Moses (Deuteronomy 18), but John is neither (though Jesus AND Gabriel both assign Elijah fulfillment to the Baptizer.
John instead claims the mantel of Isaiah 40, a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord. We are left with a choice of which character we're going to resemble - the safe and orderly leaders who have a very detailed box in which they expect their Messiah to live in, or John (the son of a priest and thus a Levite himself) in his surrender to the Spirit and His call upon him.
“If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”-C.S. Lewis
“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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