We have in the story of John the Baptist a kind of equivalent to a trailer.
John, we are told, came as a witness. He came as someone who was telling us about someone else. He’d seen stuff he wanted us to know. And he was clear he wasn’t the main event. He wasn’t the Messiah. But the Messiah was coming, and he was pointing the way.
So, we have the character of John pointing us toward the person of Christ.
We also, through the Isaiah reading, get a little of the plot. They’ll be proclamation of good news! Captives will be freed! Prisoners released from darkness! Those who mourn will be comforted! They’ll be joy instead of mourning. Praise instead of despair. Ancient ruins will be rebuilt. Places long devastated will be restored. Ruined cities, renewed.
That’s a kind of movie I’d want to see. It’s the kind of movie we’d all like to see.
