It just wouldn’t be Advent without the story of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” (Luke 3:1-6). Yet we can be in such a rush to get to John that we skip over Luke’s introduction to the story in 3:1-2. There, in what at first appears to be merely a timestamp, Luke speaks a profound truth about the nature of the Gospel.

Where the Word is Not

While it may seem pretty boring, Luke’s introduction to the story of John the Baptist matters. Luke says,

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler[a] of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

In these verses, Luke lingers over the political establishment of his day, naming each of the rulers in turn, from the emperor down to the more regional authorities. He begins with two Roman officials: the emperor, Tiberius, and Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea. He then names three regional kings: Herod (Antipas), Philip, and Lysanius, the kings of the Herodian Tetrarchy.

Together, these five rulers represent the political structure of ancient Judea, from the local elites all the way to the emperor himself.

After naming the political powers, Luke goes on to name the leaders of the religious establishment of his day: Annas and Caiphas. Caiphas was the high priest in the Jerusalem Temple in the time of Jesus. His father-in-law Annas was a former high priest and the founder of a priestly dynasty that included his five sons as well as Caiphas. Together, Annas and Caiphas are the most prominent leaders of the religious establishment in Judea.

According to the rhetoric of the Empire, these seven figures, both political and religious, control access to God. The imperial power insists that God works through the religious establishment of the Temple, and that through the religious establishment God blesses the Judea and the Roman Empire.

The Word Gone Wild

And yet, Luke tells us, the word of God doesn’t come through the political and religious establishment. Rather, the word of God appears in the wilderness.

The Greek word for wilderness (eremos) literally means a desolate or uninhabited place. It refers to places where people do not go. It contrasts the polis—the city—where people of power and means congregate. The word of God isn’t among the powerful. It isn’t among the elite. It isn’t in the religious establishment.

The word of God comes to the world in desolate places.

Preparing the Way of the Lord

For those of us who are ourselves a part of the religious establishment in our own day, these verses can be challenging. For those of us with access to political and economic power, these verses can be scandalous.

Still today, the word of God comes in the wilderness, beyond the reach of the centers of power.

Still today the word of God refuses imperial control. If are too caught up in the establishment, we may find ourselves missing the arrival of the word of God, which appears in desolate and forgotten places.

So as we await the arrival of the Word of God in this Advent time, we should turn our attention away from the centers of power. Away from the rich and the powerful. Away from the religious establishment.

Rather, we should expect the Word of God to arrive once again in the wilderness. In the desolate places forgotten by those in power. Among people abandoned by our politics. In communities forsaken by our economics. Among those who dare not step foot in our polished sanctuaries.

This Advent, let us seek the word of God in the wilderness. The Christ-child is there, in the desolate places, waiting for us. So let us go now and prepare the way.