So Many Questions - The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

You know how they say you are what you eat? Well, I've always been so curious about why the Gospel writers found it necessary to share with us what John ate. Locusts and wild honey. What a strange detail. I know we don't often take time to dig into little things like this, but it's my job. So, I went down a rabbit hole for several hours, and let me just save you some time on research. There's almost nothing written about why he ate locusts and wild honey. So, I'd like you to just go with me on this trip. Just imagine for a moment what these foods could be saying to us symbolically about John the Baptist? What if John's food is a symbolic intaking of both the blessings and the curses that are present in our Gospel? What would it mean for us if John consumed the plague brought upon the empire to help make the people free? What if the locusts represent the hives that consumed the crops of Pharaoh before the exodus showing God's power over nature as a reminder to even the most powerful people on earth that there are some things that even they cannot control? And what about this wild honey? What are we to make of this sweet delight? I like to think of it as the nourishment that offsets the curse. A symbolic drink representing the promises of God. The place of peace and security, where war and hatred cease. A land flowing with milk and wild honey. If it is true that you are what you eat, John is showing us that a person who points the way to God is also someone who acknowledges that we must take into ourselves both the blessing and the curse. We must, acknowledge it all so that from us can come a proclamation of forgiveness.