Rev. Michael P. Orsi: How Would John the Baptist View Wokeness?

John the Baptist is one of those biblical figures about whom people are often unclear.

He shows up in the Gospels as “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,” who proclaims Christ’s arrival — his advent. But John’s status is sort of nebulous throughout, and he exits the story as abruptly as he enters it.

We should recognize John for what he really was: a champion of truth.

A popular preacher (today we’d call him a revivalist), he emphasized to those following his movement that he, himself, was not the Messiah. And of course, we know that it was his truth-telling that brought him to a violent end, executed by Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee.

John broke no laws. Rather, he very publicly criticized Herod, who had seduced Herodias, wife of Herod’s own brother, Philip, and taken her away from her husband. …

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