A Burning and Shining Lamp

John the Baptist was a burning and shining lamp—but he wasn’t the dawn of the new day. John doesn’t belong to the new day—John belongs to the end of the long night. John is not the sun of righteousness that will give the world a new order and orbit. John is a supernova—the brief, brilliant explosion of a dying star. But it's John who prepares us for the coming of Jesus and the birth of a galaxy of grace.