Meeting with the Mentor

      God created everything, tangible and intangible. God created Story just as carefully as he created gravity. And like the laws of physics, Story has rules that define it. We often talk about "the story of Christ." It's not an inaccurate thing to say. The life of Jesus follows the rules of Story in all the dramatic glory of a summer action movie. Why? Well, if God came first, and Story came second, I believe that Story was made to reflect the path God had outlined for his son, to forever and constantly remind of us of his work.

Meeting with the Mentor

A voice cries;

"In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

Isaiah 40:3

       Before heading off into adventure, the hero needs to gather supplies and information. In The Wizard of Oz Dorothy meets Glinda, who provides her with the magic slippers and the information she needs to find the wizard. In Star Wars, Obi Wan gives Luke his father's lightsaber (which Google tells me is one word, and that's awesome), some family history, and direction for the path he must take. At this point, the hero is still becoming who he or she is meant to be. The mentor is there to help get the hero started down the path.      

       Story theorists love to talk about archetypes. Simply put, archetypes are reoccurring roles that characters fill in every story. The most common archetype is Hero. But there are many others, and they can overlap. In the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie Captain Jack Sparrow fills the role of the Trickster whose shenanigans get the story in motion, but he is also the worldly-wise Mentor for Hero Will Turner. (Side note: this is why the sequels, which tried to make Jack Sparrow the hero, fall flat; it's not the character he was designed to be).
       In the gospels, John the Baptist is most obviously the Herald archetype. He fills a role prophesied by Isaiah 700 years earlier, being "The voice of one crying in the wilderness; prepare the way of the Lord." For a brief moment of time John takes center stage, telling the audience of creation, "Get ready. Our hero is coming." And the first time he sees Jesus, John announces to everyone around him, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!"
       Yet John also fills the role of Mentor. Not that Jesus was lacking any supplies or information, indeed, John recognized that he was the one lacking. John said to Jesus, "I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?" John was baptizing people who needed to repent and who desired to show their faith. Jesus had never, nor would he ever, do anything wrong. Jesus is the reason for faith. Yet he still came to John to be baptized.
        Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus is it fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Jesus didn't need baptizm. But going through the symbolic act is a good thing to do. Just as we saw in the Refusal of the Call, Jesus put himself through everything we will, because he desires a relationship with us. What other religion has a god going to such lengths to connect with humanity?
       The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
       Meeting with John and being baptized by him was symbolic of Jesus emptying of himself, humbling himself, and acting in obedience. He is our example in righteous living, going so far as to do things he did not necessarily need to do.
       So John baptized Jesus. Afterwards, he didn't give Jesus magic slippers or a lightsaber, but Jesus received something from the act that was much more important. "And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, 'This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.'" Jesus received affirmation from God.
       Who are the mentors in your life? Are they providing you with the supplies and information you need for your journey? A good mentor has already traveled paths similar to yours. Is he or she bitter and weary? Or have they come out the other side stronger and wiser for the effort? We need to choose our mentors carefully, because we may end up being much like them.

Gray hair is a crown of glory;

It is gained in a righteous life.

Proverbs 16:31