Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent
Apart from Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist is the outstanding figure of the Advent season. What do we make of him? How do we evaluate John? We are not likely to improve on the assessment of Jesus himself. John had been preaching in the Judean desert. He comes across as a very stern, ascetical figure. He probably lived in a cave in the Judean hills, having more or less dropped out of society. He criticised the lifestyle of King Herod and he is thrown into prison. Incidentally, the historical Herod does seem to have been every bit as bad and cruel as Christian mythology has painted him. He was a truly nasty piece of work.
When John hears news of the words and doings of Jesus, he sends two of his disciples to investigate. When the two of them catch up with Jesus, they are up-front with their question: 'John the Baptist has sent us to ask: Are you the one who is to come or wait we for another?' Jesus replies, 'Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard...the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed...and happy the man who does not lose faith in me' and so on. Then Luke tells us: "When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to talk to the people about John. "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? But those who dress in fine clothes are found living luxurious lives at the royal palace? Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. He is the one of whom scripture says: 'See, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare the way before you.' I tell you, of all the children born of women, there is no one greater than John."
This testimony of Jesus firmly relates John to God's plan of salvation. The rhetorical questions serve to define -in terms of what John was not- the role of the Baptist. John is no reed bending to every wind but a granite figure; he is no pampered courtier but a prisoner of conscience in Herod's dungeon. He is indeed a prophet, a spokesman of God. For that matter, he is "more than a prophet" he is precursor of Jesus foretold by the Old Testament prophet Malachai. No other, not even the prophets of old, is greater than he.
The baptism of Jesus by John is unquestionably historical. It could not have been invented by Christians. For that matter, Matthew shows how embarrassing the whole episode was for those present. He has John trying to persuade Jesus to drop his request: 'It is I who need baptism from you', he says, 'and yet you come to me.' Jesus insists and Matthew passes over the episode as quickly as possible. What becomes clear is that Jesus of Nazareth, hearing of the Baptist movement, came to see for himself and was impressed by what he saw and heard. John the Baptist was the only person in the society of his day who impressed Jesus. Though he admired John, Jesus followed his own path. John was a prophet of doom who preached a "baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins". Jesus proclaimed; "the kingdom of God is at hand". Where John had prophesied the judgement of God, Jesus prophesied the salvation of God. The good news of Jesus is very good indeed: "the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the good news preached to them". There is another prophetic message, another prophetic style, very different to that of John the Baptist.
In his gospel Luke has taken care to keep Jesus one step above John. It was one step that made a world of difference, as he was fully aware. There is no doubt as to the greatness of John and his place in God's design. But his vision was not that of Jesus and his message lacked the warmth of the one who, from his place "in the bosom of the Father", could and did speak of the foolish love of God. John suffered from the affliction of wholly dedicated persons with reforming passion: the temptation to impose their God, usually a humourless God. Characteristically, John lacked a sense of humour. Jesus did have a sense of humour. We can almost hear him chuckle when he found his card trumped by the quick-witted Samaritan woman at the well. You couldn't imagine John engaging in that discussion. In all probability he would have bawled her out of it because of her loose life-style. The Baptist is great, no doubt of that. But the greater than he had a message and a vision that transcend the Baptist's fondest dream.
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