December 7, 2008

Mark 1:1-8

2^nd Sunday of Advent

Today’s third reading is from the gospel according to Mark. It comprises in fact the opening verses of the first written gospel (dated 65-70 A.D.), some 40 years after the death of Jesus.

Mark begins his gospel; “Here begins the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” It signals a beginning of a series of events leading from the baptism of Jesus to his passion and resurrection. Secondly, it is the beginning of a new form of writing. For the first time, oral fragments of memories about the life, words, and deeds of Jesus were set down in writing. Not a biography, it is rather a selective account of stories about Jesus, “signs” that would help the early Christians go on believing that the historical man Jesus was and is really the messiah of Jewish expectation, who was and is the Son of God. Thirdly, Mark’s beginning is the beginning of the gospel, the Good News. It defines the work and identifies the Good News as centering on the person of Jesus Christ. The good news begins with the preaching of John. It had to begin there if Jesus is to be correctly understood. Mark uses many Old Testament references to show that when John appeared, the long awaited final act of God for the salvation of mankind had begun.

After the introduction, John the Baptizer appears on the scene, an arrival prepared for in the Old Testament. Mark combines the “messenger” out of Malachi 3:1 and the wilderness prophet out of Isaiah 40:3 to identify John. In Malachi, the messenger is Elijah, and so John now becomes the new Elijah. The signs were there. Like Elijah, John came out of the wilderness. Like Elijah, he was clothed in camel’s hair. Like Elijah, he ate wilderness food. John becomes the sign that God is about to renew his covenant with his chosen people.

His message is a call to repentance. Metanoia is deeper that a mere turning away from. It is a coming to one’s senses resulting in a change of conduct, a thorough reform of life and attitude, a radical conversion. The outward expression of this metanoia was baptism.

John’s baptism is presented as a sign of God’s healing and forgiveness. It is a forerunner of another baptism to come, a baptism in the Spirit. John’s Baptism is a preparation for the coming of “one more powerful.” The “Lord” mentioned in Isaiah becomes now Jesus whose way John prepares. He thinks himself not fit to be the slave of the mightier one.

John is in every sense the prophet. Like the prophets of old, he calls all Israel to repentance, to be washed clean, so that they will be ready to greet the One Who is to come.

December 14, 2008

John 1:6-8, 19-28

3^rd Sunday of Advent

Today’s third reading is from the gospel according to John. It is a segmented reading, the two segments dealing with the role of John the Baptist in the divine scheme of things. John’s Gospel opens with a Prologue, a poem that originally was an early Christian hymn, which is now adapted by the writer to serve as an overture to his Gospel narrative. The first segment (vs 6-8) is an insert within that hymn. It introduces John the Baptist and testifies to his role before Christ. In the Prologue itself, Jesus, as the Word, is described as an unconquerable light shining in the darkness of the world. As the Baptist is introduced, he is emphatically referred to as a “witness” to the light, not the light itself; sent by God, true enough, but only as a witness, clearly subordinated to Jesus, the Word-made-flesh.

The second segment (vs 19-28) is the beginning of the Gospel proper, the narrative section. It narrates the mission of John the Baptist, describes his work, and tells his story. It spells out his mission as given in the Prologue. In the Gospel writer’s plan, the testimony that the Baptist gives to Jesus covers 3 days. On the first day, his testimony is about his own role. It is given before the Jewish authorities, and is really a “negative” testimony to Jesus. On the second day, his testimony is before the people of Israel. He testifies positively as to who and what Jesus is. On the third, he witnesses to Jesus before his own disciples and sends them to follow Him.

It is the Baptist’s first day’s negative testimony that is part of today’s reading. He is the subject of two interrogations. “Who are you?” the authorities asked him. He answered, “I am not the Messiah!” the eagerly awaited One. He is not Elijah, the great prophet returned to earth. He is not the Prophet; another expected one great after the manner of Moses. Out of Isaiah 40:3, he announces who it is. He casts himself in the subordinate role of herald and precursor of the Lord. In Isaiah, the angels prepared the way through the desert so the Chosen ones, God’s people, might return from exile to Palestine, their homeland. “Like a bulldozer”, they were to level the hills and fill the valleys and make a supper highway. Now John says it is he who comes to prepare a similar road, not for a return to the Promised Land, but a road for God to come to His people. His baptizing and preaching in the desert were to open men’s hearts, level their pride, fill their emptiness and prepare God’s coming in and through Jesus.

In the second interrogation the authorities want a justification for John’s baptizing. They question him, “Why do you baptize?” John asserts that he baptizes with water, and his place is very secondary, like a slave whose duty is to untie the straps on his master’s sandals at the end of a day. The baptism he administers is symbolic washing. It only prepares the people for “one whom you do not recognize” yet.

Today’s reading establishes John the Baptist as the forerunner to Jesus. He is the one who heralds the coming of Jesus the Messiah. May we suggest as preparation for His coming a prayerful reading of the entire Chapter 1 of John’s Gospel, the Prologue and the three days of testimony of John the Baptist. It might make a difference…….