John the Baptist
Monday before the Epiphany A-1
Entrance Antiphon A holy day has dawned upon us: Come, you nations, and adore the Lord, for a great light has come down upon the earth.
Collect Grant your people, O Lord, we pray, unshakable strength of faith, so that all who profess that your Only Begotten Son is with you for ever in your glory and was born of the Virgin Mary in a body truly like our own may be freed from present trials and given a place in abiding gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Scripture today: 1 John 2:22-28; Psalm 97; John 1:19-28
This is the testimony of John when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “Well then, are you Elias?” And he said: “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” They said therefore to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say of yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaias said.” Those who were sent were of the Pharisees, and they asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there stands in the midst of you one whom you do not know. He will come after me who is preferred before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.” These things were done in Bethany, beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.(John 1:19-28)
John the Baptist In the first chapter of St John’s gospel a good portion is given over to John the Baptist. All recognized his greatness, and John the Evangelist, writing long after his death, tells us more of him. We read in the Acts of the Apostles of various followers of John the Baptist found here and there across the ancient world, who were profoundly influenced by him. Our Lord on one occasion said that no one born of woman had been greater than he. Our Lord’s precise meaning here would need to be considered carefully because, of course, far greater than John in personal holiness was our Lord’s own mother. Speaking in a different sense, our Lord himself would say that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven was greater than John the Baptist. However, our Lord clearly affirms the greatness of John the Baptist. Now, let us ask in what did his greatness consist? Obviously he heard the word of God, accepted it totally and put it into practice with utter dedication. He was a prophet and recognized by all as such. At times there were prophets in the Old Testament who were less than worthy of their calling, but such was not John the Baptist. The priests and Levites from Jerusalem were sent to ask him who he claimed to be in the scheme of God’s plan for his people. For instance, did he understand himself as being the Prophet whom Moses had predicted was to come? No, I certainly am not, replied John. Was he then Elijah whom the Scriptures foretold would come again to prepare a people fit for the Lord? No. John saw himself as being none of these exalted figures — although, be it noted that our Lord told his disciples after his Transfiguration that John indeed had been the Elijah who was to come. So John was fearless, he was wholly given over to bearing witness to the word of God, and he was profoundly humble. He sought no special status or praise in the eyes of others. Who then did he see himself as being? I am, John said in answer, nothing other than a voice, a voice crying out in the wilderness.
He was a voice announcing the arrival of Another. As we think, then, of the greatness and the humility of John, we are drawn to think of the One to whom he bore such splendid and disinterested witness. John was a voice crying out to all that they prepare a way for the Lord. St John the Evangelist had been a disciple of the Baptist and therefore a personal witness to what he was narrating about him. His purpose in describing these scenes in which John the Baptist speaks and acts, was to set forth the person of Jesus. I am not fit to undo the straps of the one who is coming, John said to his questioners (John 1:19‑28). What a testimony this is! St John tells us in the passage that “this is how John appeared as a witness.” John appeared as a witness by refusing all personal honours and by attributing all honour and glory to the One who was already in the midst of them. With this example before us, let us ask ourselves this question: in my heart of hearts do I think that “I am not fit to undo the sandal straps” of Jesus, whose disciple I am? Let us ask this question of our Jewish and other non‑Christian brethren, what is your view of John the Baptist? Do you regard him as having been a holy man and a prophet? If you do thus regard him, should you not take heed of his testimony in respect to the person of Jesus? John the Baptist said of Jesus that he, John, was not worthy to bend down to undo his sandal strap. Considerable numbers of Christians would not have anything like this degree of veneration and reverence for the person of Jesus Christ. In his personal reverence for the person of Jesus, John the Baptist is a model for the modern Christian. He is also a model as to the kind of witness before others that each Christian ought bear in respect to Jesus. We ought be humble and profoundly reverent. We ought pray for the grace so to revere Christ that we too can say from the depths of our hearts that we are not fit to kneel down and undo his sandal‑straps. This reverence ought show itself in the way we refer to Christ and in how we speak of all that is his, such as his Church and his Sacraments.
Every person who has discovered Christ has a great work to do in life. It is to be faithful to his word and to bear witness to him. John the Baptist provides us with an outstanding model in respect to reverence for Jesus and bearing witness to him. It has often been remarked that modern man tends to lack reverence. Let us be humble in respect to ourselves and profoundly reverent in respect to the person of Jesus. John the Baptist can help us in this.
(E.J.Tyler)
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