I am "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Make straight the way of the Lord'"

 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
"Make straight the way of the Lord,"'
as the prophet Isaiah said."

Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bathabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

- John 1:19-28

Yesterday, we began John's Gospel with the verses that are called its Prologue:  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.   There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'"  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

  Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"  He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."  And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."  Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us?  What do you say about yourself?"  He said:  "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as the prophet Isaiah said."  After the Prologue, in which we are introduced to just who Christ is, we begin with Jesus' ministry.  Everything begins with John the Baptist -- an essential figure who is both the last and the greatest of Old Testament type prophets.  He was widely regarded and revered in his own time as a holy man, thus the questions from the priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem.  John, in humility appropriate to such a figure, does not point to himself, but to the One whom he declares is coming.  He quotes from Isaiah 40:3.  Paralleling Genesis, John's Gospel began with "In the beginning."  Starting with today's reading, the Evangelist goes on to give us seven days in the beginning ministry of Jesus.  Today's lectionary reading constitutes the events of the first.

 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.  And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."  These things were done in Bathabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.  John distinguishes his baptism from the one which is coming.  My study bible says that the call to repentance was traditional for prophets -- John's baptism doesn't grant remission of sins but prefigures and prepares people for the baptism of Christ which is to come.  It says, "John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit (literally "put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin."   Of this "first day" in John's Gospel, my study bible says, "John the Baptist bears witness to the Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of the Jews.  This parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.

I think it's important to understand John the Baptist and his role in Jesus' ministry.  He's like the prophets of the Old Testament who are all pointing to the Christ, just as John's quotation from Isaiah tells us.  The humility of these prophets is exemplary.  They are people who live to God, to do the will of God, to serve.  John's reputation as a holy man was understood also through his radical poverty:   putting aside all attachments that would distract from a life devoted to serving God.  In this way, the prophet "hears" clearly, performs his mission with utmost dedication, and inspires others to repentance and to holiness.  But his message is clear; it never points to himself but to the One who is coming.  It is that "One" that gives meaning and purpose to the life of the prophet.  While the Baptist and the whole of the lineage of the Old Testament did not have the blessings that Christ would bring -- such as John alludes to here when he speaks of the difference between his baptism with water and the one that is to come (more about this in tomorrow's reading) -- John's complete dedication to serving God makes it possible for him to tell the people and to prepare them for the One who's coming.  Many of Jesus' disciples were first disciples of the Baptist, and it is John the Baptist who leads them to Jesus.  But, as we say, the blessings of the Spirit that are to come through Christ are available to us.  John serves as an example of devotion, but we who follow have so much more available to us to draw us closer to God, to Christ.  We have the ministry about which John prophesies here, we have the Scriptures and the whole of the tradition of the Church:  the saintly and holy, the work of the Spirit in our lives, and so much that is there to guide us and lead the way.  We look to John and his radical humility and poverty (an example of "poor in spirit" as well) and see his complete devotion to the purposes of God.  Can we find it in ourselves to make such an effort, even in the slightest?  Let us remember the great value others have placed in what we now have, the sacrifices made for it, the devotion it has inspired.  Let us use the gifts we're given to find the Light John points toward.