I am "The voice of one crying in the wilderness"

 

 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 Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

 

- John 1:19–28 

 

Yesterday the lectionary gave us what is called the "Prologue" of John's Gospel:   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."  This John is John the Baptist.  Yesterday, we read the theological Prologue to the Gospel, which taught us about the origins, divinity, and mission of Jesus Christ the Son of God.  Today the focus shifts to the beginnings of Christ's ministry, in the witness (testimony) of John the Baptist.  Just as the Prologue gave us an echo of Genesis, by starting verse 1 with "In the beginning" (see yesterday's reading, above), so the Gospel now parallels Genesis by giving us this "first day" of Christ's ministry.  Over the course of the next several readings, we will be given seven consecutive days.  Each day parallels the themes in the same days in the creation story of Genesis.  Here in today's reading, John the Baptist bears witness to the Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of the representatives of the Jewish leaders sent from Jerusalem.  Today's reading parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  

And they asked him, "What then?  Are you Elijah?"  He said, "I am not."  "Are you the Prophet?"  And he answered, "No."   Although the Gospel does not overtly state it, it was understood (and also evident through the text) that John the Baptist was an extremely significant figure at this time just prior to the public ministry of Jesus Christ.  We can see from the questions asked by these representatives sent from the religious leadership in Jerusalem what significance John had as a public figure, who was clearly considered a holy man by the people.  They ask him if he is Elijah because the Prophet Elijah was prophesied to return before the Christ (Malachi 4:5-6).  Elsewhere, Jesus indicates that John the Baptist was Elijah returned in spirit (see, for example, Mark 9:13).   Here although he is a prophet, John denies that he is the Prophet, whom my study Bible says is the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. 

 

 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."  John the Baptist quotes from Isaiah 40:3, the word of one who prepares the way for the Christ, the Lord who is coming and will establish His kingdom.  

 

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 Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.    As these representatives are sent from the Pharisees, they quiz John as to his purpose in baptizing.  Luke 3:3 tells us that John was preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  My study Bible comments that the call to repentance was tradition for prophets.  But John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all; instead, it prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come.  It notes that John is a figure of the Law in that, like the Law, he denounced sin but could not remit ("put away") sin.  Both John and the Law point to the One who can remit sin.  That is the One John says, "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."  By this language, John is comparing himself in spiritual authority to Christ, in humility declaring that in this sense, he is not even worthy to be a slave of Christ.  

 

 In today's reading, John's Gospel gives us a "first day" of Christ's public ministry.  Note that in this first day, Jesus has not yet made an appearance.  He is alluded to by John the Baptist, but even John the Baptist will indicate in the following reading in this Gospel (Thursday's reading) that at this stage, he does not know who the Christ is.  These details tell us something very important for our own lives of faith.  Most of the time, we tend to think of these great saints and figures of the Gospels as having a spiritual wisdom that has so much to teach us that they are something akin to omniscient.  But, in effect, we see John's great humility teaching us much more about who and what he is than we can imagine for ourselves.  John's humility -- in stating that he personally is not even of rank enough to be a slave to Christ -- is a great key to who John is.  John is a prophet who has dedicated absolutely everything in his life to serving God.  He has no wealth.  In dress he bears resemblance to Elijah; Matthew tells us that John "was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey" (Matthew 3:4; compare to the description of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8).  It is in great humility that his detachment from worldly things is so complete in order to serve God.  It is John's great humility that effectively enables him to be not only the final but also the greatest of all the Old Testament style prophets.  As we enter into Lent, this is the right time to think about our own humility.  The traditional fasting practices of Lent are meant to help us cultivate detachment from worldly things, to all the more focus on Christ at the center of our identity, and helping us to lead our lives in the fullness of His way for us, even as individuals.  There is yet another element about John on display in today's reading, and that is that his fidelity to mission is so complete that he is able to prophesy and prepare people for the Messiah, although he does not know Him.  While we have the stories of the prophecies regarding John the Baptist and Jesus in the stories of their mothers, the cousins Elizabeth and Mary (in Luke 1, 2), the revelation of the identity of the Christ will come to John only at the time of Christ's Baptism.  So John the Baptist carries out the fullness of his mission without knowing the identity of the Christ, even until the moment this is revealed to him.  As such, we can take a great lesson in this story in terms of our own lives.  Unlike John, we are not all prophets, but even this greatest of the prophets (Matthew 11:11) does not know all the answers nor the outcome of his ministry; neither does he know the Christ for whom he's preparing the people.  This should equip us to understand for ourselves that although we do not know the outcome of our lives nor our efforts as those who would also be Christ's followers, we are to carry on day-to-day even in a state of unknowing.  There are some things we know, and some we don't know, but faith is always an ongoing process in a life that unfolds through time.  We don't have all the answers, but we can follow John's example of humility and even a state of faith despite our unknowing, and be confident that this is simply the way things are, and the way things always were.  Let us, like John, cultivate the detachment that allows us to remain in this place of both humility and unknowing, even as we pursue our faith.  This is the right mindset to cultivate for Lent, for all of its associated historical practices are meant to help us to develop just such a detached state of mindfulness, and a focus on Christ, even in the midst of unknowing.  Let us take confidence in John the Baptist's example.