Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

 

 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.'  I did not know Him; but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."  And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon Him.  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."

 

- John 1:29–34 

 

Yesterday we were given the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee, found in St. Luke's Gospel:   Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  For the previous reading in St. John's Gospel to today's, please see Tuesday's reading.

 

  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.'  I did not know Him; but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water."  My study Bible comments that John's declaring Jesus as the Lamb of God recalls Isaiah's "Servant of God" who dies for the transgressions of his people (Isaiah 53:4-12).  Christ, the true Paschal (Passover) Lamb, offers Himself for our deliverance from darkness and death (1 Peter 1:18-19).  My study Bible adds that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus came to John this second time so that John could make this declaration.  Therefore it would stop anyone from thinking Jesus needed baptism to wash away sins. 

 

  And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon Him.  I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'  And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."   That the Spirit remained upon Jesus is a sign that Christ possesses the Spirit in His fullness from all eternity.  This does not indicate that Jesus received the Holy Spirit first at His Baptism.  Instead, this is a vision that John saw which revealed the truth that the Holy Spirit has always rested upon Christ, the Son.

 

 In today's reading, John the Baptist brings into fullness his destiny to introduce the world to Jesus the Messiah, the Lamb of God.  We know that John has already indicated of himself that he is "'the voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"' as the prophet Isaiah said." (quoting from Isaiah 40:3).  In other words, John has already identified himself as the fulfillment of this part of the prophesy of Isaiah:  the one who heralds the coming of the Messiah, and prepares the people to receive Him.  Today his identity comes to its apex, when he presents Jesus as the Lamb of God, the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, upon whom the Spirit sits as clear indication that He is the Christ.  This clear fulfillment of the ministry and identity of John the Baptist gives us a sense of how God works in the world and through creation.  God does not work alone, but brings each of us into the entirety of the salvation story.  God works through God's ministers, the angels, through saints (holy human beings like John), prophets, and others.  And finally, God works through the Incarnation of His Son as the human being Jesus to bring us the Christ, fully divine and fully human.  There is only one Son, and that is Jesus Christ.  But just as Christ is unique in His identity in the story of salvation and of existence, so each one of us -- like John the Baptist -- may also have our own place, our own identity, to fulfill within the salvation story and in service to Christ.  John is an exemplary saint.  Only Mary the Theotokos, the Mother of God, has a similar place on the iconostasis of an Orthodox Church; she is always on Christ's right, while John is on His left.  In other words, John (and the Theotokos) so fully embrace the holiness that is possible for them, that they attain this exalted saintly stature as human beings through their lives.  They both fulfill to a maximal degree the identity that Christ offers as God shares with each of us the capacity to participate in the salvation story.  There is such a deep and complete communion given through God's act of creation that we are all invited in to participate to the greatest degree possible, and this happens by a gift of God and through faith.  In today's story, John fulfills his destiny by presenting the Lamb of God to the world, and witnessing the full truth of Christ's identity, testifying to all that He is the One upon whom the Holy Spirit rests.  This is John's exalted honor, his great place of tremendous grace, to fulfill this service.  Each one of us, then, taking John as example, should consider, throughout this Lent as we approach Resurrection, what role Christ asks of us, how we may serve.  For we, too, may embody holiness should we embrace our faith and devote ourselves to the grace He offers us, and we do this through all the practices we're given in Lent, all the ways we are invited to participate.  We can pray, we fast, we give alms, but perhaps most of all we make time for God in that secret place and in ways not spectacular but hidden from the world in our heart and in the inner room we make for contemplative prayer (Matthew 6:6).   For it is in seeking God who sees in secret, and who is in the secret place, that we find ourselves.   Let us take this secret place seriously, for Jesus has told us that it is there we find our Father, and there we must be to meet Him. 

 

 

 

 

For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones

 

 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.  And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

 

- Matthew 3:7–12 

 

Yesterday we read that in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.'"  Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 

 

  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"  My study Bible explains that Sadducees were members of the high-priestly and landowning class who controlled the temple as well as the internal political affairs of the Jews.  In a sense, therefore, they were a type of aristocratic class.  They denied the resurrection of the dead and they had no messianic hope beyond this life.  The Pharisees, it notes, on the contrary, formed a lay religious movement.  This movement was focused on the study of the Law (or Torah) and strict observance of its regulations.  They believed in the resurrection of the dead and also cherished a messianic hope.  However, they taught that righteousness is achieved on the basis of one's works according to the Law, and my study Bible adds that they believed the Messiah would be simply a glorious man.  John the Baptist's title for them here, brood of vipers, will later be used by Jesus as well (Matthew 12:34; 23:33).  My study Bible explains that this title is a description of their deception and malice, and being under the influence of Satan -- vipers being an image of the character of the demonic.

"Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance . . . "  My study Bible comments that repentance, confession, and baptism lead to fruits worthy of repentance, a way of life which is consistent with the kingdom of God (see Galatians 5:22-25).  If a fruitful life does not follow, it notes, sacramental acts and spiritual discipline are of little use.  So, therefore, in many Orthodox icons of the Baptism of Christ, there is an ax portrayed chopping a fruitless tree (in the image given by John the Baptist here in verse 10).  

 

 ". . . and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.'  For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."  This warning is a memorable play on words in Hebrew:  from these stones (Hebrew 'ebanim) God can raise up children (Hebrew banim).  My study Bible adds that God will not admit fruitless children into God's house, but adopts other children from the Gentiles.   This is John's warning to the religious leaders.

"And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  See the commentary at verse 8, above.  Fire here is a reference to divine judgment, my study Bible notes (see Isaiah 33:11, 66:24; Ezekiel 38:22, 39:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).  See also fire in the next verse.

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."  My study Bible comments that Christ baptizes in the fire of the Holy Spirit, the power and grace of God which is divinely poured out on all believers at baptism.  Note how fire figures also in the verse above.  Furthermore, my study Bible tells us that in the culture of John the Baptist, a slave would carry the sandals of the king.  Therefore, what John is saying here is that he is lower than a slave of Jesus.  John's inability to carry the sandal of Christ also has another meaning -- carrying someone else's sandal once meant to take someone else's responsibility (Ruth 4:7).  Used here, it tells us that John is declaring he could not have carried the responsibility that Christ does -- and that the Law could not redeem the world as Christ has come to do.  John the Baptist himself is a figure of the Law, in that he is considered to be the last and greatest prophet of the Old Testament.

 

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."  A winnowing fan was used to separate the threshed wheat from the chaff, the nourishing grain from the inedible parts of the plant.  This is a metaphor for divine judgment, which will separate good from evil.

Fire figures largely and in seemingly different ways in today's reading.  Let us first note that fire is an image of energy.  If we turn to the story of the Burning Bush in Exodus 3 we see a bush consumed with fire.  But the bush, as Moses observes, is not consumed; it is burning but the fire does not actually burn the bush.  "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, 'I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn ' " (Exodus 3:2, 3).   Out of this burning bush that does not actually burn in the fire comes the voice of the Lord to Moses.  The fire energy renders the place holy, as the "angel of the Lord" tells Moses, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5).  The Lord gives Moses instructions, and tells Moses the Name of the Lord:  "I AM WHO I AM." And the Lord said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.' " (Exodus 3:14).  So this energy of fire, of the "angel of the Lord" and the voice of the Lord guiding Moses, is an energy that consecrates, out of which God speaks and encounters God's servant Moses, and although it is burning, it does not consume the bush.  In today's reading, John the Baptist speaks of fire in these senses, and in another:  the fire of judgment.  The fire of judgment is the same fire of the Burning Bush, but that same fire has an effect on soul and spirit:  it is a purifying fire.  It burns that which cannot stand in its energy, and sustains that which can receive it and find compatibility with it.  In a similar passage to today's reading, Luke 3:16-17, my study Bible comments about Christ's baptism as John the Baptist prophesies here, that fire in this context has the primary meaning of the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to the world at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, in which we note the tongues of fire that appeared on the apostles).  It is moreover a declaration of the judgment of Christ, in which the faithless will burn.  But we must note that this fire is one -- it is the same power and the same Spirit which both enlivens the faithful and destroys the faithless.  John the Baptist preaches repentance for the people -- and the religious leaders -- to prepare for a new age ushered in by the Messiah, the Christ who is coming, bringing the kingdom of heaven which is at hand (see yesterday's reading, above).  This new age is brought to us with Christ's Incarnation, and John the Baptist prepares the people for His public ministry, ushering in what are truly the "end times" which will culminate in the judgment at the end of the age.  Let us for now be assured that it is the same fire of love, of the mercies of God, that judges, burning that which cannot stand in it, vivifying and renewing all of creation to be brought into the Kingdom.  May we cherish this gift for faithfulness that leads us on the path to such a joyful reconciliation, through a world that so remarkably needs it.   John tells the religious leaders of his time, "For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones."  The power of God is life absolute.  Let us ask for the power of God to raise us up as children to Abraham, to teach us to live that same faithfulness of Abraham, the living stones about whom St. Peter will so effectively preach (1 Peter 2:4-5).

 

 

It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose

 

 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 we read what is termed the "Prologue" to John's Gospel (verses 1-18):   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 receive 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."  Here John's Gospel shifts from the theological Prologue to the stirrings of Christ's ministry.  This ministry begins with the witness of John the Baptist.  The Gospel will the take us to the calling of the first apostles (John 1:35-51), the first "sign" (of seven) given by Christ at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), and then Christ's rest at Capernaum (John 2:12).  My study Bible references John's Gospel starting with the term, "In the beginning" (see above) similarly to the opening of Genesis (Genesis 1:1), as a parallel that will continue through this opening of the Gospel, covering seven days.  On this first day given in today's passage, John the Baptist bears witness to the Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of the Jews from Jerusalem, the priests and Levites who come to inquire about who John is.  This parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  We will observe the other daily parallels on the following days given of this first week of ministry in John's Gospel. 

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."  My study Bible comments that John the Baptist is a prophet but not the Prophet, the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).   John the Baptist replies to the religious leaders by quoting from the prophesy of Isaiah (Isaiah 40:3).  

 

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's baptism is one of repentance, a traditional call for prophets.  However, it did not grant remission of sins, but it prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ which was to come, my study Bible notes.  (See Romans 6:3-11.)  My study Bible adds that 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.  That is, the One among you whom you do not know, as John says to the Pharisees, the One whom John declares is "is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."

 

 Why do we need preparation for Jesus Christ?  Why was it that John the Baptist was sent by God to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus Christ among them?  The Jews had long had expectations of the Messiah, but this in itself comes from God's preparation of the world for Christ.  As we can read in the Gospels, so many of those expectations were false or inappropriate to who Jesus truly is and was, and His ministry would be one that would clarify what it was to be "saved" by this Messiah, this Deliverer longed for by Israel.  But preparation is clearly important and essential, else this would not be the way that a salvation plan "for the life of the world" would have unfolded.  John the Baptist is the last in a line of prophets who gave us (and of course, the Jewish people) the word about the Messiah who was to come.  So many of the things that we understand about Jesus, and the titles that are used about Him (such as "Prince of Peace") come from the prophets.  Isaiah writes, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).  In the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period (that is, the centuries prior to the coming of Christ) there is found the Book of Enoch, parts of which make striking references to the figure of Christ as we understand Him.  In Enoch's vision there is with God another being who has the "appearance of a man", whose "face was full of graciousness," who is "the Son of Man who has righteousness, with whom dwells righteousness, and who reveals all the treasures of that which is hidden" (see The Book of Enoch, chapter 46).  Our Bibles contain the books of the Old Testament precisely because of this necessary preparation to understand who Christ is, and what is the story of our creation, and the grace of God working throughout our history to call us back, to redeem and to save, from the things that destroy life in this world, so that we understand ourselves and how we are called back toward God and a destiny with this Son of Man (see also Daniel 7:13).  All along, from the patriarchs like Abraham, to the prophets, and now to the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, God has been preparing the people for Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, who will initiate a new age in which we still live as we await His return.  John the Baptist, in his tremendous example of holy humility, says of the Christ, "It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."   Let us, also, receive that for which so much care and grace was taken to prepare us. 

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. 

 

 

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 given 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 read what is called the Prologue to John's Gospel:   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was 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."  The theological Prologue to John's Gospel was in our previous reading (see above), and in today's reading the focus shifts to the beginnings of the ministry of Christ.  Just as the Gospel began with the words "In the beginning," evoking Genesis 1:1, so Genesis is paralleled in this beginning of the story of the ministry of Christ, which covers seven consecutive days.  In today's reading we're given the first day, the witness of John the Baptist.  

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 given 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 is a prophet (indeed, he is considered to be the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets), but he is not the Prophet, the Messiah, whose coming was foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  John quotes from Isaiah 40:3.

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.  On this first day given in John's Gospel, John the Baptist bears witness to the Light -- the Christ -- in the presence of authorities sent from the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem.  My study Bible suggests that this parallels the creation of light on the first day in Genesis 1:3-5.  John baptizes with water for repentance, a traditional call for prophets.  His baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but was a prefiguration and preparation for the baptism of Christ, which he indicates here to those sent from the Pharisees.  My study Bible comments 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.

John points to the Light, as my study Bible explains, and he indicates that he baptizes to prepare people for the coming of the Light, the Christ.  This is the work of a prophet, to prepare people for the Lord.  The traditional call of the prophets, as my study Bible explains, is to repentance.  If we consider carefully what this means, it's a reminder to all of us of what we need to do throughout our lives, to orient ourselves toward God, even a sense of a meeting with God.  Repentance is, in a sense, a declaration that, as the Psalmist declares, "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge" (Psalm 51:4).  In other words, it is the Lord to whom we turn to set our steps straight, even when our errors concern others.  We look to God to find the ways we need to lead our lives, and to come to terms with whatever we need to do to set things right.  John echoes the word of Isaiah when he declares that he is the voice of one crying in the wilderness:  "Make straight the way of the LORD."  The call to repentance, the call to make straight the way of the LORD, is a call to communion in some sense; both are figuratively calls to turn to face the Lord, in communion and relationship -- and to the righteousness necessary to do so.  It is a call to us that, no matter where we are in our lives, whatever it is that we are in the midst of doing or whatever concerns us, to turn toward the Lord and to consider this our primary need that sets all else in place, in righteous order.  This is because righteousness means "right relatedness."  So the sense in which the prophets call to repentance, in which John the Baptist calls on the people to make the paths of the Lord straight, is a call to righteous order, to set ourselves in right relatedness to God, and by extension to neighbor, for as Christ said, the two are inseparable (Matthew 22:34-40).  While John the Baptist's call is given to us as the "first day" of Christ's ministry, let us note that it should be a reminder to us that we need to do this all the time:  when we pause for prayer, we take time to "make His paths straight" and orient ourselves toward God so that we set our own lives in order.  John reminds us of Christ's words given to us at the end of Matthew's Gospel (Saturday's reading):  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."   We should know that the Lord is with us always, so that we turn to Him and make straight His way in our hearts.

 

 

Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:

"Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, 

Who will prepare Your way before You."

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

'Prepare the way of the LORD;

Make His paths straight.'"

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  

Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

 

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

 

- Mark 1:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that as the disciples discussed the experience of the two on the road to Emmaus with the risen Christ, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."  But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled?  And why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"  So they gave Him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb.  And He took it and ate in their presence.  Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.  Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things.  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."  And He led the out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.  Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.  Amen.

 

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  My study Bible comments that gospel (in Greek εὐαγγέλιον/evangelion, literally meaning "good news" or "good tidings") is a reference not to Mark's writings per se -- but rather to the story of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That is, it is the good news of our salvation.  Beginning, my study Bible writes, points to the opening events of Christ's public ministry given here in Mark's Gospel.  Specifically, it begins with the preparation by the Lord's forerunner, St. John the Baptist, and Christ's encounter with him. 

 

As it is written in the Prophets:  "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.'"   Mark the Evangelist quotes from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3, indicating John the Baptist's highly significant place in salvation history.  John the Baptist's ministry is the fulfillment of these cited prophecies.  Mark reminds us that for the first Christians, the Scriptures were the Old Testament Scriptures; there was no New Testament when this -- the earliest dated Gospel -- was written.  

John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  John preaches a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  In the Greek, the word for repentance (μετάνοια/metanoia, pronounced "metanya" in Greek) means "change of mind."  This call to repentance was traditional for prophets, but John calls people to preparation for the Messiah.  My study Bible comments that John's baptism did not grant remission of sins once and for all, but prefigured and prepared people for the baptism of Christ to come (see Romans 6:3-11).  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.  We can see how revered and popular a figure he was in that all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

 

 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  John is notably clothed in a manner which is similar to that of Elijah (2 Kings 1:8), and this distinction is a clue that he fulfills the prophecy of Elijah's return (Malachi 4:5-6).  This will be later affirmed by Jesus (Matthew 17:12-13, Mark 9:11-13).  Again, the significance of John as fulfillment of prophecy indicates his stature as a figure of great importance in the Church.  Here, John reveals his own capacity as a prophet, as he prophesies baptism with the Holy Spirit.

It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Mark's is the shortest of the Gospels, and here we read a brief exposition of Christ's baptism by John in the Jordan.  But this highly significant event, which in the earliest times of the Church was celebrated together with Christ's Nativity, is an Epiphany or Theophany.  My study Bible comments that Jesus does not need purification.  But by making the purification of humanity of His own, He accomplishes several things:  He would wash away humanity's sin, grant regeneration, and reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity.  (Thus, the revelation here of the presence of Father, Son, and Spirit is a Theophany or manifestation of God.)  Therefore, my study Bible adds, Christ's baptism was necessary for the fulfillment of God's righteous plan of salvation.  It quotes St. Gregory of Nyssa:  "Jesus enters the filthy, sinful waters of the world and when He comes out, brings up and purifies the entire world with Him." 

 

 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.  Here we see the immediate action of the Holy Spirit, beginning Christ's public ministry.  The first thing necessary is this preparation of forty days in the wilderness, tempted by Satan, with the wild beasts, and the ministering  angels.  To be tempted is to be tested in fundamental areas of faith.  For the details of Christ's temptations by Satan, see Matthew 4:1-10, Luke 4:1-13.  Each temptation is regarding the use of His power, and especially Christ's loyalty to the Father.  The language here tells us of the powerful action of the Spirit; the word translated as drove (ἐκβάλλω/ekvallo) means to throw or cast out. 

If there is one thing we can gather from this beginning of Mark's Gospel, it is possibly an understanding of the need for preparation for an important event or undertaking.  Everything in the story of Christ's life and ministry unfolds with a certain level of preparation, a sense of proper steps to be taken in the accomplishment of something.  God does not just drop upon us, all at once, the most profound changes and mysteries.  Instead, we are prepared.  The prophets have come throughout the spiritual history of Israel, preparing the people for the Messiah, calling the people back to God.  Without the prophets, we would not have an understanding of the mission and ministry of John the Baptist.  The people would not have understood what he was about, what it meant that he was preparing the way of the Lord, that John is the messenger, the forerunner, the one sent in advance to prepare the people with baptism and preaching -- yet again, in the words of the earlier prophets -- repentance; that is, a call back to God and to the ways of God.  Ultimately, everything is a preparation for the Messiah, for the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ.  John comes in fulfillment of the prophets, crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight."  But then we observe, even in this briefest of the Gospels, the preparation of Jesus for His public ministry.  He first submits to be baptized in the Jordan by John, a way to "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:14-15).  This accomplishes all manner of things, because Christ Himself prepares the waters for Christian baptism through this process.  Moreover, the Holy Trinity is revealed in the voice of the Father, the identification of Christ as Son, and the presence of the Holy Spirit which rests upon Christ.  Powerfully, Christ's public ministry begins with a manifestation of the Trinity, the fullness of the Godhead.  And then, immediately the Holy Spirit acts to throw Christ out into the wilderness, where He is tempted and tested by Satan in preparation for His ministry, with the wild animals, and ministered to by the angels.  The temptations of Satan test Christ's loyalty to the Father and seek to break that loyalty, which will be the all-encompassing power to complete His saving mission for the world.  Without that loyalty, we would not have our Savior nor our faith.  It is the one thing that the evil one must break in order to prevent Christ from successfully completing His ministry and mission to the world.  It is the thing that will be severely tested through rejection, heartbreak, pain and suffering, even betrayal by one of His chosen Twelve.  It is the one thing that will make His mission complete.  It is the one thing He will teach us that remains for us above all, as He taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10), and to be like Him.  For all of the fullness of this mission, and for our own understanding of it, all of this preparation is necessary.  It is paving the way for the salvation mission of Christ.  God helps us to make Christ's paths straight, so that we are prepared to accept this giant, colossal gift we have been given, and to understand its fullness as it manifests as we are able to grasp it in our lives.  Jesus will go to the Cross, but we -- and the disciples -- will have been prepared along the way to understand the meaning and power of the Cross, and the mission of Christ to save, to redeem, to transform, and how we are also invited into that mission to follow Him as well.  Let us consider the power of preparation in our own lives:  how we are tested and prepared by circumstances for deeper challenges we might not understand in advance, how the power of prayer helps us prepare to be the people we need to be when we are challenged, how our own circumstances give us opportunities to make a deeper commitment to Christ and to living God's love in our own lives.  If we look upon life the right way, we might come to see everything we have received as preparation, including our mistakes and heartaches, the bad times and also the good.  The Gospel teaches us about the Old Testament Scriptures, and how they are preparation for the New, just as the Law and the Prophets were preparation for the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of our Lord.  John baptizes with water, but he knows the Lord will baptize with the Holy Spirit -- as we are taught to find and serve the things God asks of us.   Finally, let us look at a detail included by Mark, that Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, and is with the wild beasts.  This hints to us deeply of preparation, for the first Adam in naivety and unknowing, and against the teaching of God, made a choice for wisdom beyond what humankind was ready to have (Genesis 2:16-17).  But Christ, who is the New Adam, is here to undo the effects of that choice, and to bring to us what it means to resist temptation and testing, to set aright and put us back in relationship not only with God, but even with the wild beasts of the wilderness, to set a world back together after it had been broken.  He gives us the way, and all that has gone before has been preparation.  Let us follow Him, for we may all become "beloved sons" by His preparation for us.

 

Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease

 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.  Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.  And they came and were baptized.  For John had not yet been thrown into prison. 

Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.  And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who as with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!"  John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease.

"He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.  He who comes from heaven is above all.  And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.  He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.  The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

- John 3:22-36

Yesterday, we continued reading Jesus' teaching to Nicodemus:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.  Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.  And they came and were baptized.  For John had not yet been thrown into prison.   In John 4:2 we're told that Jesus did not Himself baptize, but His disciples did.  John refers to John the Baptist.

Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.  And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who as with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!"  John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease."  John the Baptist, the last and greatest of the Old Testament type prophets, calls himself the friend of the bridegroom (such as the "best man").  Jesus is the bridegroom.  The bride, says my study bible, is the Church, or the people of God.  John teaches about his own role in the coming of the Messiah.  He is witness to the wedding of Christ and His people, and he rejoices in that celebration.  When he says, "This joy of mine is fulfilled," he not only rejoices in this spiritual wedding, but he is teaching about his role in salvation history; his mission has been completed.  In saying that "He must increase, but I must decrease," John expresses his humility that is an example for all believers.  My study bible says that he renounces all earthly glory and reputation for the sake of Christ.  By allowing Christ to increase in him, John himself finds true glory.  The statement also indicates the end of the old covenant; as the law vanishes Christ's grace comes more to the fore.  In the tradition of the Church, John's birth is celebrated at a time when the sun begins to decrease in the sky (Jun 24), while Christ's is celebrated when the sun begins to increase (December 25).

"He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.  He who comes from heaven is above all.  And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.  He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.  The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."  Here John echoes Jesus' own teaching to Nicodemus.  First, he teaches that Christ is from above (see 3:13), and that He testifies to what He knows (3:11).  Secondly, in 3:18, Jesus has taught about faith in the Son.  My study bible notes the absence of the word "alone" in the statement of faith.  It quotes commentary from Chrysostom:  "We do not from this assert that faith alone is sufficient for salvation; the directions for living that are given in many places in the Gospels show this."  (See also James 2:14-24.)

Why does John's role become an example for all of us?  Because his humility is an example for each of us.  As Christ increases in John, so Christ is to increase in each of us.  Each of us are to seek that place to which Christ calls us, in which we find how it is that Christ increases in us.  Christ calls us to what we might become.  John has fulfilled his role; he accepts what his life is and is to be, when he says, "He must increase, but I must decrease."  And this is true humility.  It is to fulfill the life that God asks of you, regardless of how you might think up different plans for yourself, according to one's own way of thinking.  We need to understand the kind of figure that John the Baptist was in his own time.  He was a kind of religious hero to his own people, revered as a holy man, known as one who stood for how God called God's people.  He would also die for doing so, for speaking out against the ways of a king that conflicted with the Jewish faith.  But John speaks out in the most important ways for all of us today as well, when he tells us that "He must increase but I must decrease."  Even to the point of sending his own disciples to follow Jesus, John is humble before God and God's plan for the world.  It is only in the true fullness of a complete dedication to God that we find this strength and this grace.  John's way of life contrasted quite strongly with that of Jesus.  He lived in a radical poverty with the aim of serving and relying on God alone.  Jesus Himself would say of the contrast between the life of His ministry and that of John the Baptist that "wisdom is justified by all her children."  And so it is with each of us, that whatever we are called to by God, He must increase in us as "we" decrease -- and in each, if humility is the key to our faith, wisdom is justified by all her children.  In this we each have our joy fulfilled.  We are each called to be a friend to the Bridegroom.

I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!

 "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!  But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!  Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division.  For from now on five in one house will be divided:  three against two, and two against three.  Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is.  And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather;' and there is.  Hypocrites!  You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?

"Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?  When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.  I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite."

- Luke 12:49-59

On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourself be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.  And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?"  And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.  But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.  And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few.  For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."

 "I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!  But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!"   Two important things are happening in these sentences.  Of the first, my study bible tells us that fire "references the proclamation of the gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This fire both enlivens the faithful and judges the faithless; it purifies virtue and destroys sin (see 3:16; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15)."  By contrast here, it says that Jesus' baptism is His own Passion that is in His future.

"Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division."  A note says, "There are two kinds of peace.  False peace, to which Christ refers here, is a shallow harmony that results from ignoring issues of truth.  Genuine peace is reconciliation to God through faith in Christ and surrender to truth.  Genuine peace has division as a byproduct because not everyone wants truth.  In the fallen world, divisions are necessary for truth to manifest (see 1 Corinthians 11:18-19)."

"For from now on five in one house will be divided:  three against two, and two against three.  Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."  My study bible tells us that this fulfills the prophecy of Micah 7:6.  "In addition to its literal meaning, which has been experienced in the Church since the time of Christ, the older generation being divided from the younger generation also symbolizes (1) the rejection of the new covenant by the followers of the old covenant, and (2) the spiritual struggle between our old, sinful state and our renewal in Christ (see Ephesians 4:20-24)."

Then He also said to the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is.  And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather;' and there is.  Hypocrites!  You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?"   This time is the revelation of the Kingdom of God in the first coming of Jesus Christ, says my study bible.    We are once again reminded of the necessity of discernment, of eyes to see.  That is, eyes like lamps that illumine where we are going.  (See Tuesday's reading, in which Jesus taught, "The lamp of the body is the eye.  Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light.")

"Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?  When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.  I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite."   A note says here, "Just as a guilty person would attempt to reconcile with his opponent before facing an earthly judge, even more so should one be reconciled to God in Christ before facing His dread judgment."  

There is a repeated focus on the necessity of discernment in recent readings; Jesus is preparing His followers for His "baptism" of the Passion, and also the fire on the earth that will come in the form of the Holy Spirit.   Judgment is about how we respond to this fire, the One who tests everything.  The fire is also likened to the "energies" of grace, this great gift pouring out upon the earth after Jesus' "baptism" in the Passion.  This is His mission, and He's giving it to us, laying it all out for us, in today's reading.  This "fire" in the person and energies of the Holy Spirit may divide us.  Truth comes in what appear to be divisions to us, so that we may use our discernment to reconcile with the Spirit, with Christ.  This is the great place where we are now in the state of things, in the world, in the Church as a universal call of the fire of the Holy Spirit, and we are all asked to discern and reconcile, an ongoing work.  If we can see ourselves in this place, as those who need both vigilance and discernment, to make efforts to reconcile ourselves to Christ, in this great fire of the Spirit that is at work all the time, we may get a clearer picture of life as it truly is, inseparable from the life of the Spirit in us and in the world.  It's when we separate this vision out into two, and compartmentalize Spirit as if it is not fire but merely a kind of wispy, ethereal presence we can forget about, that we miss the real vision of how vital our lives and choices really are.  From the beginning, the Church has held to the understanding that we human beings are holistic:  Body, mind, soul and spirit are all inseparable from one another.  Without discernment run the risk of missing the true dynamics of life, separating out the power of God, and thereby the work of the Spirit, from what we focus on as our reality.  The truth is that if we were really aware of what is going on around us, we would understand better this fire and its work and presence, just the way the burning bush appeared to Moses.  But we need eyes to really see and perceive this fire, this energy, this light.  More importantly, Jesus tells us that in this time when we await His return, we need this discernment in order to understand what is going on, and to see more clearly in our own lives where we need to be reconciled, what we need to work on, and all the power and meaning His baptism and this holy fire give our lives.  It's a much more potent, creative life than our dreams and imaginations can stir minus these energies, this grace.  It's also a necessity for spiritual awareness that colors our lives in new ways.  It is inseparable from a search for truth.  The struggle for spiritual truth isn't just about a kind of political struggle based on theoretical abstract and intellectual understanding.  It's not just about laws.  The struggle for spiritual truth involves all of who we are, minus nothing.  That would include the fruits of the Spirit present to us at all times:  love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).   All of these things are also a part of the struggle, energies by grace given to us in order to participate in this search for truth, the wholeness of life, the inseparability of body, soul, mind, spirit.  Let us remember His baptism and the fire He sends, and all that they bring to our lives.  Let us know of the struggle, the vigilance, and the discernment, the fire that must be a part of the life He baptizes us into.