01/01/2018
2 January 2018
Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
GOSPEL Jn 1:19-28
This is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, "Who are you?"
He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
"I am not the Christ."
So they asked him,
"What are you then? Are you Elijah?"
And he said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?"
He answered, "No."
So they said to him,
"Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?"
He said:
"I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
'Make straight the way of the Lord,'
as Isaiah the prophet said."
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
"Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?"
John answered them,
"I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie."
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.
COMMENTARY on John 1:19-28
From today until January 5 inclusive we will be reading from the beginning of John’s gospel after the Prologue and up to the story of the wedding at Cana – corresponding to Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2. It begins with John the Baptist’s testimony about himself and then Jesus revealing himself to his first disciples. It finishes with the wedding feast at Cana, described as the first of the ‘signs’ performed by Jesus. There are seven such ‘signs’ altogether in his gospel. The whole section covers just one week which reflects the first week of creation in the book of Genesis. Here there is a new creation under way. The section is divided as follows:
1, John the Baptist’s negative testimony about himself.
2, His positive testimony about Jesus.
3, The revelation of Jesus to Andrew and Peter (in that order)
4, The revelation of Jesus to Philip and Nathanael (also in that order).
5, The wedding feast at Cana.
John the Baptist’s negative testimony about himself
Today we look at the first section. It is clear that John the Baptist was causing something of a stir with his preaching. So, officials were sent out from the Temple in Jerusalem to make some enquiries. Because he said he was not the long-awaited Messiah, they wanted to know who he was. He said he was not Elijah (whose re-appearance was expected to signal the imminent arrival of the Messiah) come again nor was he a Prophet like Moses. His questioners persisted. They had to bring back some information to the authorities in Jerusalem. John answered them with a modified version of words from Isaiah (40:3):
I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord’.
This still does not satisfy and now some Pharisees – distinct from the priests who were all Sadducees – want to know why John is baptising when he is neither the Messiah, nor Elijah nor the Prophet.
John says that he is just baptising with water. “But there is one among you whom you do not recognise, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie”. By these words he implies that someone who is really a Prophet is on the way bringing with him a much greater baptism. John is simply preparing the way by a baptism whose emphasis is on purification and repentance. The new baptism will bring the power of God’s Spirit.
Obviously, there is much in John the Baptist’s role with which we can identify. John preceded Jesus in time and prepared people for his coming. We rather are called to precede Jesus in other ways by making it possible for people to come to know him and to follow him. We are not the Light but we are called to give constant witness to the Light. Jesus said that he was the Light of the World (John 8:12) but he also said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matt 5:14). Do I see myself as reflecting the light of Jesus to others?
