Posted by Third Sunday in Advent
At that time the Jews sent priests and levites to John to ask him: Who art thou? And he confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the Prophet? And he answered: No. They said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias.
Today is the Third Sunday in Advent, commonly known as Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means to rejoice for on this day we are rejoicing both in the witness of St. John the Baptist in anticipation of the first coming of Christ, and also in joyful expectation for the second coming of Christ when God’s kingdom will finally come on earth as it is in heaven.
St. John the Baptist summoned the Jewish nation to repent and be baptised in preparation for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus later said that among those born of women there had not arisen a greater than John, but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. In other words, John was the last and the greatest of the prophets before the coming of the Kingdom of God in the person of Jesus.
But how did John understand his own role? The Jewish authorities had sent representatives to ask this strange figure who he thought he was. Was he the Christ? No. The word Christ means anointed. It refers to one who would be the true successor of Israel’s greatest king, King David. David had defeated the Philistines and established Jerusalem as the capital city of the kingdom of Israel. His son Solomon had built the temple in Jerusalem and the kingdom had subsequently divided after Solomon’s death, with the kingdom of Israel in the north being conquered by the Assyrians and later that of Judah by the Babylonians. The Christ would be one who would restore the kingdom of Israel by defeating her enemies and establishing a new age of peace on earth when the wolf would dwell with the Lamb. John did not see himself in this role. He was not the Christ, but rather had been sent ahead of him to call the nation to repent and be baptised so that they were prepared for the coming of God’s kingdom.
Was he Elijah? No. He did not see himself in this role either. Elijah was the prophet who in the days of compromise and apostasy in the reign of king Ahab had called the nation to repent and no longer bow the knee to Baal, but return to the original purpose of God’s covenant with Israel. Subsequently, the Jews looked forward to another figure like Elijah, who would be the forerunner of the last things. He would, as the prophet Malachi put it, turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. He would be the restorer prior to the end. It may seem strange at first sight that John should deny that he was Elijah when that was what Jesus would later say he was. But, though Jesus later said that John was the Elijah who was to come, John himself in his humility saw himself simply as the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare for the coming of God’s kingdom.
Was he the Prophet? No. Moses, to whom God spoke face to face as a man speaks to a friend, had led the people from slavery in Egypt through the wilderness, where he received the Law on Mount Sinai. The Jews looked forward to the coming of a prophet like Moses who would more clearly reveal God’s will for his people and inaugurate a new covenant between God and man, which would be written not on tablets of stone, but in the hearts of men. John did not see himself in this role either. He was not himself the agent of God’s final deliverance but rather had been sent ahead of him. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way for the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Why then did he baptise, if he was not the Christ, not Elijah, nor the Prophet? John answered that he baptised with water for repentance, but the one who comes after him would baptise with the Holy Spirit. He was one the latchet of whose shoe John was not worthy to loose, one who was already among them, whom they did not know, who though he came after him, was preferred before him. He would be the agent of God’s final deliverance, the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, the bridegroom in whose presence he was content to stand. He must increase that John might decrease. John was simply the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare for his coming.
It was precisely because he knew the limitations of his own role that John could rejoice. He might seem at first sight not the type of person we would associate with rejoicing, an austere and disturbing figure who challenged the nation to either repent and be baptised or face judgement. But he could rejoice because he had fulfilled his vocation within salvation history. Though John had denied that he was a prophet or Elijah Jesus would later say that in fact John was a prophet and more than a prophet. Indeed, among those born of women there had not arisen a greater than John, but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
As John rejoiced to bear witness before the first coming of the Messiah, so St. Paul rejoiced to bear witness to the second coming of the Messiah. Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitious: but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh
Awake, and hearken for he brings
Glad tidings of the King of Kings.
Then cleansed be every breast from sin
Make straight the way for God within
Prepare we in our hearts a home
Where such a mighty guest may come.
For thou art our salvation, Lord
Our refuge, and our great reward
Without thy grace we waste away
Like flowers that wither and decay.
All praise, eternal Son, to thee
Whose advent doth thy people free
Who with the Father we adore
And Holy Ghost for evermore.