The preachingof John the Baptist

Last Sunday was the First Sunday of Advent. The gospel reading was about the Coming of the Son of Man. Today’s gospel is the Preaching of John the Baptist. You can read it in your Bible in Luke 3: 1-6.

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was Governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturarea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went throughout [the] whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one crying out in the desert:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

Make straight his paths,

5 Ever valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

the winding roads shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth,

6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

We’ve written volumes about John the Baptist from the time he was in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, the cousin of our Blessed Virgin Mary. You can say that the preaching of John the Baptist was taken mostly from the prophet Isaiah. Last Friday, the 1st reading came from Isaiah 29:17-24.

“Thus says the Lord God: But a very little while, and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard, and the orchard be regarded as a forest! 18 On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. 19 The lowly will ever find joy in the Lord, and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

20 For the tyrant will be no more and the arrogant will have gone; all who are alert to do evil will be cut off, 21 those whose mere word condemns a man, who ensnare his defender at the gate, and leave the just man with an empty claim. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of the house of Jacob, who redeemed Abraham. Now Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of, nor shall his face grow pale.

23 When his children see the work of my hands in his midst, they shall keep my name holy; they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob, and be in awe of the God of Israel. 24 Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding and those who find fault shall receive instruction.”

Because John spoke the truth, the Jews gathered around him and many followed him when he started baptizing in the Jordan River. In one of his preaching he said to the crowd, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruits as evidence of your repentance; and do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

So when the crowds asked him “What should we do?” John told them, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise. Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ John told them, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” Soldiers also asked him, ‘What it is that we should do?’ He told them, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”

If you studied the words of John very carefully, you will notice that our Lord Jesus also came in contact with the same kind of people, tax collectors, soldiers and the endless crowds that later followed Jesus. Yet when the crowds that followed John the Baptist swelled making him very popular, he told them something that proved that he had his feet on the ground, that his role was to herald the coming of the Messiah. Let’s read on to Luke 16-17.

“I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn in unquenchable fire.”

John the Baptist may have heralded the coming of the Messiah 2,000 year ago, but his words exhorting the people to repent is as relevant today as it was in the time of our Lord Jesus especially in this Second Sunday of Advent, where we Catholics should prepare for the coming of Christmas.