The Gospel reading teaches us some important lesions on evangelization. John the Baptist was calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the Jordan River.
Such large numbers of people were being baptized by John that it drew the attention of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. The problem is that John the Baptist didn’t fit the mold of a priest like his father.
John Pilch helps us to understand the culture at that time:
“In cultures guided by honor, persons are expected to behave according to their inherited status. The Baptizer’s status or acquired honor derived from the fact that his father, Zechariah, was a devout rural priest.
But the Baptizer is not behaving like a priest. (It’s interesting to note that Jesus finds himself in the same situation; his father was a carpenter but he is acting as a rabbi or teacher.) Instead, John looks very much like a member of the numerous groups of alienated priests that emerged as early as the sixth century BCE. These groups found themselves increasingly separated from the aristocratic priests in Jerusalem.
The historian Josephus indicates that the gulf between the latter and the large number of lower clergy was very great just before the outbreak of the Judaic rebellion against Rome in the mid-sixties CE.
A major cause of alienation was the widely known and very evident luxury in which the Jerusalem priestly aristocracy lived in contrast to the conditions of the rural clergy.
By his dress and diet, the Baptizer distances himself from this luxury and his rural priestly heritage and presents himself more like a prophet, a spokesperson who declares the will of God for the here and now.
The Jerusalem priests wonder whether John is an “action prophet” (a spokesperson who also leads a popular movement hoping that God will intervene in liberating action) or an “oracular prophet” (one who only pronounces words of redemption or judgment).“
The Gospel tells us that John the Baptist was neither: “A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.”
The church leaders in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to find out who John is because such great numbers are going out and being baptized by him. These representatives ask John ‘Who are you?’
John immediately told them that he was not the Christ, nor a prophet. “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?” It’s interesting that they weren’t really concerned with who John is but only needed an answer for the people who sent them.
John said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’ “as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Obviously, the leaders in Jerusalem weren’t satisfied with the answers they received from the priests and Levites because they sent some Pharisees who asked John “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
So why are the leaders so upset that John is baptizing people in the Jordan River? Because of the numbers of people who were going out to John to repent of their sin and be baptized. And because John doesn’t fit the mold or image of a Priest.
John fulfilled his mission in life and answered them pointing to Jesus, “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.”
We sometimes think that baptism is a Catholic or Christian rite. But John Pilch tells us that “Baptism was rather common in antiquity even outside of Judaism. The mystery cults of Isis, Mithras, and Eleusis contained baptismal rites. In the Old Testament, Naaman was cleansed of his skin problem by bathing in the Jordan.”
We baptize new converts at the Easter Vigil and our children throughout the year to mark them with the seal of the Holy Spirit. And we baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That is what separates us from the other baptisms.
Granted, John was a little unusual. He dressed differently from the other people and even more so from the other priests in Jerusalem. When I look over at Father, he is not dressed in a camel hair cloak with a leather belt around his waist and sandals on his feet.
But the people didn’t seek John out because of the way he was dressed. They came because of the message that John preached; a message of repentance of their sins and baptism by water. And you didn’t come to see how Father is dressed, you came to receive the presence of Jesus into your life through the Eucharist.
There are two questions that we need to consider today. Are we, the people of St Joseph Catholic Church in York PA, standing out as people who are doing something so great that others are flocking to join us? Are we a beacon in this area that people will travel to see what we are doing to convert to our faith in Christ?
And then, are we as individuals, living a life that has other people coming to us and asking us about our faith so we, like John, can point them to Jesus?
The Gospel that Jesus taught was to love God with all our heart and to love others as much as we love ourselves. That’s what makes us stand out from others. When we receive the Holy Eucharist, we receive Jesus’ presence into our hearts and lives. His love then flows through us to others. Am I so filled with the joy of Jesus’ presence that it flows through me to everyone I meet?
