Birth of John the Baptist - Homily 2

Homily 2 - 2018

In shaping his Infancy Narratives, Luke gave a lot of space to John the Baptist. Matthew gave none. Mark and John did not even bother about Infancy Narratives. Luke presented John and Jesus as cousins, through their mothers, whom Luke said were cousins, indeed caring and affectionate cousins, despite a considerable age difference. Luke wrote of the conception of each of the boys as quite extraordinary, though different.

He said that the circumstances surrounding John’s birth had set the whole district buzzing. He wrote, “All their neighbours were filled with awe, and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered.”

How important was John in the later life of Jesus, in his public life and mission? It seems that during his lifetime, John was in fact better known than Jesus, more famous. Herod believed him to be more dangerous, and had him imprisoned and later beheaded. [As an aside, while I was working in Mildura about twenty years ago, I met a migrant doctor from Iraq who belonged to a religious sect, called Mandaeans, who are disciples of John the Baptist. Check them out on Google.]

Though Luke’s was the only Gospel that included John in the Infancy Narrative of Jesus, all four Gospels devote space to the adult John and his relationship to Jesus. The Gospel writers saw it important for the Christian communities for whom they were writing to make clear that the two were not rivals, indeed, to show that John quite clearly saw Jesus as more significant than he, and publicly witnessed to his unique and indispensable importance. His role was to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. Jesus was the stronger one; Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Indeed, John insisted that his disciples realise that, as he put it himself, “He must increase; I must decrease.”

In some ways, their message was similar. Both preached “repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. And both saw the practical application of repentance in what we refer to these days as “Social Justice”. Luke wrote of John preaching, “If anyone has two tunics, he must share with the one who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.” He accepted the need for taxation, but warned the tax collectors working for the Roman occupiers, “Exact no more than your rate”. To the military, he said, “No intimidation! No extortion!” And we are familiar with Jesus’ teaching in his “Sermon on the Mount”.

Their sense of God was similar. John’s name, given him by Elizabeth and Zechariah, on instruction from the “angel of the Lord”, means in fact, “God is gracious [or merciful]”. It sums up his mission quite beautifully. He indeed testified to God as the forgiving God.

Yet, on one occasion Jesus said of John, “No one born of women has appeared greater than John the Baptist. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”. Certainly John had insisted, “Already the axe is laid to the roots of the trees. Every tree that does not produce suitable fruit will be cut out and thrown on the fire”; and “The winnowing fork is in his hand to clean his threshing floor, to gather the wheat into the silo and to burn the chaff in unquenchable fire". Could it be that John was so impatient, even disappointed, with Jesus’ emphasis on non-violence that he sent disciples to him to ask, "Are you the one who is coming? or do we wait for another?" Or was he simply puzzled? Then, on his part, was Jesus merely saying that John’s unparalleled human integrity, commitment, courage and self-sacrifice were as nothing compared to his opening to the values of the Kingdom of God, that plainly he warmly embraced?

One way or other, we celebrate today the birthday of this incomparable human being, trusting that he also belongs well and truly in the kingdom of heaven.