So, just who was John the Baptist, and does his message apply to us today?<\/p>\n
We know from the Gospel of Luke that John was Jesus\u2019 Cousin, born to Elizabeth, a cousin of Jesus\u2019 mother Mary. \u00a0According to the first chapter of Luke, when Mary visited Elizabeth\u00a0 <\/em>Elizabeth\u2019s child \u201cleapt in her womb\u201d.\u00a0 <\/em>So, John the Baptist leapt in Elizabeth\u2019s womb when the child in Mary\u2019s womb came near his mother.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 <\/em>There can be no doubt about it- life begins at conception.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n And what did the leaping in the womb signify?\u00a0 <\/em>Bible scholars have suggested that it was at this moment in time that the Holy Spirit filled John having been instilled in John by the Lord Jesus himself.\u00a0 <\/em>And so, John was something special.\u00a0 <\/em>He was graced by God and had been given a mission.\u00a0 <\/em>And that message was defined in Isaiah the prophet, and then predicted by his own father Zechariah.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n You see, Elizabeth was the wife of a Levitical priest, Zechariah, as is also mentioned in Luke 1.\u00a0 <\/em>That means that John was of the priestly tribe, and destined to be a priest himself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Elizabeth was thought to be barren, and advanced in age.\u00a0 <\/em>But an angel of the Lord visited Zechariah when he was acting as the priest and offering incense in the Holy of Holies.\u00a0 <\/em>It is interesting to note that because there were so many Levites at the time, a Levitical priest was only given the honor of offering incense in the Holy of Holies of the temple once in his life!\u00a0 <\/em>So this was a very important occasion in Zechariah\u2019s life.\u00a0 <\/em>And to his amazement, he was told by the angel Gabriel that Elizabeth would bear a child as he did his duties.\u00a0 <\/em>But he disbelieved, and was struck dumb by the angel until the child was born.<\/p>\n After the child was born, Zechariah regained his speech, and said this of his son (Lk 1:76):\u00a0 <\/em>\u201cAnd you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.\u201d<\/p>\n So, John the Baptist was the son of a Priest, and thus a priest by birth right.\u00a0 He was a cousin of Jesus on his mother\u2019s side; and he was filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth!\u00a0 John\u2019s name was given to him by the angel; and the name John means: \u201cThe Lord is Gracious.\u201d\u00a0 Yes, indeed, the Lord was gracious to John, giving him a special mission and grace.\u00a0 And John\u2019s mission was to prepare the way of the Lord for all mankind, including the Gentiles.<\/p>\n Our Gospel begins this morning with John faithfully fulfulling the prophecy made by his own Father, Zechariah.\u00a0 John is discharging his duties as a priest by conducting a rite of Baptism of Repentance, and proclaiming the coming of the Most High and the Kingdom of God.\u00a0 Indeed, the rite of Baptism has roots in Jewish ceremonial services.\u00a0 When someone other than a Jew wished to follow Judaism, they were \u201cBaptized\u201d in water, symbolizing a washing away of their old way of life, and the adoption of a new way of life.\u00a0 This is precisely what John was doing, but he was offering this Baptism of repentance to everyone.<\/p>\n The Gospel speaks of John\u2019s clothing and food.\u00a0 John was in the survival mode.\u00a0 He was clothed in a rough camel skin; and was eating the most basic of food; food off the land consisting of locusts and honey.\u00a0 This indicates John is in a state of self-mortification as a way of purification.\u00a0 He could not have been accused of hypocrisy- like some fiery preachers of our day, who dress to the nines and enjoy many of life\u2019s comforts.\u00a0 John was the genuine article, and his sincerity shone through.<\/p>\n We are told that he was angry at the Pharisees and Sadducees.\u00a0 So, why is that?\u00a0 Well at that time, the Jews were hoping to be saved from centuries of domination by the Syrians, Greeks and Romans.\u00a0 They were looking for a savior, the Messiah; one who would herald a new Kingdom like David\u2019s Kingdom of old.\u00a0 And this anticipation was very popular at that time.\u00a0 John emerges preaching in the desert, drawing large crowds because the proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom and a savior was something they were all hoping for.<\/p>\n But the Pharisees and the Sadducees were not there for Baptism.\u00a0 The Pharisees were separated from the people because of their zeal for precise fulfillment of the letter of the law.\u00a0 They wanted to check up on John and make sure his rite of Baptism followed the letter of the law.\u00a0 The Sadducees were part of the Jewish establishment that was wary of political efforts to establish a new Kingdom.\u00a0 They just wanted to be left alone to control the Jews as long as the state stayed out of their business.<\/p>\n These two groups did not get along- they despised each other.\u00a0 They coexisted here because they had a common aim.\u00a0 You see, both the Sadducees and the Pharisees came to John\u2019s Baptism as spies.\u00a0 They were certainly not there to repent and change.\u00a0 And so, they drew anger from John.<\/p>\n John calls these people out for what they really were: a brood of vipers.\u00a0 You see, a viper would have to escape and return to water after stinging a victim, or it would die.\u00a0 How appropriate, then, was John\u2019s description of these two groups.\u00a0 They were there to find fault and do injury; and as soon as they believed they had found what they wanted, they would have escaped the crowd.\u00a0 They were not interested in repentance.\u00a0 They viewed themselves as the Chosen people; the children of Abraham.\u00a0 They thought they were the people who had it right, each in their own way.<\/p>\n But John sets them straight as he says:\u00a0\u201cProduce good fruit as evidence of your repentance\u201d, \u00a0\u00a0and then he goes on to admonish them of the fate of those who do not bear good fruit.\u00a0 First he says:\u00a0 \u201cEven now the ax lies at the root of the trees.\u201d\u00a0 John is one of those rare people who can look into the hearts of men and know who they really are; what their real motivation is. \u00a0\u00a0And what he sees is a lack of action from these people.\u00a0 They are caught up in themselves; they are judgmental of others; but they are not bearing fruit from their actions.\u00a0 They have not learned to fear the Lord and to respond to his inner voice.\u00a0 And so John then says:\u00a0 \u201cTherefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n Just to make it clear what he means by the fire, he talks about the kind of Baptism that will be administered by the \u201cOne who is coming\u201d.\u00a0 This is going to be different- it is not just a cleansing of sin, which the water was supposed to do, but it was going to be a Baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire as well.<\/p>\n First, the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The Spirit cleanses us from our sin, so that we are ready for the gifts of God\u2019s Spirit.\u00a0 Then the Spirit animates us; motivates us; and gives us our mission along with the gifts of the Spirit God has chosen for each of us.<\/p>\n But what about the Baptism of fire?\u00a0 Well, we are free to choose God\u2019s gifts in Baptism or not.\u00a0 Those who choose it respond to the call and bear fruit in their lives.\u00a0 These are the wheat that is harvested.\u00a0 But there are some who reject it- as the Pharisees and Sadducees are accused of doing.\u00a0 They are the chaff that is thrown in the fire.\u00a0 That is the fire of condemnation that never leaves.\u00a0 It is an everlasting fire that consumes them forever because they realize, too late, that they have turned away from God while they lived, and there is no recourse after death.<\/p>\n Today, we are in the middle of the Church season of Advent.\u00a0 It\u2019s the season when we prepare for the coming of the Lord.\u00a0 We anticipate two comings.\u00a0 First, the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas.\u00a0 That is kind of like our Baptism, our original call.\u00a0 And like the baby Jesus, we are introduced into life in the church.\u00a0 We can respond to that call or not.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But the readings in the Church calendar actually emphasize the Second coming in the first two weekends of Advent.\u00a0 The Second Coming of Christ is the Last Judgment.\u00a0 That happens for all of us when we die; and it can happen at any time.\u00a0 The great St. Augustine has said that those who don\u2019t embrace the first coming of Christ are going to be very uncomfortable with the second coming.\u00a0 So all of us need to be ready for it at all times.\u00a0 The big question is: are you ready for it?<\/p>\n As we listen and analyze today\u2019s reading from Matthew, it is easy to feel like bystanders listening to a tale from long ago.\u00a0 But the reality is that we are just like the crowd that followed after John the Baptist.\u00a0 Some of us are like the Pharisees, interested in the letter of the law, and looking to justify ourselves by following the law to the letter.\u00a0 These people relish finding where others trip up because it makes them feel better about themselves.<\/p>\n Others are like the Sadducees who are looking for the Kingdom, but who are preoccupied with the rut they are in.\u00a0 They think they are saved and are not interested in change.\u00a0 They want to keep things just as they always have been.\u00a0 They want to run away from making changes that may challenge them.<\/p>\n Still others are like the great crowd of followers of John.\u00a0 They are looking for something new and they are open to change in varying degrees.\u00a0 They are willing to listen; and they are excited about the prospects of the Kingdom.<\/p>\n We would all do well to think about John\u2019s message in the context of our own lives.\u00a0 Because no matter what our age or station in life is, God is continuously asking for our attention and response.\u00a0 First, we need to fight complacency and self- satisfaction- the sins of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.\u00a0 Then, we need to be open to the inner voice calling us to something new.\u00a0 It can be something simple- new friends, a new environment, trying different things.\u00a0 Or it can be more challenging, like coping with lost loved ones; forgiving past offenses; or accepting infirmities that limit our capabilities, so that we cannot do the things we used to be able to do.\u00a0 What matters is our ability to love God and feel comfortable that we are listening to him all the time so that we are ready, and comfortable, with the Second Coming of Christ, whenever it happens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Westminster Towers Mt 3: 1-12 By Deacon Larry Brockman So, just who was John the Baptist, and does his message apply to us today? We know from the Gospel of Luke that John was Jesus\u2019 Cousin, born to Elizabeth, a cousin of Jesus\u2019 mother Mary. \u00a0According to the first chapter of Luke, when Mary visited […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[441,440,312],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=909"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":910,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909\/revisions\/910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}