The Gospel Proclamation This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levies .. to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then?” Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not”. ... “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said. .. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah nor Elijah nor the prophet?” ... “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me, I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal. ...
Prayerful Awareness John was in the wilderness leading a life of abstinence and preparing for his mission, when the word of the Lord came to him (Luke 3/2). His mission had been foretold by prophet Isaiah several centuries ago. “I hear a voice crying out in the desert; prepare the way of the Lord ... glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” (Isaiah 40/3-5). His parents were well advanced in years when the angel Gabriel announced to his father Zechariah about his birth. “For he shall be great before the Lord ... And shall be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb ... To make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1/15-17). John was the last of the prophets and was very close to the coming of the Redeemer. Other prophets before him have only foretold His coming, but John met Him in the flesh. All Judea heard his powerful voice and the people flocked to John to confess their sins and he baptized with the baptism of repentance (Mark 1:5). When the rum our began to circulate among the people that John is the Messiah the Jews in Jerusalem sent priests to find out from him who he is. He told them very plainly that he is not the Messiah and that he is the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness and about whom prophet Isaiah had foretold. When they asked why he was baptizing if he was not Christ he told them that in their midst stands one whom they do not know and that he (John) is not worthy even to loosen the straps of His sandals. Jesus would have heard about John from His mother but the two of them would have met for the first time only when Jesus came to be baptized by John. Even here the Holy Spirit may have revealed to John who Jesus is. At the Baptism of Jesus, John had seen the Holy Spirit coming down on Jesus in the form of a dove and resting on Him. John says that he did not know Jesus, but it is God who sent him to baptize Jesus and told him about the coming of the Holy Spirit. (John 1/33, 34). It was through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that John called Jesus as the Lamb of God. The lamb is an animal used as sacrificial offering and Jesus also would some day offer Himself as a sacrifice for the salvation of all mankind. The one whom Jesus identified as the greatest of prophets would spend his last days languishing in a dungeon and be beheaded for fearlessly proclaiming the Word of God. He who announced the advent of the Kingdom was not allowed to see it being inaugurated.
Prayer Starter Abba Father, may Thy Kingdom come and may Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
