Witness

Christmastide (Wednesday, 2 January 2019)

1 John 2:22-28. Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4. John 1:19-28. (Please click the following link for the above readings http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010219.cfm.)

“I am not the Christ.”

For the next few days, we will be reading from the beginning of John’s gospel (chapter 1) after the Prologue. Here John the Baptist fulfills his role as witness in keeping with the Prologue. He does this by denying any messianic claims about himself and then by pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God, and finally by sending his own disciples to Jesus.

It is clear that John the Baptist was causing something of a stir with his preaching. So, in today's gospel passage we see that officials were sent out from the Temple in Jerusalem to make some inquiries. Because he said he was not the long-awaited Messiah, they wanted to know who he was. He said he was not Elijah come again nor was he a Prophet like Moses. His questioners persisted. They had to bring back some information to the authorities in Jerusalem. John says he is the voice in the desert, using a modified version of words from Isaiah (40:3): “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’”

This still does not satisfy and now some Pharisees – distinct from the priests who were all Sadducees – want to know why John is baptising when he is neither the Messiah, nor Elijah nor the Prophet.

John says that he is just baptising with water. “But there is one among you whom you do not recognise, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” By these words he implies that someone who is really a Prophet is on the way bringing with him a much greater baptism. John is simply preparing the way by a baptism whose emphasis is on purification and repentance. The new baptism will bring the power of God’s Spirit.

Obviously, there is much in John the Baptist’s role with which we can identify. John preceded Jesus in time and prepared people for his coming. We rather are called to precede Jesus in other ways by making it possible for people to come to know him and to follow him. We are not Christs, but called to be witnesses to the Christ, and be other Christs. We are not the Light but we are called to give constant witness to the Light. Jesus said that he was the Light of the World (John 8:12) but he also said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).

As Christians we participate in the messianic work of salvation. There is only one Christ, one Messiah, one Mediator. We are not the Saviours but, in God's mysterious plan, are called to participate in Christ's work as co-mediators, co-saviours. St Oscar Romero puts it beautifully: “Every now and then it helps us to take a step back and to see things from a distance. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is also beyond our visions. In our lives, we manage to achieve only a small part of the marvellous plan that is God’s work. Nothing that we do is complete, which is to say that the Kingdom is greater than ourselves. No statement says everything that can be said. No prayer completely expresses the faith. No Creed brings perfection. No pastoral visit solves every problem. No programme fully accomplishes the mission of the Church. No goal or purpose ever reaches completion. This is what it is about: We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that others will watch over them. We lay the foundations of something that will develop. We add the yeast which will multiply our possibilities. We cannot do everything, yet it is liberating to begin. This gives us the strength to do something and to do it well. It may remain incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way. It is an opportunity for the grace of God to enter and to do the rest. It may be that we will never see its completion, but that is the difference between the master and the labourer. We are labourers, not master builders, servants, not the Messiah. We are prophets of a future that does not belong to us.”