Third Sunday of Advent (Year B)

Is 61:1-2a,10-11;
Lk 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54;
1Thes 5:16-24;
Jn 1:6-8,19-28

BIBLICAL-MISSIONARY COMMENTARY

Witness to Christ “across the Jordan”

The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday i.e. “Be ye joyful!” or “Be ye glad!” from the first word of the Mass Entrance Antiphon. Therefore, we are invited to rejoice because the feast of the Lord’s coming is now near, spiritually and also literally (in fact, December 25 is on the horizon). In this context of joyful anticipation, today’s Gospel urges us to meditate again on St. John the Baptist, described now as “a man… sent from God”, that is God’s “missionary”, who “came for testimony, to testify to the light,” Jesus, the divine Word. Thus, the details of today’s Gospel have a clear missionary perspective, because they help us deepen some fundamental aspects of John’s witness to Jesus who is coming. Therefore, a scrutatio or lectio divina on the Gospel text we have just heard will be important and useful for all of us Christians who are called to be joyful witnesses of Jesus Christ before the world.

1. “I am not the Christ.” The Humble Testimony of John the Baptist About Himself

With the description of John as “a man… sent from God” God’s mission for and in the Baptist is immediately made clear (cf. Jn 1:33; 3:28). John is a “man,” but he fulfills the divine mission with “heavenly” authority “to testify to the light.” (vv.7-8). Therefore, there follows the solemn proclamation of the name: John which means precisely “grace of God.” (A comparable presentation with that of Mary in Lk). John the “missionary” is also characterized by the statement that follows: “He came for testimony…,” like Jesus’ self-statements about his own mission, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (cf. Jn 10:10; 12:47; Mk 10:45; Mt 20:28). However, it is specified further below that “he was not the light,” and thus anticipates the Baptist’s “formula of testimony” before the “sent” of the religious leaders of the time: “I am not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet” (vv. 20,21,25). John the Baptist however is a small “little light,” “a burning and shining lamp” (Jn 5:35) and thus bears witness to Christ who is the Light of the world (Jn 8:12; 9:5; cf. 3:19).

Responding to those who questioned him about his (messianic) identity (“Who are you?” vv. 19,22) (almost like the questioning Jesus underwent before the Sanhedrin during his trial), John the Baptist boldly and sincerely gives his testimony about himself in two stages, firstly about what he is not (vv. 19-21) and secondly, about what he is (vv. 22-23). In the first part, the particular construction of the sentence should be noted to highlight John’s negative confession “I am not...” which thus appears in contrast to Jesus’ seven self-declarations with the predicate “I am” (bread of life, light of the world, good shepherd...) in Jn, as well as Jesus’ confession in Mk 14:62 (“Are you the Messiah?” – “I am”). The religious leaders’ questions concerned the identity of the eschatological characters: the Christ, i.e., the messiah, the anointed Davidic king at the end of time; Elijah - the one who prepares for the coming of the day of the Lord (cf. Ml. 3); the Prophet, the eschatological one as powerful as Moses, foretold in Deut. 18. John the Baptist denied these identities, to later emphasize what he is (vv. 22-23): the voice, as St. Augustine commented, “John is the voice, but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning” (Sermo 293, 3; PL 1328-1329). This is a confession of his mission without claiming any dignity, as already noted by St. Bonaventure, who speaks of an affirmation of humble truth. The Baptist’s humility is reaffirmed in v. 27 (“whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie”).

Here is what John the Baptist teaches us today about our witness to Christ to give to the world in the evangelizing mission. We must always recognize that we are not Christ, nor are we some divine prophet who will save the world. It is always necessary to go beyond an excessive focus on ourselves, our “person”, our visions, our plans, forgetting that we are only servants and heralds of Christ who is to come. We must always keep in mind the important teaching of Pope Francis in this regard in the Message for World Mission (Sun)Day 2022:

Christ, indeed Christ risen from the dead, is the One to whom we must testify and whose life we must share. Missionaries of Christ are not sent to communicate themselves, to exhibit their persuasive qualities and abilities or their managerial skills. Instead, theirs is the supreme honour of presenting Christ in words and deeds, proclaiming to everyone the Good News of his salvation, as the first apostles did, with joy and boldness.

2. “There Is One Among You Whom You Do Not Recognize.” John the Baptist’s Testimony About Christ, the Mysterious “Unknown” the One Who Is Coming After Me

Curiously, John’s testimony about Christ states nothing about the identity of “the one who is coming after me.” However, indirectly, in the context of John’s questioning and testimony, that mysterious “unknown” One-who-comes is, unlike John himself, “the Christ.” Indeed, He is the Lord, whose way John the Baptist calls all to prepare and straighten (v. 23).

In John the Baptist’s response to the question “Why then do you baptize?” it should be noted that the first sentence seems incomplete (“I baptize with water”). It leaves a suspense in the narrative and will find its fulfillment later in Jn 1:33: “the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit’” (cf. Mk 1:7-8). Here, in the first allusion to Christ, John the Baptist stops at the idea of the Messiah remaining hidden, unknown, until his official appearance to Israel. In the presence of Christ’s greatness, the Baptist still acknowledges his unworthiness: “whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie” (a phrase that became characteristic of John and is also found in Acts 13:25). We still have the “I am not” (!) construction in regard to the one who comes and who is “Worthy are you to receive the scroll and to break open its seals” (Rev 5:9).

The Baptist’s testimony, then, is the total denial of self for the total affirmation of Christ. In fact, the Baptist will conclude his “testimony” in John that he is not the Christ (cf. John 3:28) with the phrase in the context of the joy that becomes full when one hears the voice of Christ the Bridegroom:

You yourselves can testify that I said [that] I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.” (Jn 3:28-30)

He must grow; I, on the other hand, decrease - Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui (Jn 3:30). Here is the joy of the Gospel, the joy of authentic missionaries of God and Christ. May He always grow in the hearts of those we serve, and we diminish until we leave the scene completely, like John the Baptist. (Will you, then, also learn something from the Baptist in your relationship with Christ? Will you recognize that you are not the most important one in the world, and will you do so with joy? Are you willing to deny yourself in order to affirm, to grow, the Christ who is in our midst and who is coming?)

3. “Across the Jordan.” The Significant Concluding Note on the Place of Testimony

The Gospel passage ends on a seemingly “neutral” or even “meaningless” note about the geographical context of John’s testimony: “This happened in Bethany across the Jordan.” This is a mysterious and so far unknown place (with so many assumptions in between), but not to be confused with Bethany near Jerusalem where the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus is located. However, with the specification “across the Jordan” this geographical indication gains even more importance for two reasons. First, it returns again in Jn 10:40 (“[Jesus] went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained”), to form a significant and beautiful narrative arc. It is from this place that Jesus begins and ends his ministry, before the final stage of death and resurrection, heralded by the episode of Lazarus (cf. Jn 11). Moreover, the expression “across the Jordan” recalls the position of the chosen people before entering the Promised Land. This is precisely the place of waiting, the joyful place, because the goal is already before us, visible, observable, felt, after a long journey. To this place we are all invited to go spiritually: to immerse ourselves in the situation of the Chosen People in order to understand the joy of arriving at the destination, at the salvation long desired.

Let us pray, then, that the Lord may renew the wisdom and joy of the Gospel in these days as we await the approach of Christmas, so that, like John the Baptist, we may humbly and courageously bear witness to Christ the Savior who comes to bring God’s peace and salvation to all. Amen.