John The Baptist: The voice to The Word!

(Homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist-Year B)

      Today the Church celebrates the solemnity of John the Baptist, the Precursor, Christ’s forerunner and the pioneer soul-winner (cf. Jn.1:7). Indeed, this is one of those special few solemnities we celebrate in the church that are not those of the Lord. No doubt, the celebration of this solemnity even on the day of the Lord, reveals its place of importance in the life and faith of the church. The reason for his importance is predicated upon the fact that his ministry is indeed intimately related to the ministry of Jesus. Indeed, as we celebrate him today, we cannot but rediscover his good examples and virtues. John the Baptist should and cannot be considered as one of those mere personages of the past, for his relevance in the church is still visible today. He continues to interrogate every authentic Christian with his cry of repentance, and the impending judgment. He continues to be the voice that cries in the desert, in the desert of the world, in the desert of our society and in the desert of our hearts. The whole Church needs to put her voice together to that of John the Baptist in crying for repentance, for without repentance, the Savior will not be known. For repentance, knowingly or unknowingly reawakens in us the consciousness of our “createdness”. It helps us to realize and accept that we cannot save ourselves, but God can, and He does, in and through His Son! We are called therefore to be a voice that cries, a voice that proclaims the Truth, the Good News, the advent of the Messiah.

     As we celebrate his birthday today, we cannot but recall the vital role he played in the immediate and imminent preparation for the advent of the Messiah. Indeed, to say it with John the evangelist, “A man came, sent by God. His name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness to the light, so that everyone might believe through him” (Jn. 1:6-7). John the Baptist's preparation for the coming of Jesus was not aesthetic or physical beautification. He calls for a spiritual preparation. And the people responded to his call for conversion with the confession of their sins. John further teaches us how to wait by what he wore and ate, and also by his Humility as a Voice, he is not the Word, and he was very much aware of it. In fact, in the second reading he says: “What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie” (Acts 13:25). A voice without the Word will only make empty noise. The Baptist role as a Voice could also be seen at the episode of his birth, when speech was restored to his dumb father, just in the effort to give him a name. Thus, immediately after his birth he became voice to the father and later voice to the Eternal Word of the Father. Interestingly, we could say that the question Isaac asked his father Abraham in the book of Genesis (22:7): “But where is the lamb?”, was answered by John the Baptist in the gospel of John: “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world” (1:29). He is the voice of the Lamb. The preaching of John as a voice hinged on two aspects: ● His preaching of repentance and baptism and the forgiveness of sins. ● His declaration of the advent of One stronger than him, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

      In the same vein, even today, we need precursors, those who will continue to call the attention of all to the preparation for the continuous coming of Christ in our hearts and in our lives, through their words and actions. For us priests and religious we have more motives to become voices like John the Baptist, because our vocation, our consecration and our ordination call us to dedicate our lives completely for the service of the Lord. We are to become “Otimkpu Jisos”. And by extension, we are all called as Christians to be at the fore front in the preparation for the Savior’s coming. No doubt, to be precursors entails becoming agents of preparation for His coming, therefore ready and willing to remove all obstacles that can impede His coming into our lives and societies. Ceteris paribus, therefore, the central figure of the gospel is John the Baptist, who realized the prophecy of Isaiah: “A voice of one that cries in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his path” (Is.40:3).

     In the episode of the Lukan gospel (Lk. 1: 57-66.80) we are called to meditate on the event of the birth of John the Baptist, which represents the fulfilment of the message of the angel to Zechariah. In the account of the birth of John the Baptist the story revolves around the imposition of name and the reaction of the people, who were filled with awe before the wonders the Lord has wrought. The name John signifies “God is gracious”. The theme of grace is a recurrent one in the infancy gospel (both in Jesus and John the Baptist). Mary celebrated the grace of God in the Magnificat (v.50). And God himself magnified his grace with Elizabeth, by making her to be fruitful even in her old age (v.58). God still continues to manifest his merciful love with the actuation and fulfilment of the promises he made to the fathers, especially with the imminent birth of the rising Sun.

     As a matter of fact, between the two testaments, there exists a period of silence, and that is very much symbolized in the speech taking away from the priest (Zechariah), right in the temple. Zechariah doubted, and as such, he closed his ears before the Word of God, and from that moment he lost his word (that is the power to speak). He refused to listen, and now he has nothing to communicate. In all, one notices immediately that the doubts of the Old priest did not prevent God’s action. For what God says he will do, he will do! Indeed, John the Baptist is a Child of miracle.

     After his birth, on the eight day, that supposed to be the naming ceremony in their tradition, the kinsmen all gathered and they wanted to name him after his father Zechariah, but owing to the fact that he is a child of miracle, his name equally was revealed. At this moment the priest that should speak could not utter a word for he was dumb, then they asked the mother and she replied without hesitation: “He will be called John”, which means “God is gracious”, and this name indeed revealed the essence of his person. But on hearing the name the people there were astounded, and thus they proceeded to the dumb old priest and gave him pen to write the name to be given, and he wrote: “John” and the people were all astonished the more. Upon confirmation of the name John, as declared by his wife Elizabeth, Zechariah regained his speech and his first words were a hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord: the Benedictus.    

     In this passage, we see that wonderful coincidence between the will/desire of Elizabeth and that of Zechariah (v.63), however, it is not to be considered as a miracle, because there is the possibility that he communicated to Elizabeth prior to that moment the name that was revealed by the angel (v.13), for he was dumb. On the other hand, the feeling of bewilderment, fear and the spread of the event constitute in the gospel of Luke the common elements in the account of miracles. Above all, the most resounding prodigy consists in the birth of the Precursor. And all these, propelled those around to question thus: “What then will this child be?” This interrogation reveals in no small way, that this child has a wondrous mission to carry out for the salvation of the world. And he did manifest this as a Voice, the Precursor, and the Baptizer. In all, his person and his preaching have just a function: to render present the Other. The whole of his mission and greatness could be summarized in the following landmarks:

●He obeyed a divine commission (cf. Jn.1:33)

● He described a specific task (cf. Jn. 1:19-23)

● He ushered in the long awaited Messiah (cf. Jn. 1:24-27)

● He proclaimed a glorious message (cf. Jn. 1:29 & 36. 32 & 33)

● He procured a rich harvest (cf. Jn. 1:35-37, 40-42)

And as we celebrate him today, the relevance of this solemnity reminds us that we are all called to partake in the mission of the Baptist, as voice to the Word “otimkpu Jisos”. Lord Jesus help us to recognize our nothingness before You as John did! Help us to understand that without You our life will be meaningless, for without the Word, the voice produces meaningless sounds! Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)