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Hi everyone and welcome back to 
the podcast. 

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Today's Gospel reading at Mass 
is from John, 1:19-20 8. 

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So let's start by reading the 
passage This is how John 

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appeared as a witness when the 
Jews sent priests and Levites 

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from Jerusalem. 
To ask him. 

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Who are you? 
He not only declared but he 

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declared quite openly. 
I am not the Christ. 

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Well, then they asked, are you 
Elijah? 

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I am not. 
He said, are you the prophet? 

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He answered. 
No, so they said to him, who are

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you? 
We must take back. 

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An answer to those who sent us. 
What have you to say about 

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yourself? 
So, John said, I am as Isaiah 

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prophesied. 
A voice that cries in the 

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wilderness, make a straight way 
for the Lord. 

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Now these men had been sent by 
the Pharisees and they put this 

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further question to him. 
Why are you baptizing, if you 

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are not the Christ and not 
Elijah and not the prophet John 

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replied. 
I baptize with water but they're

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stands among, you are known to 
you, the one who is coming after

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me, and I am not fit to undo his
Sandal strap. 

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This happened at Bethany on the 
far side of the Jordan, where 

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John was baptizing? 
Okay, so, let's spend a bit of 

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time. 
Looking at the text of, what's 

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going on here. 
It's one of those lesser-known 

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readings. 
Most people are reasonably 

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familiar with John, the Baptist 
in his message, but this 

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interaction with the Pharisees 
is not as well known. 

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So, we're looking at John, 
1:19-20 8. 

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So, the first thing to say is 
the John that's being talked 

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about. 
In this passage is John the 

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Baptist. 
It can get a bit confusing 

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because the author of this 
gospel, is also named John, but 

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the author of this gospel, is 
the Apostle, John and the John 

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that's being talked about in the
passage is John the Baptist. 

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So to make it a bit easier, I'll
refer to them as apostle, John 

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as the author and John the 
Baptist as the character in the 

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story, it says that John the 
Baptist is there as a witness. 

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So that's the role of John. 
He's there to testify that the 

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Messiah and the kingdom of God 
are about to come. 

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So the other gospels were 
usually use the word evangelize 

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to talk about, proclaiming the 
good news, but John apostle, 

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John in his gospel, rather than 
using the term evangelize, he 

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talks about witnessing. 
So John the Baptist is here, 

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witnessing his proclaiming, the 
gospel, the coming of the 

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kingdom of God, and it says, 
when the Jews sent priests and 

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Levites from Jerusalem, so the 
Jews went John uses the term, 

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John the Apostle uses a term do.
Choose. 

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He's talking about the Jewish 
leadership and we later learn if

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we read on that, he's talking 
about the Pharisees. 

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So whenever you see this 
expression the Jews in John, he 

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doesn't mean the Jews as a 
whole. 

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He means the leaders of the 
Jews. 

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So by this point in history John
the Baptist has become very 

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popular. 
People are flocking to him, 

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they're being baptized there 
repenting and so naturally the 

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Jewish leaders are interested in
who he is. 

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So they send doubt some priests 
and Levites. 

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So the priests and Levites were 
those who were in charge of 

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looking after the temple and the
Pharisees have sent a delegation

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of these priests and Levites to 
find out whether what, find out 

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who John is or who he thinks he 
is, which of the end times 

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prophets. 
Does he think he is as well as 

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will see is the focus? 
So the question I asked him 

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basically is. 
Who are you? 

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They're not familiar with who 
John is. 

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They don't know. 
They haven't seen him before. 

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He's not a traveling preacher or
well-known Rabbi from Jerusalem.

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Like many of the other robot 
rabbis were, he's, he just lived

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in the desert for most of his 
adult life. 

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He hadn't been to Jerusalem as 
an adult. 

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All the people came out to him, 
he didn't come to the people. 

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So they want to know who this 
guy is, who is this desert 

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dweller? 
That's getting You're so popular

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and proclaiming repentance. 
So that's why they send the 

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delegation. 
Verse 20, Apostle, John tells us

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that John the Baptist not only 
declared but he declared quite 

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openly. 
I am not the Christ Apostle, 

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John talks about this a few 
times in his gospel he wants. 

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Apparently at the time Apostle 
John is writing. 

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There are a group of people who 
thought that John the Baptist 

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was the Messiah and Apostle John
wants to make it really clear 

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that John the Baptist is not the
Messiah and that he knew that he

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wasn't the Messiah so that's why
he keeps mentioning it. 

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So, in verse 21, the priests and
the Levites asked him, are you 

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Elijah now? 
Some people looked at this and 

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said, oh, that must mean the 
Jews, believe in reincarnation, 

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because Elijah lived a long time
before this, but the fact that 

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they mention a larger is 
interesting. 

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They don't believe in 
reincarnation. 

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It's just that Elijah. 
If you read a larger story in 

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the Old Testament, Elijah never 
actually died. 

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He went up to heaven in his 
entire body. 

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And there's predictions in the 
Old Testament, that Elijah 

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because he's still living in 
some sense is going to return 

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one day, and you can read about 
that in Malachi chapter 3, 

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verses 23. 
And so, a lot of the Jews were 

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expecting a lighter to return 
just before the kingdom of God 

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arrived, and John, the Baptist 
did have a lot of similarities 

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to Elijah. 
He's preachers at the same spot 

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at the Jordan River. 
He's got very similar clothes. 

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He's got the same message. 
So John, the Baptist answer 

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though, is I am not a Elijah 
Jesus later on in his ministry 

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would clarify that although it's
true. 

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John the Baptist was not 
literally Elijah. 

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He actually did have the spirit 
and power of Elijah. 

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So John the Baptist is the 
Fulfillment of all of the 

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predictions about Elijah So the 
next question I asked him is are

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you the Prophet The Prophet? 
So this comes from Deuteronomy 

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18:15. 
So in that passage Moses just 

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before Moses dies he says a 
prophet like me will the Lord 

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your God raise up. 
So as a result, the Jews looking

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at that text in Deuteronomy 
would looking forward to a final

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Prophet that was going to come. 
A prophet like Moses. 

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Now at this time, they didn't 
identify that profit. 

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As the Messiah, they were 
expecting the Messiah and they 

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are also expecting profit later 
on. 

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People would start to realize 
that actually, there is a 

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predictions of the same figure 
that Prophet that Moses 

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predicted and the predictions 
about the Messiah are both 

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talking about Jesus, but at this
point, the Jews don't realize 

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that the prophet is the messiah.
Verse 22. 

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So he's denied both of those, 
his not Elijah and his not the 

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profit. 
So the priests and the Levites 

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asked, John the Baptist well, 
who are you? 

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We must take back an answer to 
those who sent us. 

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So this indicates that, it's 
really the Jewish leadership. 

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The Pharisees that want an 
answer, the priests and the 

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Levites are just been put under 
pressure to go and find out who 

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we use. 
Verse 23. 

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So John said, I am as Isaiah 
prophesied. 

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A voice that cries in the 
wilderness, make a straight way 

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for the Lord. 
So the reference here that John 

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is referring to his from Isaiah 
40 and in the original context 

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of Isaiah 40. 
Its first of this idea of 

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getting ready for the coming of 
the Lord, and in the context, 

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that's God. 
But by the time of Jesus, it had

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come to be seeing particularly 
by the essenes which is the 

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community of qumran. 
Who wrote The Dead Sea Scrolls. 

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They saw these passages 
connected to the Future 

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Redemption of Israel from their 
Covenant punishment. 

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There was this whole theology 
that a developed about the 

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Romans had overtaken Judea and 
Israel because God was punishing

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the Jews. 
That was the common Jewish 

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thought and eventually they 
started to see this Isaiah 

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chapter, 40 passage as a Action 
of the future restoration of 

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Israel. 
And so, John the Baptist sites 

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it and says he's the Fulfillment
of this Isaiah chapter 40 

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passage. 
He says a voice cries in the 

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wilderness. 
So in Isaiah 40, It's a metaphor

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that carries the idea of a 
message, being conveyed to the 

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people, you know, Isaiah 40 and 
John, the Baptist says, I am the

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greatest fulfillment of that. 
He says, I literally am crying 

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out in the wilderness. 
This is a prophecy about me and 

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then the second half of Isaiah 
chapter 40, or the second part 

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of Isaiah chapter. 40, that 
John, the Baptist quotes is make

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a straight way for the Lord 
often we skip over that. 

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But that's a really important 
quote. 

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Make a straight way for the 
Lord. 

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In the time of Isaiah, when this
originally was written. 

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So perhaps around 700 BC, if the
people knew that a king was 

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coming, they would literally 
prepare a road. 

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They would get a highway ready 
for and they tidy everything up,

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so that the king could come in 
to the town. 

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So, that's the original context.
And John, the Baptist here says,

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I am the greatest fulfillment of
this passage as well, because 

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I'm telling the Jews, how to 
prepare the way for the arrival 

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of the Messiah. 
So, he uses that concept of 

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Eating the town and getting 
ourselves ready for the coming 

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of the king and he applies that 
to the coming of the Messiah. 

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So, it's interesting how this 
hints even hear that Jesus is 

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being equated with God, because 
in the original context of 

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Isaiah, 40, it's telling the 
Jewish people to get ready for 

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the coming of God and they are 
John. 

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The Baptist says this is about 
to be fulfilled. 

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So I really interesting 
connections here with Isaiah 40.

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Verse 24, John apostle John. 
Now tells his readers these men 

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had been sent from the 
Pharisees, so the Apostle John 

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feels. 
It's necessary to tell his 

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readers of this so that the 
readers will understand why the 

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priests and the Levites. 
Keep pressing John, the Baptist 

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fit information because the 
Pharisees want to know Verse 25,

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they ask John the Baptist. 
Why are you baptizing? 

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If you are not the Christ, nor 
Elijah nor the prophet. 

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So they're thinking is that 
since he's not any of those 

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three, he doesn't have the 
authority to baptize his just a 

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random. 
John the Baptist doesn't really 

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answer their question. 
He doesn't actually answer the 

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question. 
Why are you baptizing? 

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So the idea seems to be that. 
Well, if you didn't understand 

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what I just referenced from 
Isaiah 40. 

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Well then you're not going to 
understand why I am baptizing. 

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So he doesn't try and keep 
convincing or explaining it to 

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them. 
Instead, what he says in verse 

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26 is there stands among you 
unknown to you. 

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Someone who is greater than I. 
So apparently Jesus is standing 

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there watching this scene 
happen, which makes sense. 

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Because if you read on in John 
chapter 1, the very next day, 

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John the sorry. 
Jesus approaches John, the 

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Baptist. 
So apparently Jesus is here 

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watching this scene happen and 
John the Baptist says there 

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stands among you someone who is 
greater than I John the Baptist 

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here says, I baptize with water 
and then the other synoptic 

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gospels go on to add the second 
half of that sentence, which is.

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But the one who is coming, after
me, will baptize with the Holy 

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Spirit and Fire. 
So referring to Jesus as the 

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Messiah, having a greater 
baptism than his own water 

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baptism. 
He says the one who is coming 

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after me is coming after me. 
I'm not fit to undo his Sandal 

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strap. 
So, in that culture, the most 

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demeaning task a slave could do 
for his master was to touch his 

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master's feet. 
That was considered to be the 

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worst grossest of tasks that a 
servant would have to do. 

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John the Baptist says I'm not 
worthy even to do that for the 

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Messiah, That's How Much Greater
he is than me. 

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The last verse in verse 28, 
says, this happened at Bethany 

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on the far side of the Jordan. 
So Apostle John is telling his 

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readers the location. 
Where this happens, which is 

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actually just beyond the border 
of Judea. 

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It's in the region of perea. 
It's a desert region and you can

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go there today. 
They've found the site where 

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John was baptizing. 
So it's really interesting to 

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look at the spot where all this 
would have happened and it's 

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known that a major highway 
passed through this area in the 

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time. 
Jesus. 

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So literally, the entire Roman 
Empire would have taken this 

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road, and John, the Baptist is 
out there in the wilderness. 

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Proclaiming the kingdom of God, 
to the whole world as they pass 

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by. 
So, that's John, 1:19-20 eight. 

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There's two places where the 
catechism references this 

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passage. 
So let's look at how the 

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Catholic Church develops 
teachings. 

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Based on this, passage from the 
Bible in paragraph, five 75 over

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the catechism, which is in the 
section about Jesus relationship

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to Israel. 
It says, many of Jesus's deeds 

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and words, constituted a sign of
contradiction but more. 

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So for the religious authorities
in Jerusalem Whom The Gospel, 

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according to John, often simply 
calls the Jews then for the 

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Ordinary People of God. 
So here it's picking up, John's 

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referent, John apostle, John's 
reference to this group of 

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Jewish leaders as the Jews. 
And here, the Catholic Church 

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teaches us. 
That when we see the word, the 

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Jews, we should see that as the 
Jewish leaders who struggle with

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Jesus teaching, and then in 
paragraph 7 19, which is 

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actually a description of the 
role of John the Baptist. 

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I'll read out the entire 
paragraph because it brings 

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together a lot of things about 
the role of John, the Baptist 

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really well. 
John the Baptist is more than a 

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prophet in him, the Holy Spirit 
concludes his speaking through 

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the prophets, John completes the
cycle of prophets begun by 

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Elijah. 
He proclaims the imminence of 

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the consolation of Israel. 
He is the voice of the consoler 

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who is coming. 
As the spirit of truth will also

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do John came to bear witness to 
the light in John's site, the 

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spirit thus brings to 
completion. 

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The careful search of the 
prophets and fulfills the 

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longing of the Angels. 
He on whom you see the spirit 

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descend and remain. 
This is he who baptizes with the

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Holy Spirit and I have seen and 
have borne witness that this is 

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the Son of God, Behold the Lamb 
of God. 

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So that's the end of your 
podcast today. 

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Hopefully you've learned 
something new about this 

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somewhat lesser known passage 
from John. 

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Chapter 1. 
Thanks for listening. 

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Hopefully you tune in again 
tomorrow.

