Hi everyone and welcome back to the podcast.
Today's Gospel reading at Mass is from John, 1:19-20 8.
So let's start by reading the passage This is how John
appeared as a witness when the Jews sent priests and Levites
from Jerusalem. To ask him.
Who are you? He not only declared but he
declared quite openly. I am not the Christ.
Well, then they asked, are you Elijah?
I am not. He said, are you the prophet?
He answered. No, so they said to him, who are
you? We must take back.
An answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about
yourself? So, John said, I am as Isaiah
prophesied. A voice that cries in the
wilderness, make a straight way for the Lord.
Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees and they put this
further question to him. Why are you baptizing, if you
are not the Christ and not Elijah and not the prophet John
replied. I baptize with water but they're
stands among, you are known to you, the one who is coming after
me, and I am not fit to undo his Sandal strap.
This happened at Bethany on the far side of the Jordan, where
John was baptizing? Okay, so, let's spend a bit of
time. Looking at the text of, what's
going on here. It's one of those lesser-known
readings. Most people are reasonably
familiar with John, the Baptist in his message, but this
interaction with the Pharisees is not as well known.
So, we're looking at John, 1:19-20 8.
So, the first thing to say is the John that's being talked
about. In this passage is John the
Baptist. It can get a bit confusing
because the author of this gospel, is also named John, but
the author of this gospel, is the Apostle, John and the John
that's being talked about in the passage is John the Baptist.
So to make it a bit easier, I'll refer to them as apostle, John
as the author and John the Baptist as the character in the
story, it says that John the Baptist is there as a witness.
So that's the role of John. He's there to testify that the
Messiah and the kingdom of God are about to come.
So the other gospels were usually use the word evangelize
to talk about, proclaiming the good news, but John apostle,
John in his gospel, rather than using the term evangelize, he
talks about witnessing. So John the Baptist is here,
witnessing his proclaiming, the gospel, the coming of the
kingdom of God, and it says, when the Jews sent priests and
Levites from Jerusalem, so the Jews went John uses the term,
John the Apostle uses a term do. Choose.
He's talking about the Jewish leadership and we later learn if
we read on that, he's talking about the Pharisees.
So whenever you see this expression the Jews in John, he
doesn't mean the Jews as a whole.
He means the leaders of the Jews.
So by this point in history John the Baptist has become very
popular. People are flocking to him,
they're being baptized there repenting and so naturally the
Jewish leaders are interested in who he is.
So they send doubt some priests and Levites.
So the priests and Levites were those who were in charge of
looking after the temple and the Pharisees have sent a delegation
of these priests and Levites to find out whether what, find out
who John is or who he thinks he is, which of the end times
prophets. Does he think he is as well as
will see is the focus? So the question I asked him
basically is. Who are you?
They're not familiar with who John is.
They don't know. They haven't seen him before.
He's not a traveling preacher or well-known Rabbi from Jerusalem.
Like many of the other robot rabbis were, he's, he just lived
in the desert for most of his adult life.
He hadn't been to Jerusalem as an adult.
All the people came out to him, he didn't come to the people.
So they want to know who this guy is, who is this desert
dweller? That's getting You're so popular
and proclaiming repentance. So that's why they send the
delegation. Verse 20, Apostle, John tells us
that John the Baptist not only declared but he declared quite
openly. I am not the Christ Apostle,
John talks about this a few times in his gospel he wants.
Apparently at the time Apostle John is writing.
There are a group of people who thought that John the Baptist
was the Messiah and Apostle John wants to make it really clear
that John the Baptist is not the Messiah and that he knew that he
wasn't the Messiah so that's why he keeps mentioning it.
So, in verse 21, the priests and the Levites asked him, are you
Elijah now? Some people looked at this and
said, oh, that must mean the Jews, believe in reincarnation,
because Elijah lived a long time before this, but the fact that
they mention a larger is interesting.
They don't believe in reincarnation.
It's just that Elijah. If you read a larger story in
the Old Testament, Elijah never actually died.
He went up to heaven in his entire body.
And there's predictions in the Old Testament, that Elijah
because he's still living in some sense is going to return
one day, and you can read about that in Malachi chapter 3,
verses 23. And so, a lot of the Jews were
expecting a lighter to return just before the kingdom of God
arrived, and John, the Baptist did have a lot of similarities
to Elijah. He's preachers at the same spot
at the Jordan River. He's got very similar clothes.
He's got the same message. So John, the Baptist answer
though, is I am not a Elijah Jesus later on in his ministry
would clarify that although it's true.
John the Baptist was not literally Elijah.
He actually did have the spirit and power of Elijah.
So John the Baptist is the Fulfillment of all of the
predictions about Elijah So the next question I asked him is are
you the Prophet The Prophet? So this comes from Deuteronomy
18:15. So in that passage Moses just
before Moses dies he says a prophet like me will the Lord
your God raise up. So as a result, the Jews looking
at that text in Deuteronomy would looking forward to a final
Prophet that was going to come. A prophet like Moses.
Now at this time, they didn't identify that profit.
As the Messiah, they were expecting the Messiah and they
are also expecting profit later on.
People would start to realize that actually, there is a
predictions of the same figure that Prophet that Moses
predicted and the predictions about the Messiah are both
talking about Jesus, but at this point, the Jews don't realize
that the prophet is the messiah. Verse 22.
So he's denied both of those, his not Elijah and his not the
profit. So the priests and the Levites
asked, John the Baptist well, who are you?
We must take back an answer to those who sent us.
So this indicates that, it's really the Jewish leadership.
The Pharisees that want an answer, the priests and the
Levites are just been put under pressure to go and find out who
we use. Verse 23.
So John said, I am as Isaiah prophesied.
A voice that cries in the wilderness, make a straight way
for the Lord. So the reference here that John
is referring to his from Isaiah 40 and in the original context
of Isaiah 40. Its first of this idea of
getting ready for the coming of the Lord, and in the context,
that's God. But by the time of Jesus, it had
come to be seeing particularly by the essenes which is the
community of qumran. Who wrote The Dead Sea Scrolls.
They saw these passages connected to the Future
Redemption of Israel from their Covenant punishment.
There was this whole theology that a developed about the
Romans had overtaken Judea and Israel because God was punishing
the Jews. That was the common Jewish
thought and eventually they started to see this Isaiah
chapter, 40 passage as a Action of the future restoration of
Israel. And so, John the Baptist sites
it and says he's the Fulfillment of this Isaiah chapter 40
passage. He says a voice cries in the
wilderness. So in Isaiah 40, It's a metaphor
that carries the idea of a message, being conveyed to the
people, you know, Isaiah 40 and John, the Baptist says, I am the
greatest fulfillment of that. He says, I literally am crying
out in the wilderness. This is a prophecy about me and
then the second half of Isaiah chapter 40, or the second part
of Isaiah chapter. 40, that John, the Baptist quotes is make
a straight way for the Lord often we skip over that.
But that's a really important quote.
Make a straight way for the Lord.
In the time of Isaiah, when this originally was written.
So perhaps around 700 BC, if the people knew that a king was
coming, they would literally prepare a road.
They would get a highway ready for and they tidy everything up,
so that the king could come in to the town.
So, that's the original context. And John, the Baptist here says,
I am the greatest fulfillment of this passage as well, because
I'm telling the Jews, how to prepare the way for the arrival
of the Messiah. So, he uses that concept of
Eating the town and getting ourselves ready for the coming
of the king and he applies that to the coming of the Messiah.
So, it's interesting how this hints even hear that Jesus is
being equated with God, because in the original context of
Isaiah, 40, it's telling the Jewish people to get ready for
the coming of God and they are John.
The Baptist says this is about to be fulfilled.
So I really interesting connections here with Isaiah 40.
Verse 24, John apostle John. Now tells his readers these men
had been sent from the Pharisees, so the Apostle John
feels. It's necessary to tell his
readers of this so that the readers will understand why the
priests and the Levites. Keep pressing John, the Baptist
fit information because the Pharisees want to know Verse 25,
they ask John the Baptist. Why are you baptizing?
If you are not the Christ, nor Elijah nor the prophet.
So they're thinking is that since he's not any of those
three, he doesn't have the authority to baptize his just a
random. John the Baptist doesn't really
answer their question. He doesn't actually answer the
question. Why are you baptizing?
So the idea seems to be that. Well, if you didn't understand
what I just referenced from Isaiah 40.
Well then you're not going to understand why I am baptizing.
So he doesn't try and keep convincing or explaining it to
them. Instead, what he says in verse
26 is there stands among you unknown to you.
Someone who is greater than I. So apparently Jesus is standing
there watching this scene happen, which makes sense.
Because if you read on in John chapter 1, the very next day,
John the sorry. Jesus approaches John, the
Baptist. So apparently Jesus is here
watching this scene happen and John the Baptist says there
stands among you someone who is greater than I John the Baptist
here says, I baptize with water and then the other synoptic
gospels go on to add the second half of that sentence, which is.
But the one who is coming, after me, will baptize with the Holy
Spirit and Fire. So referring to Jesus as the
Messiah, having a greater baptism than his own water
baptism. He says the one who is coming
after me is coming after me. I'm not fit to undo his Sandal
strap. So, in that culture, the most
demeaning task a slave could do for his master was to touch his
master's feet. That was considered to be the
worst grossest of tasks that a servant would have to do.
John the Baptist says I'm not worthy even to do that for the
Messiah, That's How Much Greater he is than me.
The last verse in verse 28, says, this happened at Bethany
on the far side of the Jordan. So Apostle John is telling his
readers the location. Where this happens, which is
actually just beyond the border of Judea.
It's in the region of perea. It's a desert region and you can
go there today. They've found the site where
John was baptizing. So it's really interesting to
look at the spot where all this would have happened and it's
known that a major highway passed through this area in the
time. Jesus.
So literally, the entire Roman Empire would have taken this
road, and John, the Baptist is out there in the wilderness.
Proclaiming the kingdom of God, to the whole world as they pass
by. So, that's John, 1:19-20 eight.
There's two places where the catechism references this
passage. So let's look at how the
Catholic Church develops teachings.
Based on this, passage from the Bible in paragraph, five 75 over
the catechism, which is in the section about Jesus relationship
to Israel. It says, many of Jesus's deeds
and words, constituted a sign of contradiction but more.
So for the religious authorities in Jerusalem Whom The Gospel,
according to John, often simply calls the Jews then for the
Ordinary People of God. So here it's picking up, John's
referent, John apostle, John's reference to this group of
Jewish leaders as the Jews. And here, the Catholic Church
teaches us. That when we see the word, the
Jews, we should see that as the Jewish leaders who struggle with
Jesus teaching, and then in paragraph 7 19, which is
actually a description of the role of John the Baptist.
I'll read out the entire paragraph because it brings
together a lot of things about the role of John, the Baptist
really well. John the Baptist is more than a
prophet in him, the Holy Spirit concludes his speaking through
the prophets, John completes the cycle of prophets begun by
Elijah. He proclaims the imminence of
the consolation of Israel. He is the voice of the consoler
who is coming. As the spirit of truth will also
do John came to bear witness to the light in John's site, the
spirit thus brings to completion.
The careful search of the prophets and fulfills the
longing of the Angels. He on whom you see the spirit
descend and remain. This is he who baptizes with the
Holy Spirit and I have seen and have borne witness that this is
the Son of God, Behold the Lamb of God.
So that's the end of your podcast today.
Hopefully you've learned something new about this
somewhat lesser known passage from John.
Chapter 1. Thanks for listening.
Hopefully you tune in again tomorrow.