The Birth of John the Baptist, June 24

Luke 1:57-80

“Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and, following his example, constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (Collect for the Birth of John the Baptist)

John the Baptist (that is, the one who “dunks”) is the completion of the great thirsting for truth and justice that defines the relationship between the people of Israel and God. His preaching as recorded in Luke’s Gospel is focused on everyday justice, and how ordinary people, even tax collectors and Roman soldiers, might satisfy divine justice. John was deeply concerned with the practice of virtue – of doing the right thing. He also knew that he was the forerunner of the One who would finally execute God’s justice. He was merely the pointer to Jesus of Nazareth, in whose presence he had leaped for joy even in the womb.

Later, rotting in Herod’s prison for calling the King to account for his injustice, John must have felt that Jesus was too far away. I believed that you were the Messiah, he said, the fulfillment of the hope of Israel for justice and liberation. But you seem to be more focused on healing sick people than freeing our people from the oppression of our Roman enemies. Is someone coming after you? Basically, this is what John’s followers asked Jesus on John’s behalf. Sitting in that prison, John must have also wondered if Jesus’s mission included saving him.

Basically, Jesus replies: See all who have been healed, John, and be not offended that my mission is about more than virtue and the rewards of doing the right thing. I come to heal all those whose hearts are broken. You rightly exposed the injustice and wrongdoing of humanity. I come to give humanity the grace that will empower them to overcome the evil that starts in their hearts.

I would like to think that John came to accept that he had done his part. He had swept away people’s rationalizations of their sin and pointed to the Judge who was coming. I would like to think that John came to understand that judgment was not the final purpose of God, but redemption.