As we were saying last Sunday, this year we
will read the gospel of Mark, probably the first gospel to be written. Unlike
Matthew and Luke, who start their gospels with an infancy narrative, Mark
begins his account straight with the public ministry of Jesus, which opens with
his baptism at the Jordan. But, before speaking of the baptism, Mark introduces
the baptizer, namely John, the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth, the cousin of
Jesus.
John is the main character of the two central weeks
of Advent. Why? Because he is the precursor, the forerunner of Jesus. Although
of the same age as Jesus, he started his ministry before him. He left
everything and withdrew into the desert, like a monk, leading a very austere
life. The gospel says, “He fed on locusts and wild honey.” His garb was like
that of the prophets: he “was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt
around his waist.” Actually, he was a real prophet. One day Jesus will say,
“What did you go out to the desert to see? … To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you,
and more than a prophet.” And then he will add, “If you are willing to accept
it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come” (Mt 11:7.9.14). The prophet Malachi
had said, “I am sending to you Elijah the prophet, before the day of the Lord
comes” (Mal 3:23). So, the Jews were waiting for the coming of Elijah as a
precursor of the Messiah. And Jesus states that John is Elijah.
What is the mission of the Messiah’s precursor?
To prepare his way. Mark says this quoting the prophet Isaiah, “A voice of one
crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his
paths (rectas facite semitas eius).’” We have heard this prophecy in the first reading: originally, it
referred to the end of the Babylonian exile, when the Jews had to cross the
desert to come back to their land. Now the same prophecy is applied to the
coming of Jesus: there is need of someone who paves the way for him; which
means one who prepares the hearts to welcome him.
How? Urging to repentance. The best way of
preparing ourselves for the coming of the Messiah is to acknowledge our sins.
Those who do not recognize themselves as sinners cannot recognize Jesus as the
Messiah, because they consider themselves righteous and so do not feel in need
of salvation. Repentance is the necessary condition in order to be saved. Peter
says in the second reading, “[God] is patient with you, not wishing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” The exterior
sign of this interior conversion is baptism: “People of the all Judean
countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to [John] and
were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their
sins.” It is not yet the sacrament of baptism; it is just a “baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
John is aware of his limits. He knows that he
is not the Messiah: “One mightier than I is coming after me.” He is just a
servant: “I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.” There
is no comparison between his mission and that of the Messiah: “I have baptized
you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” We cannot but admire
such a humility; but this does not mean that John’s mission was of no
importance: preparing the ground was indispensable for the success of Jesus’
mission.
John’s mission is the mission of the Church
today, is our own mission: we too have to prepare the way of the Lord. Then he
himself will perform his mission, but we have to pave the way for him. And we
can do that, acknowledging our sins and inviting others to repentance. No
conversion, no salvation.
Q
