John the Baptist’s Testimony

Today's Reflections 

 

                                                                                    

John the Baptist’s Testimony

Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

⁶A man named John was sent from God. ⁷He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

¹⁹And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites [to him] to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²²So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” ²³He said:/ “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert,/ “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’/ as Isaiah the prophet said.” ²⁴Some Pharisees were also sent. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, ²⁷the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John the Witness. We encounter again the figure of Yohanan Bar-Zechariyahu (John, the son of Zechariah). Because he baptizes people in the Jordan River, the moniker “Baptist” or “Baptizer” (Hebrew ha-tebil) is attached to his name. But in the Fourth Gospel, John is primarily a “witness”—the first and the witness par excellence to Jesus.

What witness does John give to the delegation consisting of priests and Levites who put him through a formal inquiry, as if in a trial? Who is he and why does he baptize? Rather than identify himself, John formally states who he is not—not the Messiah, not Elijah, not the Prophet like Moses. When pressed for his self-identity, he reveals himself as “the voice” crying in the desert.

The voice acknowledges that he baptizes only with water. But he goes on to say: “There is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”

John seems to be making a reference to a Jewish tradition according to which the Messiah will remain relatively obscure until the moment of his presentation to Israel. In fact, in one confrontation between Jesus and the Jews, the latter remark, “When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from” (Jn 7:27). This is different from the popular belief that the Messiah is the “son of David” coming from Bethlehem.

John’s act of humility further enhances the honor of the one he gives witness to: Jesus of Nazareth. Here and in the following episodes, John testifies to Jesus as the Master to whom he is unworthy to minister as servant, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Bridegroom.

John testifies not only with words but also with acts. And he witnesses to the very end, up to the shedding of his blood. The Synoptic gospels give us accounts of his martyrdom in the hands of Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee. The liturgy celebrates this witnessing of John in his Preface at Mass: “He baptized the very author of Baptism and was privileged to bear him supreme witness by the shedding of his blood.”