Preparing the Way for the Messiah—Lectionary Reflection for Advent 3B (John 1)

John 1:6-8, 19-28 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

¹⁹ This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰ He confessed and did not deny it, but he confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²² Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said,

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’”

as the prophet Isaiah said.

²⁴ Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵ They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷ the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.” ²⁸ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

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The Gospel of John, like the Gospel of Mark, lacks an infancy narrative. What it does offer, unlike Mark is an opening prologue providing a theological foundation for what gets revealed in his Gospel. However, like Mark, he kicks things off by turning to John the Baptist, who testifies to the light that is the Christ. His discussion of John’s preparatory work is couched in that theological context that begins with the words:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him, not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. (Jn.1:1-5).

This is the light to which John bears witness. This is the “light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it,” the Word who was God, and through whom all things came into existence. As John recounts in verse 14, “The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).

                While the insertion of John the Baptist's ministry into the opening prologue seems like an interruption of an otherwise smooth discussion of the Word of God who becomes flesh, in the mind of the writer of this Gospel, if we are to truly understand the mission of John the Baptist, we need to see it contextually within the revealing of the one who bears light in the darkness. While he is not the messiah; he is the one who points toward the messiah who is the light-bearer. And this person whom John is preparing the way for is the Word made flesh. The light we see is his glory that radiates into the world. 

                If John’s prologue runs from verses 1-18, then the Gospel proper begins in verse 19, which declares: “This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” (Jn. 1:19). The remainder of the passage seeks to answer that question. Who is this John who baptizes in the Jordan? In terms of the relationship between the opening words about John the Baptist within the prologue, Karl Barth writes, concerning the odd placement of this discussion of John’s ministry within the prologue: “But they are in fact there, and there can be no doubt but that it is they that give the prologue the concrete appearance with which we have to reckon. They are important. The author has an urgent concern to say what they say. This is true even if, as Bultmann has assumed, 3 they are to be viewed as marginal corrections or strengthenings which the author added to an older work that he adopted and revised” [Barth, Witness to the Word: A Commentary on John 1, (pp. 22-23 Kindle Edition)].

                As we ponder this lectionary reading for the Third Sunday of Advent, the reference to light is important. Of course, December is the month in which the Winter Solstice falls in the Northern Hemisphere. Darkness comes early as the hours of daylight are shorter than the rest of the year. Many of us long for the return of the light of day when the darkness of winter gives way to the light of spring and summer (yes, I enjoy daylight savings time). Christians living in the Southern Hemisphere might see things differently, but the metaphor is a good one, for it speaks of our longing for the coming of the one who will reveal the fullness of God’s glory to all creation. The author of this Gospel understood the power of light and cast Jesus as a light-bearer, with John as the witness to that light that shined into the darkness. 

                When we think about the connection of Advent, a season that includes (in the Northern Hemisphere) increased darkness, to light, it is appropriate then that we include in our worship services the lighting of candles. Week by week we light the candles that traditionally signify hope, peace, joy, and then love. These four qualities define the light that comes into our world through Jesus the Christ, whom we welcome into our lives on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day when Christians gather to light the Christ Candle. As the fifth verse of Mary Ann Parrot’s Advent/Christmas hymn declares:

Come, listen, the sounds of God with us ring clear,

and signs of a cross in the distance appear,

The Word once made flesh, yet the Word ever near,

One candle is lit for the Christ-birthday here.

[Mary Anne Parrott, “One Candle Is Lit,” 1995 Chalice Press].  

Of course, we’re not quite ready to light the Christ Candle. The Third Sunday invites us to light the Candle of Joy, which according to a Brian Wren hymn “is a song that welcomes the dawn, telling the world that the Savior is born” [Wren, “When God is a Child,” 1985]. 

The Gospel of John suggests that the people of Israel were looking for light. They simply wondered if John was that light bearer whom they sought. So, they wondered if he was a prophet like Elijah or the Messiah himself.  John made it clear that he wasn’t the light itself. He was instead the one called by God to testify to the light that was coming into the world.

                In John’s telling of the story of the Word of God made flesh (John 1:14), this other John, the Baptist, is portrayed as the one who cries in the wilderness, the one who makes straight the way of the Lord. In making this declaration, John reaches back to Isaiah 40, a passage that speaks first and foremost to exiles who are promised that they will return to their homeland. The pathway from Babylon to Jerusalem will be prepared so that the people can make their way on level ground. When this happens, “the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Is. 40:5). This reading from Isaiah 40 was paired with a reading from Mark 1 on the Second Sunday of Advent by the Lectionary creators, but it is an equally valuable source for John as well as Mark. The point here is that the light that shines into the darkness is the glory of the LORD, which is revealed in the person of the Word made flesh.

                The section of the reading that runs from verses 19 to 28 more fully introduces us to John the Baptist, who is asked whether he is the Messiah or a prophet. Rather he is the voice crying in the wilderness. That leads to the question of why (on what authority was he acting if not the prophet or Messiah?) he was baptizing people with water. John answers that question, which the author of the Gospel (there are too many Johns involved), by pointing them to the one who is coming after him, the one whom he (John the Baptist) is not worthy enough to untie the thong of the sandal of the one who is coming. This conversation took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was carrying out his ministry of baptism. The reading stops short of John’s full witness. Verses 29-34 take place the following day when John the Baptist points to Jesus and speaks of him as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” While this part of John 1 points beyond John’s initial calling, it might be worth including these verses in a sermon. After all, it is in these verses that John the Baptist gets to actually point out Jesus to the interested parties. Barth points out that the second portion of the reading has two clearly discernible parts. “First vv. 19– 28 tell us what the Baptist’s witness was to himself, the shadow cast by the light. Then vv. 29– 34 contain the witness proper, namely, the Baptist’s witness to Jesus” (Witness to the Word, p. 161]. Our reading focuses on John’s description of his mission, while the verses that follow describe Jesus’ ministry as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” That part of the story will have to wait for another time.

                The focus here is one bearing witness to the light, which is revealed in the person of the Word of God made flesh. It is John the Baptist’s calling and it is ours. John roots the authority of his baptismal activity in the coming of one whom the questioners do not know, but who is greater than John. While this is John’s calling at that moment, it is also our calling. We too are called upon to testify to the light, recognizing that we are not the light itself. Instead, we are bearers of the light. In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) Jesus speaks of not placing a lamp under a bushel or a bed or some other entity to hide the lamp. Instead, you let it shine. The reading from Matthew puts it quite nicely:  “¹⁵ People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:15-16).

                Many Christians place their lamps under bushels or beds. Many find it difficult to testify to their faith. In part that is due to a fear that they might offend another by talking about their faith. They may also struggle to define what they believe. So, many adopt the principle that religion is something we should keep private. But is that the best approach? Might one speak confidently about what one’s faith means without suggesting that the beliefs of another are somehow less valuable? The problem is that when we remain quiet and keep the lamp under the bushel basket, we let others define what it means to be a Christian.

                John heard the call and went down to the Jordan where he baptized people and bore witness to the one who would come after him. That would be the light of the world, which was and is coming into the world to reveal the fullness of God’s glory. May we embrace the call to testify to that light along with John the Baptist.

 1 On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
announces that the Lord is nigh;
awake and hearken, for he brings
glad tidings of the King of kings!

2 Then cleansed be every life from sin;
make straight the way for God within,
and let us all our hearts prepare
for Christ to come and enter there.

3 We hail you as our Savior, Lord,
our refuge and our great reward;
without your grace we waste away
like flowers that wither and decay.

4 Stretch forth your hand; our health restore,
and make us rise to fall no more.
O let your face upon us shine
and fill the world with love divine.

—Translator: John Chandler; Author: Charles Coffin

 Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal #96

 

 Image Attribution Mary Jane Miller. John the Baptist, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59675 [retrieved December 10, 2023]. Original source: Mary Jane Miller, https://www.millericons.com/.