“There has been none greater than John the Baptist”
We were introduced to John the Baptist last week in the 2nd Sunday of Advent. This week we hear of him in prison. Jesus commands John’s followers to go report that He is the Lord, “the one who is to come.” Jesus asks the crowds why they went out into the desert, what did they want to see or expect to hear?
Whatever their expectations, the crowd encountered in John the Baptism, a great prophet and the last prophet. “St. John the Baptist is the Lord’s immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare the way. ‘Prophet of the Most High,’ John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last.” [1]
Why was John the Baptist in prison? John the Baptist was in prison because he spoke truth to King Herod. John rebuked King Herod for his adulterous marriage with his brother’s wife. [2] Truth, as the proverb says, is certainly a very beautiful mother, but can sometimes bear within the hearts of the wicked an ugly daughter: Hatred. St. John experienced that speaking the truth can arouse hatred and enmity against the one who speaks truth. Let us learn from him to speak the truth always, when duty requires it, even if it brings upon us the greatest misfortunes, for, if with St. John we patiently bear persecution, with St. John we shall become martyrs for truth. [3]
Discuss a time when you had to speak the truth even when it was unpopular. Why is it hard to speak the truth always?
Why did St. John send his disciples to Christ? St. John the Baptist never claimed to be the Messiah, rather he claimed he was the one who was to prepare the way for the Messiah. John had heard of the wonders and miracles Jesus was doing, and he wanted confirmation that Jesus was “really the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, whom they should follow.” [4]
Why did St. John doubt Jesus as the Messiah? Even though John was a prophet, he also was human. It is also mentioned in the footnotes in the Bible that John expected the mission of the Messiah as one of fiery judgment. However, Jesus replies to John’s questioning with the passages from Isaiah, “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” These actions were foretold as signs that their salvation was at hand. [5] Not only did people not getting what they expected in the person of Saint John, they also did not get what they expected in the person of Christ. Jesus the Messiah comes for the salvation of all but pays special attention to the blind, the lame, the leper, the deaf, the dead and the poor.
Why did Christ say to the disciples of St. John: ‘Go and say to John, the blind see, the lame walk, etc.’? Jesus possesses everything that was foretold of the coming Messiah. Jesus tells John’s disciples about those miracles in order that they may judge Him to be the Messiah since He is performing the miracles that the prophets predict He would work. According to St. Cyril, Christ revealed that He was the Messiah by the grandeur and the number of His miracles. [6]
Why does Christ add: “And blessed is he who shall not be scandalized in me”? Jesus is saying something similar to our saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Jesus was nothing like what people assumed the Messiah would look or act like. He did not want anyone to “be scandalized by His poverty, humility and ignominious death on the cross, and who for these reasons would doubt and despise Him, and cast Him away; though ‘man,’ as St. Gregory says, ‘owes all the more love to the Lord, his God, the more humiliations He has borne for him.’” [7]
Why did Jesus ask the crowd so many questions about their visits to St. John? Jesus asks the following questions of the crowd. “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?” Jesus is commending and supporting the person and mission of Saint John. Jesus did not want John to lose faith, especially while in prison. Jesus gave John hope and perseverance to die for the truth knowing that he had served his purpose perfectly. Saint John the Baptism “continued to fill his office of preacher, thus constituting him an example to all preachers, confessors and superiors, that they may never be deterred by human respect, or fear of man, or other temporal considerations, from courageously fulfilling their duties. Our Lord commended also rigorous penance, exhibited by St. John’s coarse garments and simple food, that we may learn, from his example, penance and mortification.” [8]
So why did the crowd go out to see Saint John the Baptist? They had questions and wanted answers, they wanted the truth. Christianity (our belief in Jesus Himself) is either the whole truth and the answer to what St. John the Baptist, his disciples, and all of us have been looking for, or it is false and we should reject it at all costs. There is no middle ground.
How was John a prophet? A prophet is “one who spoke, acted, or wrote under the extraordinary influence of God to make known the divine counsels and will.” [9] There were prophets who prophesied the coming of John. “Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” [10] In the Gospel of Luke, St. John’s father is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesies his son’s role, “And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins...” [11] John spoke and acted under the influence of God all his life. This was his whole life’s mission. He was the bridge from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus himself talks about John when he said “the law and the prophets down to John the Baptist.” [12] He is the last and final prophet because he is the forerunner of Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment and perfection of all that was spoken by the prophets.
Why does Christ say that John was “more than a prophet”? John the Baptist was a prophet because a prophet is one who heralds the coming of the Messiah. However, St. John the Baptist was more than a prophet because he not only preached the coming of Christ, but was able to see Him. “St. John was foretold by the prophet Malachi as was no other prophet; because of all the prophets he was the only one who with his own eyes saw Christ and could point Him out, and was the one to baptize Him: and because like an angel, a messenger of God, he announced the coming of the Savior, and prepared the way for the Lord.” [13]
Why is Saint John the Baptist considered the least but at the same time the greatest? According to earthly standards, Saint John is called the greatest “among those born of women.” However, reality is both temporal and eternal. Jesus tells the crowds, “the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” The very least in heaven are far greater that the greatest on earth. Even the least in the Kingdom of Heaven are better than John the Baptist. [14] However, by fulfilling his vocation perfectly, even dying a martyr’s death, we can be assured that St. John the Baptist has a special place in heaven and for this reason he is highly revered by the Church.
Was John the Baptist Elijah coming back? Yes and No. In the book of Malachi, he prophesied “I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the Lord come...” [15] The Jewish people took this passage literally. In John’s Gospel, the Jews ask Saint John if he was Elijah reincarnated. [16] Saint John says that he is not. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that Elijah has already come, but they did not recognize him and ultimately killed him just like the Son of Man would suffer at their hands. [17] So yes, John the Baptist is the Elijah that was prophesied. However, he was not literally the reincarnated Elijah, spoken of in the book of 2 Kings. An example that can be used in today’s terms is when athletes are compared to other athletes. “Tom Brady is the next Joe Montana” or “Tony Romo could be the next Brett Farve.” Saint John comes in the “spirit and power” of Elijah and this is why people wonder if he indeed is Elijah. “Going before Jesus in spirit and power of Elijah, John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.” [18]
[1] Catechesim of the Catholic Church - 523
[2] Matthew 14:3-10
[3] Goffine, The Church’s Year, pg. 20
[4] Goffines, The Church’s Year, pg. 20
[5] New American Bible footnotes Matthew’s Gospel pg. 27
[6] Goffines, The Church’s Year, pg. 20
[7] Goffines, The Church’s Year, pg. 20
[8] Goffines, The Church’s Year, pg. 20-21
[9] Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary pg. 446
[10] Mal. 3:1
[11] Luke 1:76-77
[12] In conversation with God pg. 58
[13] Goffines, The Church’s Year, pg. 21
[14] New American Bible footnotes Matthew’s Gospel pg. 27
[15] Mal. 3:23
[16] John 1:21
[17] cf. Matthew 17:10-13
[18] Catechesim of the Catholic Church - 523