John is the first significant figure in the story of Jesus’ public ministry. His prophetic proclamation is also the first point of agreement between the four evangelists, who relate markedly similar accounts. John is portrayed as the proverbial “one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind,” who alone can see the end of history. Living a life of begging, he is akin to the wild-eyed street-corner preacher holding a piece of cardboard on which he’s scrawled, “Repent! The end has come!”
Luke is careful to distinguish between the ministries of John and Jesus; and there has been much speculation about the relationship between the men. It seems that John had a significant following in his own right; indeed, he’s executed by King Herod, who sees him as a potential political threat. Years later, Jesus’ disciples would find people in far-flung corners of the Empire, who knew of John and his of his baptisms. Jesus may have been among his followers, who took up leadership within the community after John’s arrest and beheading
For us, John the Baptist stands as a model of faithful witness. Time and again in Scripture, we are told that the difference between a false prophet and a genuine one is simply that the oracles of the genuine prophet come to pass. John maintained the confidence needed to assert a truth many in his day dismissed as misguided self-interest, malicious lies, or the mad ravings of this month’s sackcloth-clad wunderkind.
Emulating the faithful witness of John the Baptist, let’s each of us be encouraged this Advent to speak the truth with love and compassion – especially in the face of hatred and exclusion. Like his father, Zechariah, we will find it impossible to remain mute when the truth of God’s revelation takes fire in our heart and loosens our tongue in divinely-inspired eloquence. For we are bidden, like John, “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”
Alas, they are all around us.
Revd. Neil Fernyhough