The biblical story of John the Baptist, the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, begins even before his birth. His leaping in his mother’s womb is seen as a great alleluia in anticipation of the birth of his redeemer, and this good news of Jesus Christ is related in all four gospels as beginning with John as Christ’s forerunner, or as the Benedictus puts it:

The Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah) Luke 1 vv76 & 77

76: And you, child, (John the Baptist) shall be called the prophet of the Most High, ♦
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

77: To give his people knowledge of salvation ♦
by the forgiveness of all their sins.

John’s ministry of Baptism was to wash away peoples’ sins, so that they could be drawn closer to their God. In his ministry he was quite clear that he was not the Messiah or Christ but that he was pointing the way. Salvation was not about offering sacrifices in the temple but about examining the way we lived and treating those around us by caring for them not taking advantage of them and using them for our own gain.

John stood in a long line of prophets who all made the point that serving our God was about how we treated the alien, the orphan and the widow. They were the people who lived on the edge of society and were often ignored, as they still are today. John also had the courage to stand up to the rulers of his day and challenge them when they were doing immoral things. In Herod’s case marrying his brother’s wife and, of course, for pointing this out John was executed by Herod.

Yes, John may have pointed to the coming of the Messiah but he only saw the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. We like the Gospel writers have the wonderful gift of hindsight, we can look back at the lives of John the Baptist, Jesus and the disciples, but for John his ministry was based on pure faith that he was carrying out the will of God and as such is a wonderful human example for us all. He walked in faith even though he never saw the completion of the act of Salvation in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

Let us give thanks for the birth and life, albeit so short, of John the Baptist. His task was to point the way to Jesus and so may we follow in the way that he has shown us.

Andrew SSL