I have always been so intrigued by the person and character of John the Baptist. He appears in all four Gospels as the one who points to Jesus as the long hoped-for Coming One. He also seems to be the only human, aside from Mary Jesus’s mother, who is always accurate in their estimations and reflections about Christ. Across Jesus’s public ministry and passion narrative, many people claim to know things about him and God’s plan, but the good news of Christ subverts all those limited expectations. Only John gets it right all the time. He doesn’t seem to know everything, but what he does, he shares with all those who will hear, and many who don’t want to hear what he has to say. He never falters, he is strong and steadfast to the end.
Apparently, I am not the only one so taken by John. Once I determined that being a Religious Studies major was my vocation in university, I began soaking up all the biblical studies classes I could. I ultimately decided to study John the Baptist as a prophet and hero in the Gospels and beyond. It turns out that in addition to the Christians, other ancient groups like the Ebionites valued and revered his insights as well.
Today’s readings explore the prophetic background of John’s ministry in the Jewish scriptures, Paul’s record of John’s prophetic impact on early Christianity, and Luke’s narrative of John’s prophetic birth. Despite his relatively small role in the cinematic telling of the good news (in terms of screen time, he never has more than three brief scenes in a Gospel), his impact is both foundational and profound. I have to wonder, could the early Christian movement have been so successful without him?
Regarding the miraculous conception and birth of John narrated in Luke and celebrated today, I am compelled to find myself experiencing the narrative from Elizabeth’s perspective. After years (decades?) of sorrowful hopes for children, she is blessed with a miracle child, then immediately challenged with one concern after another from every side. She must hold on tightly to her prophetic child, nurturing him to adulthood, but also let him go to live out his calling as the prophetic voice crying in the wilderness that foreruns what changes everything.
The birth of John, witness testifying to the One sent by God to atone for sin and to put in place a new covenant available to everyone, and baptizer of repentant souls who desire to live in right relationship with God and thereby live out this new covenant, is celebrated today. God bless him, and God bless all of us who strive to live by his conviction and prophetic voice.
Sherri Brown
After undergraduate study at Washington and Lee University and early graduate work at Yale University Divinity School and Columbia University School of Social Work and following a stint in the US Peace Corps as well as several years working in international development, she returned to graduate school at the Catholic University of America to pursue a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. Her research interests focus primarily on the Gospel of John and secondarily on other New Testament and early Christian history areas. She has authored, coauthored, or coedited six books, including Gift upon Gift: Covenant through Word in the Gospel of John, God’s Promise: Covenant Relationship in John, Johannine Ethics: The Moral World of the Gospel and the Epistles of John (with Christopher Skinner), Interpreting the Gospel and Letters of John: An Introduction, and Interpreting the New Testament: An Introduction (both with Francis J. Moloney). She has also published numerous articles and popular studies on the Johannine Literature as well as other texts of the New Testament. She is currently working on a monograph on the role of women in the Gospel of John called Apostles to the Apostles. Her most recent publication is Come and See: Invitations and Imperatives to Discipleship in the Gospel of John. She also writes on the theology and letters of Paul and the Catholic Epistles. She loves traveling and facilitating study internationally, particularly in the lands of the Bible.
