As we began the season of Advent last Sunday, we meditated on how the divine kairos manifests itself in man’s life. We learned that it is God's time taking shape in human history, making itself relevant to man’s faith and life.

Now, Luke - the “historian” among the evangelists – reinforces the gospel's historicity by citing some historical circumstances. Of course, we must not understand it according to the standard of strict historical criticism, for history is not the prime intention of Luke in writing his version of the gospel. His is to bring a theological message to his readers out of the events that happen in time. Thus, his concern is to present, in today's gospel, John the Baptist as a historical figure sent by God to prepare the way of his Son. Hopefully, it may encourage us all the more to strive as pilgrims in time to be worthy of eternity.

1. "Annas and Caiaphas were the High Priests at the time when the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah in the desert. At the outset, Luke hints that this historical John the Baptist is a man of God. And as the gospel relates, he is the son of Zechariah who comes in time during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate is the governor of Judea. But being a person to whom God sends his word, John must be a special one with a very special role in the advent of the Messiah. Let's get a closer look at him.

a. John was no ordinary figure. He was a recipient of God’s special calling. Right from the very start, John already enjoyed God's favor. His conception was revealed to his father in a vision. Like Isaac (cf Gen 18), he was born in his mother's old age. Like Samuel (cf 1 Sam 1) and Samson (cf Jg 13), he was born of a mother thought to be sterile. And like any other big biblical characters, he was endowed with a particular mission. But unlike the rest, his mission was singular and special.

b. John's greatness consists not only in his calling but also in the very response he shows to it. All of his life, he tried to be deserving of God’s favor. First, although he knew fairly well that he was God’s choice, he did not ask for a life deserving of a singular character. Rather, he led a simple and austere life, spending most of his preparatory years in solitude. He survived with locusts and wild honey, and clothed himself with a camel's hair. Second, when the time for his public ministry as prophet finally came, he came out too from the wilderness really as a voice crying out the message he ought to bring. Thus, his ministry is marked by Ms bold and uncompromising pronouncements. Even the powers that be of his time would be rocked by his proclamations and condemnations. This is precisely why he received the prophet’s reward: the crown of martyrdom. Third, John knew his own limits and never went beyond them. He was always aware that he was only a voice and was not the "real one."

2. John's special role consists in being the forerunner of the Messiah. Being so, he is the fulfillment of what the prophet of old spoke about: "It was written in the book of the prophet Isaiah: listen to this voice crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord.”  So, John practically prepares the way of the Lord by the message he brings.

a. John carries the message of repentance. "John proclaimed a baptism for repentant people to obtain forgiveness of sins…” This repentance is not simply an outward penance but a genuine and sincere inward change. It is metanoia, a change of heart. If calls for a radical mending of ways whereby one takes a complete about-face. It is that repentance, which shams and abhors every sinful situation. One who truly repents in this manner turns his back on sin and faces the new life of grace. It is this repentance that bears fruit in the kingdom. So, John challenges the Pharisees and Sadducees who come to him for baptism: “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance” (Mt 3:8).

b. “…make his path straight. The valleys will be filled and the mountains and hills made low. Everything crooked will be made straight and the rough paths smooth..." These words of the great prophet are familiar to his people. Literally, this is how people of the Orient prepare their place when the royal majesty or the nobles would visit them. But such preparation acquires a higher meaning when the prophet now applies this message to the coming Messiah. While perhaps preserving the physical sense of it, the prophet exhorts his people to prepare themselves in the most intimate spiritual sense. Straightening a crooked path may mean mending our crooked ways. Leveling mountains and hills may mean tempering our pride. And making rugged places smooth may mean mellowing down our harsh characters and attitudes. In short, it means a change of lifestyle from what is aweful to what is acceptable, from displeasing to pleasing, from bad to good.

c. John's message is, therefore, inseparable from that of the reign of God. In fact, it is a “pre-proclamation” - so to say - of the reign of God, which is to be fulfilled at the advent of the Messiah. In other words, it is about the reign of the messianic kingdom where the captives are given freedom, the blind is given sight, the deaf hearing, the mute speech ... the good news is announced to the poor and the year of favor is proclaimed. Jesus himself would confirm this when at last he came. It was precisely in the same fashion that Christ would answer when John sent his disciples to verify the person of Jesus (cf Mt 11:2-6). The kingdom of God is therefore the good news of our salvation. And the good news of the kingdom reigns at the advent of the Messiah because he himself is the kingdom, he himself is the good news.

3. Because of this, John's message bears urgency. This urgency has a two-fold aspect: on the part of Christ and on the part of man. On the part of Christ, the advent foretold by Isaiah is so closed and can never be stopped. This advent, which John now boldly proclaims is no longer a remote tomorrow but an imminent today. That is why, on the part of man, repentance cannot be postponed either. The kingdom is really at hand, and man must welcome it with a truly joyful heart. But the heart can truly be joyful only when it is clean and worthy to welcome his reign. So, man's preparations are just as urgent as the Messiah's coming. For as the prophet would foretell, when this messianic age comes, "every mortal will see the salvation of God."

So, what more can we say? - - - Well, at the end, we learn that God's appointed time is something to watch, something to pray for, and something to rejoice. It is the divine kairos taking shape in man's life,