Matthew 17:10-13
"Then the disciples
understood that
Jesus was referring to John the Baptist."
Usually, our December 16 gospel talks about John
the Baptist. This quite understandable since the Misa de Gallo is our
traditional devotion of preparing ourselves for Christmas. So, the key word is Preparation.
But by the mere word, preparation," the person of John enters.
The Baptist comes to prepare the way of the Lord!
Today, in Matthew's version, Jesus introduces
John the Baptist indirectly. And he does so by talking about the prophet
Elijah. Let us try to know why.
1. Jesus’ reference of John the Baptist to the
prophet Elijah is somehow inspired by a popular belief that the prophet Elijah
would one day return in order to prepare the way of the Messiah. This popular
belief is biblical and so it is understandable why Jesus would use it too. The
prophet Malachi says: "l am going to send you the prophet Elijah before
the day of Yahweh comes, for it will be a great and terrible day” (Mal
4:23). Not only has this popular belief been applied to John, but even to
Christ himself. We may well remember one of the people's answers when Jesus
would ask them about his identity at Cesarea Philippi (cf Mk 8:27-35). So, it
is not quite surprising why the person of Elijah is attributed to other
exemplary biblical characters.
We can just understand, then, how great these
biblical personalities are: Elijah, John and Jesus. And they have one common
denominator for that matter: they are prophets! If Elijah made a
tradition for himself as a prophet, the greatness of the prophet John the
Baptist is by no means less at all. Jesus the Prophet himself confirms
the greatness of John as a prophet (cf Lk 7:25-27).
2. Being a Prophet, therefore, becomes now
our key word in understanding the person of John and his role in our salvation
history. And we are not far from the truth. For indeed, John foreruns the
Messiah by being a prophet of God. In fact, John's greatness founds itself upon
his fidelity to his call as God's mouthpiece. And this is basically the
meaning of prophethood: to be the mouthpiece of God since a prophet is called
and ordained to be God's spokesman before his people. So, a prophet is always
expected to speak of God's message and God's message alone, no more and no
less. And this is what John does; and he does it honestly and wholeheartedly.
John is God's authentic spokesman and the
Messiah's forerunner in two levels: by the words he speaks and by the very life
he leads. By his words, John comes to announce and denounce. He announces the approaching reign of the
Messiah and so, everyone must prepare by embracing the gospel of repentance, of
a total change of heart. The crooked paths must be straightened and the rough
ways must be made smooth (cf Lk 3:4-6). No
wonder, while John announces, he also denounces. His ministry of denouncing is
as fiery as that of his announcing. His speeches are bold, straight and
uncompromising. That is why he gained the hearts and ears of the multitude.
Even Herod who headed him must admit in his heart how he would admire the words
of the Baptist (cf Mk 6:14-29).
But John's prophethood builds its authenticity not
only on the words he speaks but also on the very life he leads. All of his
life, he tries to be deserving of God's favor. Although he knows fairly well
that he is God’s choice, he does not ask for
a life deserving of a singular character. Rather, he leads a very simple and
austere life, spending most of his preparatory years in solitude. He survives
with locusts and wild honey; and clothes himself with a camel's hair. And when
the most critical temptation to fame, honor and power come right before him, he
still maintains his right sense of mission by out rightly declaring: "He
must increase while, I must decrease" (Jn 3:30).
3. John's special role, then, consists in being
the forerunner of the Messiah as a prophet. 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" (Mt 3:3). But the ultimate test and proof to this truth is the
fact that John himself receives a "prophet's reward": the crown of
martyrdom. In fact, while Jesus was referring Elijah to John, his disciples did
not understand him. Only when Jesus spoke of a martyr's death that they
realized understood that Jesus was referring to John the Baptist.