John 1:19-28

1 John 2:22-28

Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

John 1:19-28

This is the testimony of John. 

When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him

to ask him, “Who are you?”

he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,

“I am not the Christ.” 

So they asked him,

“What are you then? Are you Elijah?” 

And he said, “I am not.” 

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.” 

So they said to him,

“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?

What do you have to say for yourself?”

He said:

“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,

‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’

as Isaiah the prophet said.” 

Some Pharisees were also sent. 

They asked him,

“Why then do you baptize

if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” 

John answered them,

“I baptize with water;

but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,

the one who is coming after me,

whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” 

This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,

where John was baptizing.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, help me to know who I am. I want to know my strengths and my weaknesses, my virtues and my vices, my sinful tendencies, and my collaboration with your grace. Help me to know my mission and my vocation so that I can cooperate in your plan of salvation and the extension of your Kingdom.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Who are You? On Tuesday, December 31, we read the opening of John’s Gospel (John 1:1-18) and were introduced to the testimony of John the Baptist to Jesus as the Light and Word of God: “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” The Judeans sent their priests and Levites to investigate the message and actions of John at the Jordan River. Naturally, they wanted to know whether he was one of the persons promised in the Scriptures: Was John the Christ (the Messiah) foretold by Isaiah and Daniel, the Prophet promised by Moses, or the return of Elijah foretold by Malachi? On the one hand, John denies that he is the Christ, the Prophet, and Elijah. On the other, John is shown to be connected to all three. John is not the Christ, but he is the one who will baptize Jesus and witness the anointing of Jesus as the Messiah by the Holy Spirit. John is not the Prophet-like-Moses, but is called the greatest of all the prophets by Jesus. John is not the physical reincarnation of Elijah, but he does fulfill the prophecy about the return of Elijah and goes forth with the spirit and power of Elijah.  

2. I Baptize with Water: John understands himself as the Voice crying in the wilderness. He knows that he fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3-5. The ancient prophecy was about the Lord delivering his people from Babylon to Mt. Zion (Jerusalem), just as he once delivered them from Egypt to Mt. Sinai. “Release from Babylon not only replicates the former exodus from Egypt but anticipates a greater salvation in the future, when God will come in the flesh to deliver the world from sin and death. It is through the Incarnation of the Word in Jesus Christ that the glory of the Lord is more fully revealed (John 1:14). Those who received the baptism of John were not regenerated. But they were prepared by the ministry of the forerunner, who cried out to prepare the way for Christ, in whom alone they could be regenerated. For his Baptism is not by water only, as John’s was, but is also by the Holy Spirit” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Isaiah, 70). Isaiah foresaw the anointing of the Messiah, not with oil, like the prophets, priests, and kings of Israel, but with the Spirit of the Lord (Isaiah 61:1). John the Baptist will bear witness to this spiritual anointing of the Son of God (John 1:32-34).

3. Christs and Antichrists: The First Letter of John, our First Reading, contains a wonderful play on words. He contrasts the “antichrists” – those who deny that Jesus is the Christ – with the “christened” (the anointed) – with those who confess that Jesus is the Christ. John is trying to protect the Christian community from heretics and their heretical teachings. He calls them antichrists, liars, deceivers, and false prophets. By contrast, those who have been anointed (christened), abide in the Father and the Son, receive the promise of eternal life, are taught what is true, and have unshakeable confidence. This is not the arrogant and self-righteous confidence that characterized many of the scribes and Pharisees, but the humble confidence of a child who fully trusts in the care of their heavenly Father, in the grace of Jesus Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I have been blessed by your divine grace. I now share in your divine sonship through the Sacrament of Baptism. When I lose your grace through sin, bring me back through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Living the Word of God: How can I more fully appreciate the grace of my baptism? How am I acting as a child of God? How am I collaborating with God’s grace? What works of mercy and charity, empowered by divine grace, have I done this past week?