Gospel: The Voice of One Calling in the Desert

Today is the Second Sunday of Advent, and our Gospel reflection will focus on the reading today, which is according to St Mark.

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

It is written in the Prophet Isaiah: Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you.

A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.

John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

All of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.

John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, "After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Today's passage is taken from the beginning of Mark. Unlike Matthew and Luke, Mark does not include any details of Jesus' birth. Instead, St Mark begins his narrative with the appearance of St John the Baptist in the desert. On this Second Sunday in the season of Advent, we are invited to reflect upon on his role of preparing the way of the Lord and the salvation that he will bring to us.

St Mark's description of the appearance of St John the Baptist highlights his continuity with the Jewish prophetic tradition. St Mark combines quotations from the Old Testament books of Malachi, Isaiah, and Exodus. The Gospel's description of St John the Baptist as an ascetic, living in the desert, clothed in camel-skin, and eating locusts and wild honey, is reminiscent of the description of the Prophet Elijah found in the Second Book of Kings. The people of Judea and Jerusalem flock to him, listening to his message of repentance and forgiveness; they also come to him to be baptized. St Mark's Gospel is clear, however, that St John the Baptist's role is only to prepare the way for another who will come, one who is greater than him.

Many scholars believe that the Gospels reflect the tension that likely existed between the followers of St John the Baptist and the followers of Jesus. Each of the four Evangelists report on St John the Baptist's preaching and baptizing, and they each emphasize the importance of his baptism of Jesus. The four Synoptic Gospels also explain that St John the Baptist was sent to preach in preparation for another. 

In today's passage, we hear St John the Baptist contrast his baptism of repentance with the baptism that Jesus will inaugurate. He says that he has baptized by water, but that the one who is to come will baptize with the Holy Spirit. St John's baptism was not yet a Christian baptism, but a preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism through which sins are forgiven and the gift of the Holy Spirit is received.

St John the Baptist is presented to us as a model during the Advent season. We, too, are called upon to prepare the way for the Lord. Like him, we are messengers in service to the one who is greater than we are. Our Baptismal commissions us to call others, evangelize, and make disciples.

Like the Advent candle of peace that we light today, may we be inspired to be the instruments of the Lord's peace as we prepare the way for his eventual return in glory.

Amen.

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Picture from Pixabay.