This coming Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle B. The gospel reading starts out with a seemingly ordinary phrase: the next day. Although broader than the context of this Sunday’s reading, be aware that this simple expression “the next day” is part of a counting of days that occurs from 1:19-2:12 in which the Fourth Evangelist enumerates the seven days of a “new creation” in the coming and revelation of Jesus. It is just one of the many ways in which the Fourth Gospel traces/connects the good news of Jesus to the whole of Scripture.

The Mission of the Baptist

In the prologue the Fourth Evangelist presented John the Baptist as “a man sent from God” who “came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.” (John 1:6-8) This opening characterization sets the stage for the narration of John’s ministry in 1:19–34; a ministry that comes to the attention of the religious authorities in Jerusalem.

John’s identity is probed when he is called to account by a delegation sent by the Jewish leaders. Three times John denies being a particular end-time figure: “‘I am not the Messiah.’ So they asked him, ‘What are you then? Are you Elijah?’ And he said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’” (John 1:20-21) The reference to “the Prophet” harkens back to God’s promises given to the people in Deuteronomy 18:15 – “A prophet like me [Moses] will the LORD, your God, raise up for you” and 18:18 – “I will raise up for them a prophet like you”.  All of these figures were expected to appear in Israel during the last days.

After thus affirming three times who he is not, John in the present passage, at long last, is telling his interrogators who he is. Even though he is not one of the expected figures, John does respond in terms of a figure spoken of in Scripture. He is “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’” (John 1:23) featured in Isaiah 40:3. This is consistent with the portrayal in the other three gospels (Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4). What is unique to the 4th gospel is that John’s witness continues and centers on Jesus’ role in the divine plan of salvation as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36). At its very heart, the purpose of John’s baptism and ministry is described as being bound up with revealing Jesus’ true identity to Israel: “the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel” (1:31).

Image credit: Saint John the Baptist Preaching to the Masses in the Wilderness | Artist: Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564–1638) | Galerie de Jonckheere, Paris | PD-US