“…the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins…”
Madman or prophet? The contemporaries at the time of Jesus wrestled with that question as they heard of the preaching of one, John the Baptist, as he attracted both followers and detractors out in the Judean desert.
Biblical scholars surmise that John could very well have been a member of a mysterious and highly devout Jewish sect, the Essenes, that arose around the time of Jesus. From the Essenes, we now have the treasured Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered by a shepherd boy in one of the many caves near the Dead Sea. These scrolls proved to be the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures.
John witnessed to the yearning of the Jewish people that a Messiah would come to bring to fulfillment God’s promises to his people. John, as the last and greatest of the prophets, was privileged to witness the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one of God, as he preached a message of conversion and repentance to his contemporaries.
The line between prophet and madman is often clearly delineated in the message that is preached. Madmen who fancy themselves as ‘prophets’ invariably point to themselves in a narcissistic obsession with self. Prophets, speak in the name of another and point the way to one whose loving kindness and mercy will bring a justice and peace to a fractured and torn world. Prophets are bridge-builders and reconcilers not wall-builders sowing seeds of hatred and dissension.
My friends, as our Advent Season unfolds, we give thanks for the witness of John who pointed to the anointed one and said, “He must increase, and I must decrease…”. As the remembrance of the dawning of our salvation nears in the great festival of the Nativity, let us heed John’s ageless call to turn our lives around as we embrace the living hope that is ours in the Babe of Bethlehem.