2nd Sunday of Advent

My Dear People,

John the Baptist’s ministry was based at the Jordan River, probably on the southern stretch of the river that flows by the Judean desert, just before emptying into the Dead Sea. To get there, the crowds from Jerusalem would travel about twenty miles through rugged terrain in the hot, barren wilderness. One might wonder why John would base his movement out there.

To appreciate John’s strategy in choosing this location, we first must understand that the Jordan was more than a river for the Jews: it was a powerful symbol of hope and new life. God did great things at the Jordan. He healed Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy there (2 Kings 5:1-14), and he took the prophet Elijah up to heaven in a fiery chariot at the Jordan (2 Kings 2:1-11). Most of all, God led the Israelites across the Jordan River at the end of their forty-year journey from Egypt to the promised land. Thus, the Jordan represented the climax of the exodus story and the fulfillment of God’s plan to bring Israel to the land of Canaan.

The Judean desert carried rich symbolism for the Jews. It, too, recalled the exodus story, for it was in the desert that Israel became established as God’s covenant people as they journeyed to the promised land. In addition, the desert brought to mind hope for Israel’s future, for a new exodus in which God would rescue his people from their present-day oppressors just as he had liberated them from Pharaoh long ago. The prophets foretold that God would lead his people back to the desert to renew his covenant with them.  Hosea, for example, described how God would lovingly draw his sinful people back to him like a husband would an unfaithful wife. This reunion between the Lord and Israel would take place in the desert. “So, I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart... I will make a covenant for them on that day… I will espouse you to me forever” (Hosea 2:16, 20-21).

This background helps explain why John called the people to come out to the desert and be baptized in the Jordan. Such a summons would have signaled that everything the Jews had been longing for was about to be fulfilled. In this particular place, the ritual of baptism was a powerful symbolic action. In calling the people to journey into the wilderness to step into the Jordan river to be baptized, and to reenter the promised land, John was summoning them to reenact the exodus story.  Such an action was most likely intended to signal that a new exodus was finally about to occur. No wonder so many people from “Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan” (3:5) went out to the Jordan wilderness to be baptized by John.

At the heart of John’s prophetic message is the challenge to repent, which in Greek means to change one’s mind or perspective. In the Jewish tradition, the Hebrew word for repent means to turn around, or return. John is calling for a complete change in thinking and conduct—a decisive, fundamental change of direction in one’s life. In this, John stands in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets who called on Israel to turn away from sin and return to the Lord. Behind the prophet’s call to repentance is a conviction that the nation is on a path to destruction and in need of radical reorientation. But John’s call to repentance comes with an even greater sense of urgency because he announces something no prophet before him could proclaim: the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Israel faces a unique, now-or-never opportunity to repent. The “kingdom of heaven” does not refer to a place—a place, for example, where God and the angels dwell—but to God’s dynamic activity as ruler. God alone was king over Israel, and the prophets foretold that he would come as king, establish his reign in Jerusalem, and bring justice on the earth. Thus, in proclaiming that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” John is announcing that God’s promised reign is now dawning on Israel and the world.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente

Comments

There are no comments yet - be the first one to comment: