Sunday Meditation: He Preached the Good News

As with last week, John the Baptist has a starring role in the Third Sunday of Advent again.  But does he?  Yes, John has the speaking part.  Yes, the crowd comes to him to ask how they can be saved.  And yes they come to John filled with expectation of the coming messiah.  But this Gospel passage is divided into two movements.  The first is the coming to John.  The second is John pointing them to Jesus.  Jesus is the real star here.   

 

The crowds asked John the Baptist,

“What should we do?”

He said to them in reply,

“Whoever has two cloaks

should share with the person who has none.

And whoever has food should do likewise.”

Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him,

“Teacher, what should we do?”

He answered them,

“Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.”

Soldiers also asked him,

“And what is it that we should do?”

He told them,

“Do not practice extortion,

do not falsely accuse anyone,

and be satisfied with your wages.”

 

Now the people were filled with expectation,

and all were asking in their hearts

whether John might be the Christ.

John answered them all, saying,

“I am baptizing you with water,

but one mightier than I is coming.

I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor

and to gather the wheat into his barn,

but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Exhorting them in many other ways,

he preached good news to the people.

~Lk 3:10-18

First, let’s get introduced to the supporting actor.  Who is John the Baptist?  Dr. John Bergsma from the St. Paul Institute gives us a full understanding.

 

“I am an introduction incarnate, a preface in a person, a forward in the flesh, I am the prelude to the Messianic age.”  That is fantastic!  I have considered John the Baptist the first Dominican, the Order of Preachers, since he came to preach ahead of the Lord. 

Now, the best explanation of this Gospel comes from Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P.  Watch Fr. Cajetan divide the Gospel into its two parts.

 

He goes a little long at the end but I don’t think anyone else’s homily quite shows the two parts so starkly.

Sunday Meditation: “His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn”

 

Let’s return to John Michael Talbot with his “Surrender to Jesus.” 

 

Surrender it all.