The Third Sunday of Advent ---- 14 December 2014

John 1:6-8, 19-28

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 
19 This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." 21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." 22 Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23 He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said. 24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" 26 John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." 28 This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.

• I've seen some magazines on the racks in stores that have to do with people and their lives. I must be honest and say that I have read some of them from time to time. Some gush over celebrities; others look for problems in famous people's lives or seem to create problems where none can be found, like in the old baseball saying: “I calls 'em as I sees 'em, and if I don't sees them, I makes 'em up.”
• We've all heard of celebrities drawing a crowd and being considered experts on what-ever simply because they're celebrities. In the New Testament times, John the Baptizer must have been a celebrity of a sort. As we heard in last week's Gospel reading, people from all over were going to the River Jordan to see him, and many were baptized by him.
• This week we hear from John that the Temple authorities had sent officials to question John about what his activites at the river. They want to know who he is and what he is doing. Appearently, they believe that they will decide what is going on and he doesn't fit into their neat categories. Is the the Messiah? No. Is he Elijah? No. Is the the Prophet? No. You can almost hear the confusion and despiration in their voices as they ask "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
• John gives an answer and it is not a satisfactory answer to the Temple officials. They want to know by what authority does he do what he does, but John won't play their game. He says something that is confusing to the authorities, but the answer is actually for more threatening to them because it is not what is expected. It could be seen as a threat because if the Lord is really coming, things are going to change in a big way.
• Now in John's Gospel in particular, John the Baptizer stands as a witness to Jesus, first and foremost. There may have been “political” reasons for this but his role is that of witness none-the-less. This would take John down a peg and this could have been a result of what some scholars believe to be a competing John the Baptizer cult at the time. In John's Gospel, John the Baptizer is ready to step aside and let Jesus be the center.
• In our world, in our own day and time, many people want to turn Jesus' message of salvation into a message about themselves. As the Temple authorities asked John who he was and what he was about, so we are asked who WE are and what WE are about. This presents us this the everyday temptation to talk more about ourselves than about Jesus. As disciples, we would do well to follow John's example and point to Jesus rather than to ourselves. As we grow in grace, we might even say what John the Baptizer says later in John's Gospel: He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)
• What we might say about Jesus may or may not have any effect on the people around us. Often what we say (and don't say) says more about us than about we are talking about. Our under-standing might not be complete or it might be coloured by our experience. This is the point at which we realize that what Jesus has to say about us is far more powerful (and safer) than what we might say about him.
• Jesus' testimony about us says more than we might think or understand. He tells the truth about us when he does not deny that we are sinners. He says more than that when he assures us of the love and forgiveness of God.
• His incarnation, his taking on flesh testifies to the goodness of our bodies as a creation of God and to the blessedness of life here on earth.
• His willingness to live among the people to whom he came to proclaim the salvation of God testifies to God faithfulness to his ancient Covenant. In particular, we see this in one of the ancient names referring to Jesus – Emmanuel, “God with us.”
• His death for the life and salvation of others and his taking on this ultimate weakness of our human-ness testifies to how far God will go to make his love known and present to us.
• His resurrection from the dead testifies to the complete plan the Father has for us, since Jesus is the “firstborn of the dead” (Rev. 1:5 & Col. 1:18) and the sign of hope to us of where our lives are ultimately going.
• What am I talking about here? Actually I'm talking about and testifying to nothing less than the freely-given grace of God, that grace to which Jesus' entire life and teaching among us was a proclaimation. It isn't cheap grace or always easy, but it's always there for us and it makes a difference.
• And that's something to point to each and every day.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.