“What, Then, Will This Child Be?”
Thus says the Lord GOD: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly there will come to the temple the LORD whom you seek, And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like the refiner's fire, or like the fuller's lye. Malachi 3:1-2
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, "No. He will be called John." Luke 1:59-60
Piety
And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:76-79)
Study
The Hebrew Bible completes its intersection with the New Testament through today’s first reading. Matthew takes the prophecy of Malachi and applies these words to the birth and mission of John the Baptist:
This is the one about whom it is written:
‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.’ (Matthew 10:11)
Matthew then further identifies John as Elijah. (“And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.” – Matthew 10:14). This also is spelled out in the second part of the first reading. The baby will grow and in his mission, John will “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” These are echoed in Luke’s Gospel.
Elijah’s second coming was predicted in last Saturday’s Good News from Luke. When the angel appeared to Zechariah, the life of John was described in this way: “[John] will go before [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17)
Today, we get deeper into the connection between the angel’s announcement of the birth of John and the naming of the baby. Although Jewish tradition would hold that the baby of Zechariah and Elizabeth would be named after his father or grandfather, that is not the direction that the angel commands.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. (Luke 1:13-16)
As we wrap up the penultimate day of Advent, the fulfillment of the announcement of John and his mission comes into fullness. “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
Action
If John was to guide our feet into the path of peace, we may be “developing a national cataract" in this country that prevents us from seeing the poor, the immigrant, the oppressed, and others who share that path with us says Cardinal Joe Tobin, in an interview.
In the interview published last week, the Cardinal from Newark, NJ, explained his fears: “I’m really worried about this country for a lot of reasons, but I’m particularly concerned about refugees and immigrants. I really think this present administration is moving clearly toward a mass deportation. My people are already terrorized. I am so afraid that unless we can find a way of changing hearts, they’re going to go ahead with it.”[i]
Cardinal Tobin further teaches about his view of Jesus: “I never hear Jesus going out of his way to point an accusing finger at people who are oppressing the poor. What he does criticize in very stark terms is the ones who don’t see them, who don’t see them as they are. I think that’s what happens. We’re developing a national cataract.”
Let us use this season to make sure that we remove the lumber from our sight to be able to see the poor all around us and that they are the person of Christ. Just like the baby John leaped in his mother’s womb when he was in the presence of Jesus, may we rejoice when we are with the daughters and sons of Jesus in our daily walk.
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