John the Quirky Baptist

In the gospel readings at Mass, for last weekend and for this weekend, we hear about John the Baptist. Last week in Matthew’s gospel, John baptized Jesus, although quite reluctantly. He said to the Lord, “I need to be baptized by YOU.”

This week, from John’s gospel (the other John, John the Evangelist, the brother of James; sometimes you can’t tell the players without a program), John the Baptist expands on his observation that Jesus is the real deal. (Um, I’m pretty sure you will not find the phrase “real deal” is Scripture, but you know what I mean.)

John points at Jesus and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’”

John also says this about Jesus: “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him.” Finally, John concludes, “I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

We read in Scripture that John the Baptist had a fairly unusual ministry. He lived out in the desert, eating wild honey and insects (I hear grasshoppers taste like chicken), and many people from the cities were coming out to be baptized by John. In other words, he was a little quirky, but he had developed a sizeable following.

When Jesus arrived to be baptized, John very easily could’ve said, “OK, my friend, just get in line over there. And don’t forget to put your ‘love offering’ in the collection basket before you step into the water.”

John could’ve kept the focus on himself, as far too many religious professionals have done throughout the centuries. (Even though I’m not a religious professional, I admit that I keep the focus on myself occasionally. I am using, of course, the definition of the word “occasionally” that means: “99-percent of the time.”)

So, even though John the Baptist was loud and forceful and had a large following (without even using social media or a public relations firm!), he resisted the temptation to remain in the spotlight. He immediately stepped aside and said to the crowds, “Stop focusing on me, and instead give it up for this guy, because he is the ONE!” (I’m pretty sure he didn’t say the exact words, “give it up for this guy,” just as I don’t think he said the exact words, “He is the one of whom I said….” I mean, really, who uses the phrase “of whom I said”? Certainly not a dude out in the wilderness eating bugs.)

The point is, John the Baptist was humble enough to understand right away that everyone needed to focus on Jesus. John’s job was to set the stage—be the warm-up act that got the crowd excited—and then turn it over to the main attraction.

I’m sure it helped a great deal that John got some really clear messages from Heaven. Seeing the Spirit come down like a dove and remain on someone is the kind of event that’s hard to forget. John clearly understood that Jesus is the “Lamb of God” (which he said at the beginning of the reading) and the “Son of God” (which he said at the end of the reading).

People in first century Israel did not throw those phrases around lightly. In fact, you could’ve gotten yourself in trouble with the authorities using phrases like that. As we know, John never hesitated to speak the truth, even if it was risky. He ended up imprisoned and executed for his outspokenness.

The main message from these gospel readings is that Jesus is the ONE. He is fully God and yet fully man. No matter how talented and successful we are, we’re nothing compared to Him. John the Baptist knew that, and he quickly directed everyone’s attention to Jesus. 

We all need to be more like John the Baptist. And thankfully, to do that, we don’t have to eat grasshoppers—even if they do taste like chicken.